Quickly… the answer I came up with from the post above was to understand that TV is a neutral force. It’s simply reflecting our own values as Americans and it’s a pretty harsh mirror if you want to see how unhealthy we are. TV lays out the truth of where we’re really at in ugly high definition, dolby 5.1 surround sound. We mold what’s on TV, it doesn’t mold us. We’re a tad bit smarter than the box with its tail plugged in the wall. So… TV is evil, yes, but only as evil as we make it. If our values, interests and spiritual health were in a better place then TV would reflect that with better programming. TV is incredibly powerful and how about this for a radical thought–it has the power to do more good than maybe anything else. It’s more powerful than the Internet and isn’t it the Internet that’s the fledgling hope of bringing the truth out and bringing people together for causes that matter?
Networks want ratings. They’ll put on whatever people will watch. If that’s Big Brother so be it and if that’s Meerkat Manor well then so be that too. I’m not writing bad TV shows, I’m writing advertising selling TV itself. It’s up to us to decide if TV is going to broadcast crap or amazing things that could inform people and help change the world.
That’s how I’ve come to peace with my latest client.
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July 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Jill
YES, I have gone though these things myself. It came to me that advertising is the opposite of meditation–cluttering rather than clearing the mind. The monkey mind incarnate.
And–this is where human consciousness is right now. This is the array of channels people most easily shuffle into.
Still…I want never to stop thinking creatively about how to match up the authentic generative force that comes *from* me with a generous income stream coming *to* me. In other words, make money from our novels/screenplays/etc.
Some people do it. Maybe we can be two of them
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