Television in Society

After reading Neil Postman’s, The Age of Show Business, the idea set across or purpose of the article I got out of it was to allow our minds to actually think. Our society has been so bombarded with technology innovations, discoveries, and advances that we get so caught up in this electronic world. Perhaps, it is because we live in this generation and did not grow up without, in this case, the TV that we are not so fazed. The Age of Show Business, talks of television simply being entertainment that even the news and debates are more to entertain us than to be taken seriously. Everything seems to be so organized, and perfectly played out there is no room for questioning or discussion. For example, the news cast was mentioned to be pretty people and perfect speaking with no flaws. Obviously no one is perfect, but the TV can many times take us from reality. The article I found that related to Postman’s article was, 'Reality TV' rules the ratings but dumbs our culture. This article spoke of TV shows such as, Fear Factor, The Osbournes, True Life, and even surgery shows that were put on TV to entertain us. These shows are exciting, they are one would say stupid, or not important but we still enjoy it. An example that was given was seeing people get breast surgeries. The article argued, “How many times do we have to see these shows for our confidence to be shattered?” I believe it is true, TV does and can make us feel more insecure about how we look or if we are good enough. Both in the article I found and Postman’s article I concluded and agreed that our society today is an unshockable society due to television. It is true what Postman states in the end, "There's No Business But Show Business."
http://media.www.thejusticeonline.com/media/storage/paper573/news/2002/04/23/Forum/reality.Tv.Rules.The.Ratings.But.Dumbs.Our.Culture-242956.shtml