Why I don’t own a TV.

On By Craig

Stranger A: Are you watching My Kitchen Rules?
Stranger B: I am, but it’s not as good as last season.
Stranger A: I know, but there isn’t anything else to watch at 7:30pm; it’s either The Block, My Kitchen Rules or American Idol. [turns to me] What do you watch?
Craig: I don’t own a TV.
*expressions of alarm on both Stranger A and B’s faces*
Craig: You know you could just pick up a book or go outside?

… the subsequent look I received was as if I had just asked someone to remove a limb with a blunt instrument.

Unfortunately, this was the second at-length conversation on the topic of My Kitchen Rules that my ears had been subjected to on this particular afternoon. I dare ask … is this what we, as a intellectual society and as a species full of adventure, have slumped to? Consider this, you work all day, you get home and decide to make a really quick, cheap dinner consisting of processed foods; you curl up on the couch as part of a rigorous evening routine and watch a group of random strangers compete over cooking skills. At what stage is this beneficial? Furthermore, how does anyone justify choosing ‘the best of limited options’ when it comes to reality television at 730 in the evening; the night is young, the day is late, why would anyone want to waste the limited time we have in this existence? Sooner or later, this growing trend of being participatory in the media mechanism of reality television is going to become so obscene that The Truman Show will start airing at eight;  with everyone watching.

Late last year I was asked how I found the time to complete all of my ‘hobbies’: University while working full-time, learning Spanish, improving my fitness, devouring literature amongst a plethora of other useful skills. The response is beyond simple: I don’t watch television or play video games. The stunned look and ensuing reply of ‘I guess that would free up a lot of time’, really proves that it doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. Most just don’t even think about it, nor question it.

How much of your life are you going to whittle away in front of the television?

Get off the couch, sell your TV and start living your life.