Re: The importance of watching soap operas (Was "A DISTURBING ...")

> Date:         Thu, 8 Feb 2001 12:23:06 -0500
> From: Andreas Johansson <and_yo@...>
> [YHL wrote:]
> >
> >On Wed, 7 Feb 2001, Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:
> >
> > > Well, you all know what watching the stuff does. Unless a group is
> > > extremely motivated otherwise, turning on the TV will kill all
> > > conversation and reduce them to empty-eyed staring within 15 minutes.
> >
> >Really?  Turning on the TV, unless it's something I actually want to
> >watch (Jeopardy...?), is prone to make me go off and do something else.
> >But then, I've never liked TV much, being a not-very-visual person.
>
> Hm, if it's my little group of geeky friends (they're kind of people who get
> their physical activity from frenetically typing C++) putting on a movie or
> show that's anything less than stunningly fantastic tends to lead to an
> animated discussions of the movie/show's failings. Typical remarks include
> "NOBODY could survie that", "Obviously she got the job for her looks rather
> than her acting skills", "You'dn't be able see straight after a hit like
> that!", "Why are the evil guys always worthless shots?" and "Why can't they
> have realistic violence"? (This probably also says something about what we
> use to see ...)
Well, if I were to go looking for highly motivated people who don't
enjoy entertainment (so called) at the level mostly presented on TV,
this list is one of the places I'd start.

And actually, I think this serves to prove the point. You can walk
away, or you can make a social occasion out of criticizing a show. But
noone is reporting that they can successfully combine social
interaction with friends or family with watching the show as it is
intended.

But something just struck me. If a storyteller, a troupe of actors, or
a musician is able to keep a large audience totally silent, we take it
as a sign of great skill or art, and expect people to be improved by
such shared experiences.

How and why is TV different? Is it? Discuss.

Lars Mathiesen (U of Copenhagen CS Dep) <thorinn@...> (Humour NOT marked)