Is TV responsible for today's society

[Big Dan]

After a few chats with a co-worker got me thinking(yes it hurt). Is What is shown on tv and in movies responsible for the lawlessness and hurt in this world today.

Is shows like:

Worlds most shocking moments
COPS
WWE"RAW,Smackdown,ECW"
Jackass
Saw movies

that show lots of violence and language that can offend ppl

I'm not one that is offended by theses

But it makes you think doesn't it

would like your thoughts

[MIXONE]

I blame it on the removal of corporal punishment from schools.Respect went out the door that day.

[Mully]

I blame the parents.

[Big Dan]

I blame it on the removal of corporal punishment from schools.Respect went out the door that day.

i'm a victim of the strap back in 80's after i got caught trying to steal it


I blame the parents.

i tend to agree but a parent can't watch what their child does all the time

[Mully]

i tend to agree but a parent can't watch what their child does all the time

I concur. But a parent can (and should) teach their child morals and about what is right and wrong. And real and pretend (wrestling). And smart and stupid (Jackass)

[Big Dan]

I concur. But a parent can (and should) teach their child morals and about what is right and wrong. And real and pretend (wrestling). And smart and stupid (Jackass)

i believe the parents should get their kid out and about and not stuck on the net on bebo or myspace or playing video games instead of getting outside and learning whats on their on back yard

[Trudes]

I blame whoever it is that doesn't fund enough NZ made programs and subject us to cheap American rubbish. Bring on more homegrown TV, or even Australian or British tele.

[Mully]

i believe the parents should get their kid out and about and not stuck on the net on bebo or myspace or playing video games instead of getting outside and learning whats on their on back yard

I once had a dog, and his name was...... BINGO!!!

[ynot slow]

Banning BULLRUSH was the end of it,we lost corporal punishment,with that went respect,how many hours are spent at school,that can be where some kids were taught respect,even if their parents didn't care.

I got caned once,still respected the teacher who did it to me,I didn't go and turn into a murderer because of it.

I have more respect for my parents now more so than ever.Also my teachers years ago.May not have agreed with them then or now,but no respect for Bradford or most politicians telling me what I can do.

[Winston001]

Tough one. Television reflects the viewers choice. If a program isn't popular, people don't watch it, advertisers won't use it, so it gets dumped.

Ergo the stuff we see is what people want. If some of us find it pretty inane (Survivor, Big Brother and their ilk) we are still only a small proportion of the viewing population.

It is inevitable people mimic what they see on TV - we see it here when American gangsterisms are used in posts. The best defence against this is to control viewing by pre-teens while teaching them sound values so that they can assess what they later see.

No guarantees, we were all influenced by movies and books before TV became a multi-channel festival of the banal.

[hazard02]

I blame rap music. Not necessarily the lyrics involved, but the lifestyle the majority of it promotes. This isn't to say that rap is to blame for every group of petty thugs who smash up bus stops and conduct random beatings, nor am I saying that anyone who listens to it falls into this category. But I can't help but wonder at how different our crime statistics would be if the government had applied a Chinese-style censorship to rap music since the mid 90s.

[onearmedbandit]

I blame the parents.

[scumdog]

I blame the parents.

And I blame the lack of parenting.

[Nasty]

The funny thing is no one blames those that are doing the damage themselves. People have choices .. about what they watch and what they do. I think peoples choices are often underscored by bad parenting ... but they still get to use their own brains to make decisions.

Corporal punishment was banned when I was in primary school .. I never got the strap ... my parents (as far as I remember) did not hit me ....I played bullrush, touch rugby etc and I don't think that had anything to do with me not wanting to rob people or beat them up ... I think the underlying state for myself is that I was bought up to respect people .. and taught that at home at school and in the community ... are we not teaching kids respect now?

[JimO]

the treaty of waitangi is responsible for most of todays problems. if the fuckin maori didnt spend their lives blaming everyone for their own problems perhaps they would join the europeans in this century and start acting civilised, get themselves a education, and get on with it.......most of them are a pretty poor excuse for human beings

[MIXONE]

What a load of generalised crap.Utter bullshit.
Referring to jimjim's dribble.

[JimO]

What a load of generalised crap.Utter bullshit.
Referring to jimjim's dribble.

you can have your opinion i can have mine.......who is responsible for most of the bashings, rapes, violence, theft

[Nasty]

who can be bother ... attitudes suck ... and that is where the problem is.

[DEATH_INC.]

I blame the lack of parenting too.
Our society is making things shit, no-one will accept responsibility for their own actions, and our leaders have no accountability for their actions either.
Our kids think this is normal so don't accept responsibility either.
'He had a rough upbringing' is NOT an excuse for taking other peoples basic rights.
Stop making excuses for scumbags.
Everyone knows right from wrong, and if they don't then there's something very wrong with our world. Make 'em learn there's consequences for their actions.
Bring back discipline!!
And stop blaming the fantasy world that is TV. And the internet for that matter. We had fantasy books long ago, but we knew right from wrong, because we knew there was a consequence for what we did.

[Flatcap]

What's wrong with today's society?

It looks pretty damn fine from where I am sitting

It might be somewhat different, but is it really any worse than 10 or 20 years ago? I think not...

[BBzz]

And I blame the lack of parenting.

Fear call but where do you think parents get there parenting skills from?
I don’t think they have it from birth.
We live in a society that is consumer driven we are concerned about what we have, more than the problems next door are having, I think that is partly fuelled by TV but the whole advertising machine has a big part to play.

The world we live in at this time?

[CookMySock]

I think TV is to blame, but not for that reason. I think people can generally seperate fantasy violence from real violence.

What I do find a problem, is the media whittling away at our self-esteem by posting horrific acts that we DO feel strongly about - that is very real violence indeed. This type of material should never be shown, in my opinion. Further to this, these acts are portrayed as "normal" in our society, normalising us to them, when the fact is that these are really isolated incidents.

I am often left feeling quite distressed after watching the news, and I turn it off in disgust.

Even modern popular music, which I enjoy very much - the lyrics are often catastrophic, and deeply destructive if we put too much stead in them - yet they are played day and night on all the radio stations, and in most workplaces. Like the old toothpaste advert - "it DOES geet eeen".

For myself, I "take care what I think", and try and keep things in check. It's all I can do in a sea of emotion - but I'm a mess, so oh well.

I believe the media has a lot to take responsibility for.

DB

[Oakie]

PlayStation type games is part of it although I don't think there is only one cause for the current state of things. Death-Inc mentioned consequences. In Playstation type games you can race cars around city streets, die and then just press the re-set button so no consequence for screwing up
Alternatively there are many games where you are actually rewarded for killing people. Yes its only a game but it creates a mindset. I could go on but you get the picture.

HOW-BLOODY-EVER... CHECK THESE QUOTES OUT:

"The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have
no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all
restraint. They talk as if they alone knew everything and what passes
for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for girls, they are
forward, immodest and unwomanly in speech, behaviour and dress."

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on
frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond
words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and
respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise
[he was being ironical there and meant disrespectful] and impatient of restraint"

The language does give it away a bit but:
the first was from sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in 1274 AD
the second is from Hesiod around the 8th century BC.
the point being that throwing up our hands and despairing of the youth and therefore the future of society 'today' is by no means a new thing...and society has still not destroyed itself

[Oakie]

Hmmm. Let me pose this. The title of this thread was "Is TV responsible for today's society?" It could just as easily be "Is society responsible for today's TV?" Is it wrong to blame TV as perhaps TV is just reflecting what we already are???????

[The Stranger]

PlayStation type games is part of it although I don't think there is only one cause for the current state of things. Death-Inc mentioned consequences. In Playstation type games you can race cars around city streets, die and then just press the re-set button so no consequence for screwing up
Alternatively there are many games where you are actually rewarded for killing people. Yes its only a game but it creates a mindset. I could go on but you get the picture.


No, I don't get the picture.
Look at our history. Far more pain and suffering has been inflicted in the name of religion and/or for greed and for power in times and places where no TV or play station exists. In fact, I would appear that one could build a case for these devices, it would appear that they pacify society.




"The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have
no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all
restraint. They talk as if they alone knew everything and what passes
for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for girls, they are
forward, immodest and unwomanly in speech, behaviour and dress."

"I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on
frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond
words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and
respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise
[he was being ironical there and meant disrespectful] and impatient of restraint"

The language does give it away a bit but:
the first was from sermon preached by Peter the Hermit in 1274 AD
the second is from Hesiod around the 8th century BC.
the point being that throwing up our hands and despairing of the youth and therefore the future of society 'today' is by no means a new thing...and society has still not destroyed itself

Exactly!
But, I would go a step further.
I look around and I see so many fine, honest, hard working young people with hope and dreams that I find it very inspirational.

Perhaps it is those whom don't see these people, and instead moan and complain about the youf of today instead of participating and enjoying it, who are responsible for dragging it down?

[The Stranger]

Our society is making things shit, no-one will accept responsibility for their own actions, and our leaders have no accountability for their actions either.

Got to agree with death here big time.
Like it or not, people learn from our leaders and actions do speak louder than words. If it's good enough for the PM to commit fraud and get away with it, it's good enough for us all isn't it?
If it's ok for politicians to have 5 drink driving charges, why shouldn't I? Drink driving is ok.
Speeding, of course speed is bad, we believe you, unless of course you are running late for a rugby game in which case it is ok.
Lead by example!

[MGST]

Got to agree with Death.

One can't help but wonder if the justice system grew some balls and punished people properly ( and perhaps even harshly ) if people would then think twice before committing acts of crime? You would only have to show a few hangings / electric chair executions / lashings with the cane etc on TV for people to get the idea that you are serious and this is what is waiting for you if you choose to partake in unsavory behaviour / activities.

And jimjim (?) has a point about the Treaty of Waitangi. Maori ( at least the radicals ) are forever going on about how the white man has persecuted them, it's not their fault, blah blah blah. These people need to wake up and get over it. Crying over spilt milk won't achieve anything. They need to put it behind them and move into the current time frame, not still be living with greivences from 2 centuries ago. The other problem is the Government is pandering to them by letting them carry on with all this crap and giving them millions and millions of $$ and half the countryside and lakes and foreshore etc etc. Its total bullshit.

[Number One]

Corporal punishment was banned when I was in primary school ..

Aye? Then how come I got the strap when I was at Primary school? (first day infact) You a bit older than I aren't ya love....

BULLRUSH! Now there was some fun. I used to love taking on the boys and getting tackled by them then wasting the girls!!! :devil:

IMO there are a lot of things feeding into the problems we are now facing. I do think media/TV desensitizes us. I also think there are some pretty sad and unhelpful messages being pushed too.

[Oakie]

No, I don't get the picture.
Look at our history. Far more pain and suffering has been inflicted in the name of religion and/or for greed and for power in times and places where no TV or play station exists. In fact, I would appear that one could build a case for these devices, it would appear that they pacify society.

Yes, but that was done for real with real consequences. My point was (and seeing you raised religion) that a kid today can hire a game pitting the Crusaders vs the Saracens (Christians vs Muslims) back in 1200 AD or whatever, can play either side and can mercilessly hack the others to pieces with their sword. This may give some a mindset that a certain behaviour is just fun and OK. A small minority will take that fun to the streets so I believe that those games do more harm than good. Apart from the fact that the PlayStation generation are lard-asses because they've forgotten how to go outside to have fun. (Feck I sound old!)

[McJim]

I blame peer pressure - people drink too much fluids and this puts unnacceptable pressure on their pee making them short tempered.

Seriously though kids learn what they live and a lot of the nutters have had violent childhoods where they've been shown by role models and there peers that violence and tantrums are acceptable.

No one takes TV seriously - if they did they'd all be talking in yankee accents.

[hazard02]

I changed my mind, blame the parents.


A couple fighting about which gang their 4-year-old toddler should join caused a public disturbance that resulted in the father's arrest, Commerce City police said Thursday.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15851207/detail.html?taf=den

[Number One]

Perhaps it is those whom don't see these people, and instead moan and complain about the youf of today instead of participating and enjoying it, who are responsible for dragging it down?

+1!

Everyone has said all the things I'm thinking are "wrong" with our society and I think it is fair to say that it will always be like this and we will always continue to get worse :lol:

General and embedded apathy and Desensitization to issues (most especially dangerous for those and those close to the very target audience of the mechanical)

Lack of parenting skills + an overload of conflicting information and advice

Cold reality of this dog eat dog world and every man has to be for himself - Less altruism

Things are on fast forward

Global communication ability

Media slickness and ability to manipulate us with our wants, desires and emotions


Anyway this is all too deep - time for a cuddle with my boy watching Willy Wonka :sleep:

But I concur with a lot of people on this thread. Positive note...Love the one your with :rolleyes:

[karla]

What's wrong with today's society?

It looks pretty damn fine from where I am sitting

It might be somewhat different, but is it really any worse than 10 or 20 years ago? I think not...

I agree with Flatcap. Society is no better, nor worse - it's just different than it was 10 or 20 years ago, and we have different problems.

I think that if we watch a lot of TV, especially the news, we might start to 'think' that society is bad.

I don't watch TV, and am out all the time being in the real world, and from my point of view (away from the couch) it is beautiful world full of great people.

Not perfect, but pretty damned good. :hug:

[yungatart]

In this day of "instant" everything, when someone stuffs up it is global news really quickly. The bigger the mess, the quicker the story gets around. Only bad news sells, people are not interested in hearing the good things that most young people are doing in their daily life.
I work with teens, and they, for the most part, are enthusiastic, caring and funloving. We don't get to hear about it, that's all.

[BAD DAD]

I,ve always thought that I was a reasonably independent thinker and actively non-conformist in outlook and action in many ways. Those thoughts still stand, but with the benefit of an increasing amount of hindsight, I just cannot ignore the influences that TV along with music and literature has had on me. I cringe when I see young Kiwis shuffling about with their pants hanging lower than their scrotums and wearing NewYorkCity baseball caps, basketball shit and all that hand waving ape action. It's all media fed. Anyway, I admit that decades ago I was of a generation that was similarly influenced. That's why I still wear jeans and why I had long hair since I was an early teens ( getting a bit white and thin now ). Footage of Mods & Rockers, Woodstock, Beatles, Led zep, T Rex, The Who...we won't get fooled again..Anti Nuke demonstrations, bla bla bla. It all came down "the tube".
I can't be alone in those influences. Looking through old photo albums of my own and those of my peers appears evidential. Youtube confirms the past and the present, to me at least.

[Skyryder]

It's not one thing but many. There are no values in todays society. Respect and an ethical standard of moral behavour dissapeared when Muldoon became the leader of the National party. Now we have no standards due to the belief that it is more important to win than play fair.

We have one of the highest rates of solo parenting in the Western world. Children with both biological parents are becoming a rareity. Kids have two homes and are shipped from one to the other because mum and dad can not agree. The bottomline on this is that society has become unstable and you can not bring up children in an unstable environment and expect them to behave in an orderly manner.

Whose to blame for all of this................we all are because we have allowed our society to develop with little or no consequnces for improper behavour.

Skyryder

[Hitcher]

Oh that life was so simple so that only one thing could be singled out for the demise of The World As We Know It. Apart from The Bloody Labour Gummint, of course...

[Coyote]

It's horrible hearing the storied my Dad has, coming home from being a secondary school English teacher. They are given no power whatsoever so the kids are free to disrespect him.

The cane needs to be brought back, but now the idea of "my child is too precious to be harmed/I deny they did anything bad" mentality is ingrained into society so it'll never come back. It becomes the parent's fault too.

[Hitcher]

It becomes the parents fault too.

Particularly when apostrophes are inappropriately used. Or not.

[Coyote]

Particularly when apostrophes are inappropriately used. Or not.
I think I'm allowed a few mistakes. Unlike many teenagers I actually try to write correctly.

[JATZ]

the treaty of waitangi is responsible for most of todays problems. if the fuckin maori didnt spend their lives blaming everyone for their own problems perhaps they would join the europeans in this century and start acting civilised, get themselves a education, and get on with it.......most of them are a pretty poor excuse for human beings

IMHO thats a pretty broad statement. I know some very hard working honest maoris, I also know some dead beat ones, same goes for europeans,
I think its a mixture of a whole raft of things none of which can be fixed over night,it will take years to fix the mistakes made by people over the last 30 odd years.
Getting rid of uncle hellen and bringing back bullrush and the cane is a good place to start

[McJim]

IMHO thats a pretty broad statement.

In order to be humerous it had to be a broad statement. when you try to get accurate the humour escapes for some reason. However when you make an inaccurate sweeping statement for humerous reasons it is often compounded by someone anal pointing out that it's a broad statement. Priceless :rofl:

[homer]

i say no
but in the mean time the simpsons are on so im going back to watching tv

[hayd3n]

the treaty of waitangi is responsible for most of todays problems. if the fuckin maori didnt spend their lives blaming everyone for their own problems perhaps they would join the europeans in this century and start acting civilised, get themselves a education, and get on with it.......most of them are a pretty poor excuse for human beings

id like to see you say that to my some family of mine

[Big Dave]

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[scumdog]

After a few chats with a co-worker got me thinking(yes it hurt). Is What is shown on tv and in movies responsible for the lawlessness and hurt in this world today.

Is shows like:

Worlds most shocking moments
COPS
WWE"RAW,Smackdown,ECW"
Jackass
Saw movies

that show lots of violence and language that can offend ppl

I'm not one that is offended by theses

But it makes you think doesn't it

would like your thoughts

Like the interweb, a lot of people can't tell the difference between real life and electronic media.

It must be a real shock when real life bites their arse at times, and real expensive too.

There are sorry-arse loser that think SHortland Street and Outrageous Fortune are real life. Dicks.

[Rayray401]

Knowledge is power.

[balans]

you can have your opinion i can have mine.......who is responsible for most of the bashings, rapes, violence, theft


The Treaty of Waitangi can hardly be blamed for the problems with society around the entire world. The sort of things being discussed in this thread are just as common a topic of converstation here in Aussie, or over in the UK where the Chavs run riot.

As for the topic of TV being responsible for todays society yes, but even more so it is responsible for our views of current society. News and current affairs shows are way more sensationalist and the coverage of minor things more prevalent than it used to be even a decade or so ago.

But as has been mentioned I think it is up to the Parents to instill values in their kids form an early age. Rolemodels are also incredibly important, having someone successful or at least not criminal in your life as a kid goes a long way with inspiriation towards shaping future goals and success.

Instead most kids seem to look up to vaccuous idiots living out their 15minutes on reality tv.

[scumdog]

i say no
but in the mean time the simpsons are on so im going back to watching tv

Yup, more real than real life...

[scumdog]

What's wrong with today's society?

It looks pretty damn fine from where I am sitting

It might be somewhat different, but is it really any worse than 10 or 20 years ago? I think not...

Look at the homicides, rapes etc per capita about 20 years ago and look at the present rate.

Look at the drug and/or alcohol related offending these days compared with mid 80's.

The only improvement is the road deaths - and motorcyclists are trying to correct THAT.

Yeah, looks real fine from where I'm sitting....pfffft!

[bogan]

tis human nature to be an absolute prick to one-another if possible, just look at all the genocides and shit that occured ages ago b4 tv even. Gonna keep hapinin till the motivation is removed, either by increasing the punishment (in this namby pamby day and age fat chance) or perhaps by installing forced empathy chips or GE'ing some shit.

[Okey Dokey]

I've never owned a tv (had one in my family home growing up until age 17) - and never intend to. A glance at the program list enclosed with my daily paper ensures that I never feel like I am missing anything.

Does it have anything to do with today's society and problems? Probably. Exactly what, I am not sure. The programs certainly appear to be sensationalist, titivating, and shallow, in general.

[Motu]

What's new? These lyrics were written in 1973 (maybe ealier,but Overnight Sensation was released in 1973) and they seemed pretty right for the day.Have you all been sleeping.

I am gross and perverted
I'm obsessed n deranged
I have existed for years
But very little has changed
I am the tool of the government
And industry too
For I am destined to rule
And regulate you

I may be vile and pernicious
But you can't look away
I make you think I'm delicious
With the stuff that I say
I am the best you can get
Have you guessed me yet?
I am the slime oozin out
From your tv set

You will obey me while I lead you
And eat the garbage that I feed you
Until the day that we don't need you
Don't got for help...no one will heed you
Your mind is totally controlled
It has been stuffed into my mold
And you will do as you are told
Until the rights to you are sold

That's right, folks..
Don't touch that dial

Well, I am the slime from your video
Oozin along on your livinroom floor

[Indiana_Jones]

I for one blame boobies

-Indy

[skidMark]

After a few chats with a co-worker got me thinking(yes it hurt). Is What is shown on tv and in movies responsible for the lawlessness and hurt in this world today.

Is shows like:

Worlds most shocking moments
COPS
WWE"RAW,Smackdown,ECW"
Jackass
Saw movies

that show lots of violence and language that can offend ppl

I'm not one that is offended by theses

But it makes you think doesn't it

would like your thoughts


how about you dont have a bike...you never will... so why don't you just leave?

i really dont understand why you are still on the site.<_<

[Pixie]

When i grow up, I want to be a principal or a caterpillar

[Dave Lobster]

It becomes the parent's fault too.



Particularly when apostrophes are inappropriately used. Or not.

I think that these days, Coyote's apostrophe is in exactly the right place. (assuming one child)

[fire eyes]

the treaty of waitangi is responsible for most of todays problems. if the fuckin maori didnt spend their lives blaming everyone for their own problems perhaps they would join the europeans in this century and start acting civilised, get themselves a education, and get on with it.......most of them are a pretty poor excuse for human beings

really ...

[NighthawkNZ]

I simply blame every one else... :bash:

[hayd3n]

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The boys got a head like an atom bomb
Hang him from a cross like the number one son
And hes been waiting so long
To get it on.
The boys 15 but hes 16 gauge
Wants to break out from his jesus cage
Hes already torn out the last page
Its the latest rage
Violence for the people
They always eat the hand that bleeds
Violence for the people
Give the kids what they need
Kill your god, kill your god
Kill your tv
The boys purified by the quitter gods
Burning up his cross like a revelation
And his glass jaw opens
Like a puppet head
This is what you should fear
You are what you should fear

[Genestho]

Aye? Then how come I got the strap when I was at Primary school? (first day infact) You a bit older than I aren't ya love....



Oh good, I'm not the only one, I wondered that myself, I got a wallop with the ruler round the legs at highschool for being a bit lippy.

I can't pin point Telly to be honest, it's mere a reflection of what's going on in the world around us.

I recon a lack of learned boundaries, figuring out how basic things work, and lashings of cotton wool, I mean simple things, like kid's not being allowed to climb trees at school anymore.

BULLRUSH! Man that was hardcore! Kids don't even know what that is anymore!!!!

Building mean huts, and go carts..slingshot's (ooo)

Kid's don't seem to have the ability or gumption to explore like kids used to?
Our needs were so basic, compared to the needs today.

We made our own fun. it didn't need a button, or a label to stimulate us.

Because there is a lacking ability of self stimulation, you get boredom, and then trouble.

Lacking parenting skills, drugs and alcohol, stress, poverty and dysfunction just appear to add another layer to the icing.

[gatch]

With all the rubbish being pumped out from all the easily accessable media outlets, its understandable that society is looking more and more like what we see on tv.. Monkey see monkey do right..

Kids get away with murder now because mostly they know they won't be punished, kids are having sex younger and younger, the world moves faster and faster all the time.

It doesn't help that noone really wants to account for their own actions now either. Ie when most people get pulled up by the police they go "oh fuckin cops are just being power tripping cunts". Someone gets cut off in traffic and instead of apologizing most perpetrators say "ahh get fucked". I guess kids pick up on these kinds of attitudes...

I would blame parents more so than television.

[AD345]

Good christ.

ANOTHER rant about society/youf/ills/mayhem/murder???

I dunno where the fuck you all live but it aint my world.

[Forest]

Tough one. Television reflects the viewers choice. If a program isn't popular, people don't watch it, advertisers won't use it, so it gets dumped.

It is complex, because people don't make good choices for themselves and their families.

A great way to think about it is to look at children. If adults don't supervise their diet, their natural tendency is to consume an excess of sweets and fast food. Similarly, they'll overdose on crap TV if given the opportunity.