Television: The Idiot Box Essay – An In-Depth Analysis of Its Impact
Television: The Idiot Box Essay
Recent generation can never envisage the fun, excitement and passion of the people who gather round the television in their living rooms and get glued to it as long as their time permits. The elders are still missing the time in deep nostalgic tone when they observed the roads all empty and desolate at the time of drama serials of T.V.
Expressing our minds has been one of our basic necessities. We look for different means and sources to exchange our thoughts with other fellow beings. T.V. is, no doubt, the most influential medium that serves the purpose. The television, the T.V., the idiot-box, the electronic babysitter, the magical screen in our living-rooms which has brought us news, sports, weather, education, entertainment, excitement, bemusement and rage, has come a long way since its inception. Nearly 100 years ago T.V. broadcasting started in the 1930s and Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first American president, a political figure, to appear on television, at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Since then T.V. has been a sole emperor of the realm of almost every ambit of human activity.
One can argue that T.V. has lost its impact and importance in the recent era as the flood of electronic devices studded with internet web has overshadowed the role of T.V. in our lives. Apparently, the argument is valid but we cannot deny the fact that it is sort of a T.V. screen that is visible everywhere in almost every modern electronic gadget. No matter it is mobile’s screen or telephone LCD screen or laptop screen or the over head projector screen, the basic concept of moving images discovered by Mr. John Logie Baird speaks volumes of the evident existence of T.V. .
The word ‘television’ comes from the Greek word ‘tele’ meaning ‘from afar’. Just like how telephone, and telegraph mean sounds, and writing, or messages, from afar, television means pictures from afar. Once, the ancient rulers of greater Persia used to divine by crystal gazing. The cup of Jamshaid was a magical crystal cup that showed the seven layers of the world. The recent television is the exact extension of the cup of Jamshaid that is available to everyone now. We can put the whole world on our palm now. The world has shrunk to our television screen; with just a click we can access anything anywhere.
Television has got a status of our family members. There would be hardly any family without it. It is a reliable friend of everyone at home. As everything has its own barbs and bouquets so does the television, the very positive feature of T.V. has now become an indispensible social dilemma. Parents of the present generation are greatly worried by the fact that their kids have become addicted to television. Ironically the complaint of the parents is hilarious as they themselves are the victim of the captivating colourful screen that keeps them busy, showing different world of nonstop entertainment and enjoyment. Keeping the importance and influence of T.V., it is widely used to propagate the typical opinion in the country. Even it is considered one of stake holders of the country. The use of T.V is so rampant that our kids have developed a sense of being neglected. The concept of unity is also getting rare. Everyone is busy in his framed life and busy in hatching his own web of thoughts concerning least with other family members. This word of T.V. is too much with us.
As far knowledge imparting is concerned T.V. is not playing its role in true sense, rather it is producing a lot of idiots who don’t use their mind and follow whatever is shown to them. That is the reason T.V. is called idiot box.
So, please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your T.V. set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookcase on the wall.”
