Living without TV and movies, would be so dull.
I love TV, movies and the very idea of it all.
We lived opposite the movie house, and growing up movies played a huge part in our lives.
When I played hookey, I ended up at the movies.
When I started smoking as a teenager that was where we went.
I learned so much from TV and movies. The books I read, took me to the exotic places of the world, but movies gave the places shape and color. Actors helped flesh out the accents, and nuances that I read about.
I honestly don't think I would be the same person if it wasn't for TV and movies.
Good or bad, it is, what it is.
Looking back I think that TV and movies might have been as influential a shaping force in my life as even school might have been. That either is a testament to how much I learned from movies, or how little I think I learned at school.
We lived opposite the movie house, and growing up movies played a huge part in our lives.
When I played hookey, I ended up at the movies.
When I started smoking as a teenager that was where we went.
I learned so much from TV and movies. The books I read, took me to the exotic places of the world, but movies gave the places shape and color. Actors helped flesh out the accents, and nuances that I read about.
I honestly don't think I would be the same person if it wasn't for TV and movies.
Good or bad, it is, what it is.
Looking back I think that TV and movies might have been as influential a shaping force in my life as even school might have been. That either is a testament to how much I learned from movies, or how little I think I learned at school.
Some of my friends didn't have a TV in their homes. Even our black and white TV was a luxury to some. They ended up spending time with me in front of our TV so there went their parent's principled positions.
Yes, I wasted lots of time in front of the tube.
The time I could have spent memorizing the combined works of Charles Dickens.
Time I could have spent on my schoolwork and maybe I wouldn't have ended up a dropout.
But looking back from my vantage point, it's not time I wish I spent differently.
I am either corrupt beyond redemption or really have no regrets.
Yes, I wasted lots of time in front of the tube.
The time I could have spent memorizing the combined works of Charles Dickens.
Time I could have spent on my schoolwork and maybe I wouldn't have ended up a dropout.
But looking back from my vantage point, it's not time I wish I spent differently.
I am either corrupt beyond redemption or really have no regrets.
The problem is that as a parent, before the Internet, it was not possible to provide sufficient stimulation to a child that wanted to know about everything. Children have an insatiable hunger for knowledge, and it would be near impossible for a parent to be able to keep up and still have a life.
It takes twelve years of schooling to kill that part of our children, so they can go out into the world and fit into civilized society. Without asking a million awkward questions.
It takes twelve years of schooling to kill that part of our children, so they can go out into the world and fit into civilized society. Without asking a million awkward questions.
My father in law was just the same. When he came to supper, we had none of the awkward need to make small talk. All he wanted after he greeted us all was to set him up with a good action movie, and lots of tea and an ashtray. And he was all set for the night. The tv had to be really loud as he was quite deaf towards the end.
I loved the "no pressure" visits and appreciated that I didn't have to entertain him.
I loved the "no pressure" visits and appreciated that I didn't have to entertain him.
When I grow old I want to be like that.
What I hadn't planned on was this new wave of fundamentalists who have thrown out the TV from their homes.
There is a new wave of people who choose to not have the evil box in their lives and I have a front row to that debate.
2015-7-31
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