COULD IT BE?

The other night, while flopping down in my recliner to watch some shows we had recorded, I was struck by something that all of these show series have in common. I wonder if you have also noticed this as well. Most of the time, I just sort of watch the show superficially, even dozing off occasionally. I would, at times, try to understand what some of the characters were really saying in their scripted lines. But now, it has come more apparent to me that we, as Americans, have, are, and will be victims of the TV show writers as they force us to take on the dysfunctionality of these characters that we are watching.

The show I was watching presents us with 3 children, one girl, and two boys all born the same day, one child, a black boy abandoned at birth, being adopted by this white couple after the mother, expecting triplets, lost her third child the day she delivered the other two. From there, the series follows these kids in adulthood, alternating scenes back and forth from their childhood. What hit me was how grossly dysfunctional these people are and how they got there. Granted, the writers of the show must have this emotional diversity and mental discombobulation in order to keep their show going on ad infinitum, but it makes one wonder if the audience is affected psychologically by all of this or are they just watching to get a kick out the severe disabling effect these characters have had placed upon them.

For me, I think, Americans are becoming more and more psychologically touched nowadays. It didn’t start yesterday. I noticed it in the 1990’s. My patients were becoming more and more involved into themselves with the weirdest concerns and what seemed to be invented problems, some of which were on the verge of being psychotic. You see, gone are the days of Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Jackie Gleason Show, and Sid Caesar. Gone are the days of Life with Father, The Steve Allen Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Twilight Zone, The Jetsons, The Flintstones and shows that purely entertained us.

But not now! What seems a lifetime, cartoon shows like The Simpsons sprung up along with South Park and a load of them recently, all of which are starring emotionally scarred characters. Using comedy and absurd situations, these shows have eventually sucked the unsuspecting audience into to their grasp of tortured characters.They are now including people either victimized by their past, present and, in some cases, the future. The characters are unable to live normal lives. 

I know, I know. They aren't supposed to or the show would be canceled for lack of ratings. But is that really good for those of us who just want to be entertained and not mentally affected by these actors’ propensities to unravel in their daily lives?

Their TV emotional problems seem to find their way into the lives of those who watch them intently every day. People can and are capable of taking on the emotional and mental defects of those that are in their living rooms every night. Not only are the adults susceptible to this clandestine psychological invasion of their minds, the children watching are even more susceptible. Is it possible that some of our kids see what gut-wrenching worries the TV characters express as normal and therefore seek these “normal” feelings of despair and angst in their own lives and environment?

Is there a possibility we being subliminally affected by the often sick and demented desperate people we see in just about every TV series on the main channels and especially on the cable channels? Are our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren being seriously affected in a negative way by what is purposely being fed to us daily as we try to relax after a day’s work? Even the cartoons of the present offer sometimes dangerously affected participants with irrational reactions to normal conditions.

I’m sure there will be those who believe I may be overreacting, but I thought I would just bring up the issue and let you take it from here.