There are times I watch television, just as there are times I read or paint or even mow the lawn. I don't do any of them exclusively and as always there are things in my waking life that divert me because they are simply there. Television is one of them, and this cultural phenomenon can be seen in many ways, including being a force for good and enlightenment or equally as a complete waste of time. But however it is viewed, television is part of life.
There have been times I have needed what an old friend of mine (who incidentally wrote comedy for television) portrayed so accurately as 'necessary compost.' We all need it. Sometimes each of us needs in some way to kick our shoes off and do bugger all watching something on the box. Moving wallpaper at times, at others feeding the exhausted inner self.
Not everyone though loves television. I once know a man who worked for the BBC in lighting, who admitted cheerfully that he rarely wanted to watch it when he got home from work. It would annoy him to see anything badly lit but most of all he had seen the magic close up, and he knew it wasn't magic at all. This man also said that the last thing anyone wanted at the BBC was to watch television (I am always amused by people on telly who say they enthusiastically watch other shows or personalities on the goggle-box. They don't if they have any sense.) The bosses and all the rest of the workers, including the great and good actors and breezy personalities who dominate at great expense our airwaves, etc, would rather do other things than bathe in the light from the idiot's lantern, as my old headmaster used to call television.
I used to work with a married couple who avidly listened to the radio out of work and refused to have a television in their home. But as the woman made badly-fitting shorts for herself to wear and knitted him ties that hung even more badly while he bawled at people over their seeming lack of understanding of IT issues, I can see why they had no time for the box. Sure, they'd miss things like Breaking Bad if they hadn't got one but think of the money they'd save on the telly tax.
Ah yes, the vast amount of money we are required to pay for our state media service. Who knew that propaganda was so expensive to run? You would have thought a lie in favour of NuLab was fairly cheap to produce as they showed often during the Blair/Brown fiascos.
The BBC is slickly done and equally slickly oiled to present the State's view, no matter what you think. Which may explain why on a popular early evening show we had Romanians telling us how much they had already contributed to British society, amazingly just ahead of the planned arrival of a whole lot more architects and actors and so on from that country.
Equally I was amused how a regional politician, again on the BBC, told the audience (twice) that she wanted a northern city to be "child-friendly" by closing several men-only clubs. At no point did the BBC 'journalist' facing this woman question how a late-opening club for definitely and checkable over-21 males was opposed to child-friendliness. This too in a place where not so far away it wasn't unknown for members of a certain religion to try to seduce young girls not of their family.
No one at the BBC apparently likes asking the awkward questions. If you thought journalists are supposed to ask 'why?' then you'd be wrong. The BBC don't like that, but why rock the boat when the rewards for typing up gub'mint (or would-be gub'mint) press releases are so rewarding?
I am not much in favour of the BBC, as you might guess by now. It is supposedly a 'service' but it has astonishing biases and doesn't serve everyone by any means, and some of the biases are pretty obvious. I have heard and seen -- as you have -- presenters fawn over socialists with vague and ill-thought out 'plans' for our suppression (sorry, social engineering) and then openly scowl at those who aren't in favour of state intervention in everything. It was telling when one broadcaster at the Beeb revealed that on the night Blair's lot won in '97 the corridors at the BBC were full of empty champagne bottles. I expect we paid for those from our TV licences, because if it was their own money they would have taken the empties back.
Yes, the joy at the big State Broadcaster having a Big State government back in business caused those champagne corks to pop, and pop again.
Recently the BBC sent a huge number of people to South Africa for Nelson Mandela's funeral and a casual observer may have been forgiven in thinking that Mandela was British, given the amount of time and space that was devoted on every news bulletin -- TV and radio and tinterwebz alike -- to the death of a 95 year old man. But, the Beeb deemed it necessary to praise and then praise some more the passing of this man. Of course, I accept there may have been little else in the news, because you may not know this but a TV news show of half-an-hour has to have half-an-hour's worth of news, preferably with film.
No one ever says, halfway through the News, "Oh well, that's it. Nothing more going on."
(On this matter increasingly we are shown a lot of blurred or out-of-focus' videos lest we think the people in the shot are guilty of whatever some report says, or we get feet to stare at. Trainers, natch, if they are unemployed male yoofs, push chair wheels if unemployed single mums on benefits.)
You only have, however, to listen to the BBC instead of watching it to detect the hectoring tone of the Corporation. The news slants subtly towards criticisms of capitalism and rejection of any traditional or conservative viewpoints. Good news on the economy? BBC not happy, so cut to Labour posturing in the House of Commons as they say they don't approve, followed but the newsman or woman's pointed question about whether we are all benefitting from this upturn in fortunes. How about a Vox Pop of people saying how little they have now? Then there are the experts the BBC bring in, who soon reveal themselves to be either not very expert or having an agenda to push.
But as I say it is all slickly-made and to a large degree sick-making. It is subtle, but watch and learn. You pay for all this (120 BBC staff to South Africa apparently, and there were 600 plus sent crying and screaming to hotels in China for the Beijing Olympics... Aunty must know some low cost airlines) and they feed you propaganda and bias and little homely pieces about how multi-culuralism has helped us all.
Perhaps it has, but occasionally wouldn't it be good to hear the other side so we can judge for ourselves? No... wait, no time for that! Next up it is Strictly Come Hectoring and you won't want to miss those TV celebrities doing all that polished, glamorous hectoring for you.
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