dumb TV

[OrdinaryMelkite]

Surely I am not the only one who has noticed the ‘dumbing down’ of TV in the last few years.

Seems like the popular new programs all feature dumb rednecks. Like Snake Salvation, Gator Boys, Duck Dynasty and my Favorite, Wild Man who has no teeth.

What is the cause of all this? Distraction from real issues?

Have you watched Duck Dynasty?

You may not ( I guess) like the way they look and act----but they are an honest-to-goodness entrepeneurial family with COLLEGE DEGREES who have come by their money honestly. They are rich as well----but honestly rich.

And they are also (non-Catholic, but still) Christian, God-fearing people who pray before each meal.
In fact, they got into controversy just recently when they complained that their network was editing out the meal-time prayers out of numerous episodes.

Could it be that your decision that they (at least the Robertsons) are somehow the decline of western civilization be made partly out of preconceived notions and just plain “snobbery?”

Just asking. :

 

[OrdinaryMelkite]

As well as valuing education, all but one of them having college degrees.

 

[NeedsMercy]

I think seeing how, “stupid” others act, is supposed to make the viewer feel better about themselves. Maybe the writers are smoking something…

I think you’ve hit on it. Today, geeks are now “in”; however, not everybody qualifies to be a Sheldon Cooper. So, what do they do? They compare themselves to those of questionable intelligence and say to themselves “See, I’m smart. I’m a geek, too.” It’s all relative.

 

[pnewton]

Could it be that your decision that they (at least the Robertsons) are somehow the decline of western civilization be made partly out of preconceived notions and just plain “snobbery?”

They are not the decline of TV (not western civilization). Airing glorified homevideos on what once was educational television, is.

 

[mikekle]

Have you watched Duck Dynasty?

You may not ( I guess) like the way they look and act----but they are an honest-to-goodness entrepeneurial family with COLLEGE DEGREES who have come by their money honestly. They are rich as well----but honestly rich.

And they are also (non-Catholic, but still) Christian, God-fearing people who pray before each meal.
In fact, they got into controversy just recently when they complained that their network was editing out the meal-time prayers out of numerous episodes.

Could it be that your decision that they (at least the Robertsons) are somehow the decline of western civilization be made partly out of preconceived notions and just plain “snobbery?”

Just asking. :

Ive never seen this show, or even heard of it, but I doubt they are real, in the way you describe. broadcasting networks go to GREAT lengths to make certain things SEEM to be real, but it is not, Id take a guess it is all made up and pre planned/scripted.

I can say for 100% factual, EVERYTHING on TV is highly scripted, everything from the color of the socks people wear to the motion of the trees swaying in background shots, and sometimes, even more scripted, it is very intense! show creators know what to do, they know beforehand what people want to see, how the characters should be portrayed, their backgrounds, educations, etc. it is all scripted.

 

[andrewstx]

Have you watched Duck Dynasty?

You may not ( I guess) like the way they look and act----but they are an honest-to-goodness entrepeneurial family with COLLEGE DEGREES who have come by their money honestly. They are rich as well----but honestly rich.

And they are also (non-Catholic, but still) Christian, God-fearing people who pray before each meal.
In fact, they got into controversy just recently when they complained that their network was editing out the meal-time prayers out of numerous episodes.

Could it be that your decision that they (at least the Robertsons) are somehow the decline of western civilization be made partly out of preconceived notions and just plain “snobbery?”

Just asking. :

Mr Melkite, I was born and raised in the south and I have had ‘church of Christ’ Baptist,and now "nondenominational’ crammed down my throat for over 50 years. I was raised and baptized ‘church of Christ’ myself. In my small town there is one small parish (latin Catholic) and probably 30 Baptist and 3 large ‘church of Christ’ congregations. There is one small Methodist and one small Presbyterian church and those are the only main line Churches that exist here. If you are Catholic you are an outsider.

I already mentioned the town liquor election and the hysteria connected to it. These people vote dry and drink wet. I could not tell you where a Melkite church is but there are Ruthenians only 400 miles away in Albequerque. (sp).

I have already mentioned the bigotry of my late step-dad to an extent, he was typical for the area. I mentioned that he was proud to be a ‘backerds redudneck’,when I went to the Midwest to test my vocation he said I had ‘plumb left the country and went to yankeeland’.

There is a reverse snobbery here. Many people are prowed to be rednecks. Even though he held a degree my stepdad chose trucking as his vocation. People here are prowed of their hillbilly accents. They are prowd to say own for on, drank for drink.

When I converted away from the ‘church of Christ’ I was old I had left Christ and his church was disowned by my family and told I was going to hell. It is they who are snobs in reverse.

 

[stanncie]

I think most tv is trash anyways. The reason people including myself like old shows is that the only ones that survive and are still shown are the good ones. I myself don’t have cable and haven’t had it for close to 4 years already. The only hip show i watch is downton abbey which I love and sherlock that has not come back yet.

The rest of my time is spent watching videos on youtube and listening to a lot of music. I also have a tiny lol addiction to kdrama and I watch that as well. Again there are good and bad kdramas but at least I don’t have to worry about nudity, sexual content and excessive violence in kdrama since they censor it pretty tightly.

 

[JustaServant]

Bought a DVD player a decade ago and never looked back. Now I have wide selection of British comedy. selected American comedy, and drama. Outside of PBS, the Cable TV is hardly used.
Save for American Pickers, its the only reality show I watch. No drama, just focusing on the relics and antiques they find across the country.

As for Duck Dynasty. I watched a few minutes to see what all the fuss is about.
That’s as much as I could stomach.

 

[JustaServant]

You know thinking back, none of this is new. I remember watching when I was young such ‘masterpieces’ as Andy Griffith, Petticoat Junction, Beverly Hillbillies, and my all time favorite Hee Haw.

But in the southwest this was all accepeted as normal day of the week stuff. Nearly everyone is fundamentalist except for Latinoes who are Catholic and even they have abandoned the church and turn fundamentalist as well. We are having a liquor election once again. And you should hear the strident, hysterical voices of the dries.

“one drop makes you an instant alcoholic every time, keep our children safe, if the county is dry, no one will drink”.

The idiots don’t stop to realize that those who want a drink will just drive to the county line liquor store 30 miles away and drink all the way back home as they have wrecks and people are killed.

But this is all like a day in the life. My step dad would boast “ah’m prowed ta bay an ignert suthun reyudneck”. His accent. He died from lung cancer when I was only 20 years old. Quite the bigot he hated every one who wasn’t a texas, southern, redneck, Baptist, republican.

I am a Republican too, but not a tea party member as he would have been had they been invented at the time.

Not sure what part of the South you live in. But keep in mind these “rednecks” are human beings deserving of repect and dignity.

 

[quilisma]

I think you’ve hit on it. Today, geeks are now “in”; however, not everybody qualifies to be a Sheldon Cooper. So, what do they do? They compare themselves to those of questionable intelligence and say to themselves “See, I’m smart. I’m a geek, too.” It’s all relative.

I have to say, though, that I have my reservations about Sheldon Cooper… he worships Stephen Hawking, after all…

Our TV is mostly tuned to the DIY shows like “Holmes on Homes”, cooking shows such as “Good Eats”, or sports. I must say, however, there were a number of years when I didn’t own a TV at all and didn’t miss it a bit. I like books and the Internet a lot better.

 

[andrewstx]

Not sure what part of the South you live in. But keep in mind these “rednecks” are human beings deserving of repect and dignity.

I am completely aware of that, thanks for the reminder though

My problem laid mostly with my family however like SD who was ‘proud to be a backwards redneck’ and step sister who when my Daddy died rejected the hymn I had chosen for his funeral. Her reason ‘it’s not country enough’. I go to church for dignified worship for a dignified God and not a hillbilly hoedown.

As I said before I see this as snobery in reverse. A peverse pride in being backwards. A sense of superiority.

I was raised and live in west Texas. But I don’t fit in being Catholic and not fundamentalist.

 

[mikekle]

I am completely aware of that, thanks for the reminder though

My problem laid mostly with my family however like SD who was ‘proud to be a backwards redneck’ and step sister who when my Daddy died rejected the hymn I had chosen for his funeral. Her reason ‘it’s not country enough’. I go to church for dignified worship for a dignified God and not a hillbilly hoedown.

As I said before I see this as snobery in reverse. A peverse pride in being backwards. A sense of superiority.

I was raised and live in west Texas. But I don’t fit in being Catholic and not fundamentalist.

Its not reverse snobbery, it is just snobbery in general, those ‘southern red necks’ think they are better than any city folk and their ways are better than anyone elses, so they are no different from the super rich guy living in NYC. They dont realize they are both wrong LOL

 

[Phil_Marinus]

Reality TV is simply cheap to produce. With the plethora of channels, all they need is a small audience to make this cross between television and home movies profitable. Unfortunately, the quality of TV suffers as this dumbing down continues.

Well it’s nice to see that we here in Australia are not alone,because we have the same Rubbish here, just the Australian version of the same as what you see, just dribble ,

 

[Cat]

Ive never seen this show, or even heard of it, but I doubt they are real, in the way you describe. broadcasting networks go to GREAT lengths to make certain things SEEM to be real, but it is not, Id take a guess it is all made up and pre planned/scripted.

I can say for 100% factual, EVERYTHING on TV is highly scripted, everything from the color of the socks people wear to the motion of the trees swaying in background shots, and sometimes, even more scripted, it is very intense! show creators know what to do, they know beforehand what people want to see, how the characters should be portrayed, their backgrounds, educations, etc. it is all scripted.

Duck Dynasty is about a real family who make their money marketing duck calls that they create.

Certainly the show is edited. Most of the minutes in their daily lives are never seen.

But they are a real family. One of the family members made a speaking appearance at one of the churches in our city last weekend. (I didn’t go see him.)

And the show has a massive following among Evangelical Protestants. We visited the local Christian family book store last night (Protestant, but has a Catholic section), and there was quite a large display of Duck Dynasty goods.

And think about this–Duck Dynasty beat out American Idol in the ratings by a landslide! Isn’t that a good thing? Or at least a wash?