Jacqui's Vent on Why Television Should Be Shut Down

[Corals]

Originally Posted by terrence

Corals - I think that we both know who the majority is watching those shows. Through our numbers we need to hold the networks accountable for their decisions. We need to make sure they listen to us and know that certain shows will not be tolerated despite how many white people may want to see them.

That may be so, but from my understanding there are a lot of 'us' who seem to be passionate about such shows, and these are the ones who have to realise that these shows are doing more damage than good. On the other hand, if they don't think that these shows are doing damage, do you think they are going to voice an opinion to the networks that such shows will not be tolerated?

[terrence]

On the other hand, if they don't think that these shows are doing damage, do you think they are going to voice an opinion to the networks that such shows will not be tolerated?

Good question. I guess the answer would be "no". For those of us who would like to voice our opinion where do we go? Even with the Internet I do not know where to go to write the networks.

[Samoon]

Originally Posted by terrence

Corals - I think that we both know who the majority is watching those shows. Through our numbers we need to hold the networks accountable for their decisions. We need to make sure they listen to us and know that certain shows will not be tolerated despite how many white people may want to see them.

I agree with you Terrence. Just yesterday evening (and I will be the first one to say that I gave up moreorless on the idiot box some years back, but whatever blows up your skirt!) I stopped briefly over a sib's home and her teen-agers were watching some new show called The Game or something like that. Apparently it was the premiere episode...well as the show unfolded, it seemed to be about pro athletes, their wives, g/friends, etc. Low and behold, what do I see? Yet ANOTHER sit-com with a black male paired off with yet another white female. Tay Diggs...you got your ears on? It is bad enough that black, female actresses have a difficult time finding viable, suitable roles in front of the camera. Diversity may be a good thing (for some anyway) but it is disheatening when ad agencies, etc. and US continue in supporting shows like this when black people should be voicing disagreement and boy-cotting programs such as this one. :whistling Go figure. I hear you Jacqui, I hear you Sis.

I haven't completely given up on tv. There are still some good, quality programming to be found. And as far as kids go, yes I think too many of them sit in front of the tv when they should be out enjoying life and being young. I think PBS still has quality children's programming, and the morning/afternoon cartoons on Nick are cool. (Although the later you get, the less quality there is on Nick.) I personally watch a lot of the old tv shows from back in the day on Tvland and some other stations, shows like Lucy, Good Times, Jeffersons, Benson, Charlie's Angels, A-Team. (Yes dammit, I watch the A-Team.) You pretty much know what you're gonna get when you watch those shows. Nothing to be shocked, saddened, or sickened by.

[LadyNoir]

I agree RanRan that if one picks and chooses programming there are some shows that can safely be watched. I have a 6 year old granddaughter who stays over night with me sometimes, and one night she and I were watching cartoons (I watch right along with her, since I found that some of them can be pretty raunchy, South Park for one!) Any way I had the TV on a cartoon station one night and everything was going along pretty nicely, until I dozed off, to be awakened to the sounds of vulgarity. The cartoons had gone from "G" rated to whatever! So I always watch anything she watches whether I really want to or not.

I like news shows, educational programming, documentaries, some religious programming, football and basketball games, Gunsmoke, some of the older shows like The Jeffersons and sometimes Good Times (the episodes that included John Amos), Sanford and Son from time to time, when Grady is not in the episode, and some old movies, especially the ones in black and white (murder mysteries, WESTERNS, and gangster movies). I sometimes watch the do-it-yourself shows like the ones on HGTV, and nature and travel shows.

As far as the new movies, I wait until some of my movie-going friends have seen them and I ask them enough questions so that I can get an advanced idea of whether it is fit to watch when it does become available on DVD or starts being shown on TV.


@:

Originally Posted by terrence

shows like the Flavor of Love which, is nothing but a modern minstrel show.

I watched some of the episodes of the first minstrel show, but had no intentions of watching the second episode, and have not watched any.

It's sad but you do have to be careful of even cartoons now days. They aren't like the ones I grew up with.

[love2talk]

It's really a shame when people are willing to compromise their standards or integrity to star in shows that make them look absolutely stupid. Flava Flav's show is so stupid & makes all of them wanting to fight over a man they would not normally be going out of the way to date look very desperate. Why would any woman with class even want to compete for the same ugly guy anyway?

[Goodrain]

Originally Posted by jacqui

Ok so I was home this weekend not feeling well and that in itself may have a little to do with this vent. I was bedridden for a couple of days with a 48 hour flu. lol. I spent the weekend watching television and reading. While watching television, my vent is this:
All of us as blacks need to remove ourselves from this idiot box. I watched for the first time. Flava Flav show, a new show coming on with this huge black man in this crazy submissive role to this smaller white boy. I watched and thought, "We ought to be ashamed of ourselves".
BET showing 25 most %$^$##% things blacks have done. I watched something that had the 25 most richest, powerful and respectful blacks in America. They were rated on a scale of 1-5 and while many blacks got a 4 and 5 with respect and money, no one got over a 3 in regards to power. We have really regressed to buffonory on television and appear to not be ashame of it. Now I am not unaware of who is behind of putting forth these negative, destructive and idiotic images of black folk.

I just don't know what to say about the images that go across the world of us. The mightiest group of people to ever exist and we are resorting to this. I understand racism white supremacy and how subtle and powerful it can be when it wants to be.
What really bothers me is this idiot box babysits a large majority of our children. A lot of our children are taught by BET, VH1, MTV and all the other 3 digit helpers in the destruction of our children.

I just have not sat down and watched television in a long time and was stunned at what I was seeing. I literally came undone and started crying. I am trying to do everything I can to help us as a race of people but this weekend, things look pretty bleak to me.

I thank The Most High for this website and the emails from you Baba, you have no idea the positive affect the emails you send have on me.

Television is mostly madness. Alot of times we need to get away from things in order to recognize the real and undevine.

[sister]

Sister Jacqui I hope you find solace in the knowledge that you are obviously not alone. Some friends and I were having this conversation just this past weekend about the same shows. We're all involved with community development in some form or the other and many of us work directly with children. These shows are definitely having an effect on our children.
I believe, as Terrence stated, that the majority of people watching these shows are not us. Although, as Coral stated, there are a lot of us watching...we're not the ones keeping the ratings up. Our national numbers alone (even if half of us watched regularly) would not warrant VH1 keepin' Flav on for a third season.
What's equally embarrasing to me are the preview commercials for these shows. Have yall' seen the commercials for Flava of Love where the woman presents chicken as an offering to her Flava Flav alter. Or the one with two white men where one is trying to convince his entranced eye rolling, b-boy hand gesturing, ebonic talking friend that he is not Flava Flav.
I wonder...is this the result of white & other non-black people co-opting Hip-Hop or 'Black culture'? Do they now feel that they're 'down' enough to represent us in any manner least of all a humorous one? It's very hard for me to believe that these are black writer's & producers creating these shows. Although it seems extremely easy to find willing buffoons to act in these "modern day minstrels".


Peace,

[Coming4thMaaT]

The study of electronic media in school has exposed me to many negative things about TV. Most of you have mentioned them already. All I will say is this I have been 95% television free for about 8 months now and the benifits are remarkable. A year ago my evenings and weekends where right in line with the rest of America. Sit infront of the box for hours. Flipping channels aimlessly even when there was nothing on. Sitting and watching being sybliminaly ecouraged to go out and spend money (that I dont have) on meaningless cars, clothes, and unhealthy foods.

However now that the TV has been all but erased from my life. My days have been so much more productive. I fill my time with books on African history and African fiction. I have more time to focus on eating right and getting proper excersice. I have time to imajin and ponder the future of not only African kind but mankind as a whole. My point being this. Regardless if you agree with what is being shown on TV there is one thing you cannot dispute. The more you watch TV a cold medium (requires little mental responce from consumer) the less time you spend doing things that benifit you mind body and soul. Take a look at people you know who absorb 6 to 7 hours of TV a day. They are genarlly less happy, more iratable, more irashional, and less agreeable then people who spend the majority of their time with hot media(requires high levels of participation from consumer) such as reading, writing, and drawing.

"A book a day keeps the opressors at bay"