Things About Television That Irritate Me

CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS

TELEVISION THINGS THAT IRRITATE ME

     Television producers don’t get it. Below are several examples.

     I’m sitting working in a motel room in Black Lake, New York. My husband and I are watching a movie on television as I write this. We try to be respectful of other guests when we are traveling. When we have the television on, the volume is just loud enough for us to hear—that is, until the commercials. Then the television set can be heard above the noise of the party three doors down. So as I type, I am being blasted by unwelcome sound that makes us inconsiderate of other guests. And if the advertisers think this is a way of selling me their product, they are sorely mistaken. When commercials remove my ability to be considerate, I am unlikely to consider their product for my use.

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     Speaking of television, another irritation is program creators who underestimate the intelligence of their audience. Cue in the guffaw track. One evidence is their their use of laugh tracts—which is very distracting, and reduces the audience to robots. Cue in the snirts and snorts. I refuse to give them the power to determine what I find humorous. I can do that myself—and it might not be the lines the laugh tract suggests. Cue in the laugh track.

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     Have you ever noticed the cleaning product ads? They have women dressed to the nines, in a perfect house, but oooohh, her toilet or her floor or her carpet is just cruddy with filth. Added to that is the horror that even one germ should survive the cleaning frenzy.

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     Television ads (as well as other media) feel entitled to inform me what products I must use to make me an attractive person, to make me lovable…extreme white teeth, long eyelashes, no dark circles under the eyes, clean-shaven legs, the latest style fad. Who do you think profits from this frenzy that now reaches its tentacles to the youngest of our young? Perhaps the message should be that it’s who you are, not what products you buy, that makes you lovable.

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     Finally: do we need to be constantly told to toss out our sweeping tools because some company has come up with a new one that they tell you is far more efficient? Think of the landfills permeated with items tossed out just because something new has come along. What is the matter with ads telling us that when we need a new item, their product is worth trying?

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     Oh, yes, I get it—convincing us to toss out good cleaning items is healthy to the company’s pocket book!

ADDITIONAL READING:

Jellyfish Sting Wallis Sands Beach Visitors

The Donut King Restaurant in Ogdensburg, New York

The Chicken Soup Myth

“Over-Stuffed”

The Legacy of Hopedale, Massachusetts