Just say no to TV Turnoff Week

Next week (April 25-May 1) marks National TV Turnoff Week, the annual protest by the TV Turnoff Network to save (yikes!) the country from the evils (gasp!) of the small screen. I wish I knew more about the organization, but I’ve been too busy wondering what Sloane and Jack are up to on Alias and haven’t had time to find out more. My point is this: What good does a week of turning off your TV do in the long run? It’s a fairly meaningless gesture to begin with (advertisers really won’t be hurt, and parents and kids will go back to watching TV the very next day), and what does it prove? That families can do without TV for a few days? Gee, I sure hope so. It’s really not that hard to do, especially when you know all the TV you want is just a week away.

I’ve received letters from folks who I would assume agree with TV Free America’s theory that the less TV the better. That people should be doing other things with their lives: reading, outdoor activities, forming meaningful relationships, work, etc. But all of these parties fall into the same trap TV bashers have been falling into for 30 years: It’s not an “all or nothing” scenario. TV really can be part of a balanced lifestyle. Serious TV fans and casual fans alike (and I count myself among the former) can have careers, strong relationships, a healthy diet and normal personalities — and get enough fresh air and exercise. And there’s a fallacy that people who watch a lot of TV don’t read. Now, I’m sure there are thousands of kids (and even more adults, actually) who don’t want to read, but I don’t think getting them away from the TV is going to make them suddenly renew their library card (unless, of course, they need to read the latest John Grisham novel because “everyone else is”). On a personal note, I watch an amazing amount of television (because I want to) and still manage to read several books a month and three newspapers a day, work a full-time job, enjoy a social life and run every single morning at 6 a.m. And anyone else can do the same thing. Why is television looked upon as some sort of insidious disease that must curtailed or eliminated?

There’s a lot of great stuff on television amid all the dreck. Sure, we have Jerry Springer and The Simple Life and The Bachelor and Star Jones, but I’ll take all of that if we also get The West Wing, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Frontline, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, Good Eats, Arrested Development, The Daily Show, Letterman, and The Simpsons. TV really has a great batting average.

Do I think kids and parents should sit in front of the TV all day long? Of course not. But I also don’t think they should read books all day long or eat yogurt all day long either, no matter how good for you those things are supposed to be. Everything in moderation. The anti-TV people seem to think that if you sat in a big chair all day and read that you'd get sculpted abs. No, you'd be fat. But holding a “Close Your Books Week” would be rather ridiculous, right? Same for television. If TV is killing or warping us as a people, then there’s something seriously wrong somewhere. And I don’t mean Orange County, Wisteria Lane, or Everwood, CO.

I find it extremely odd that the people who participate in a National TV Turnoff Week actually find it necessary to do such a thing! Why do these people have to take an entire week during a certain time of year to “rid themselves” of television? Can’t they do this on their own, maybe find that balance in their lives that can include television? Take an active role in their lives and the lives of their children?

Maybe the parents participating in this event feel guilty about using television as a babysitter (though I was a big TV watcher as a kid and I think I grew up better adjusted than some of my classmates; you think parents and my own personal responsibility to do other things with my life had anything to do with it — ya think?). They can declare their household TV-free for a week and feel like they’re doing something for their children. Then, when the week is over, they can go back to not paying attention to what their kids are doing, drinking too many beers on weekends, swearing in front of their 7-year-olds, slapping them when they cry at a restaurant, and being too busy in general to really give a shit. What, we turn off TV for a week, slap ourselves on the forehead and say “Doh! It’s TV that is ruining my life! I better go renew my gym membership, invent a life-saving medical device and work in that soup kitchen!”

Look at it this way, if you truly and honestly think that turning off your television for a week (or more) is going to improve your life, then you better seriously rethink the way you live your life the other 51 weeks of the year.

Watch less television? OK, fine. Let’s work, make love, read the classics, walk along the beach, climb mountains, enjoy great works of art, go to a nice restaurant, spend time with your spouse, friends, and family, have a career, watch a sunset, live and laugh.

Just also remember that Alias is on every Wednesday at 9. It’s really a great show. Have you seen it?