Television has been the reason for bringing families together and tearing them apart. Its been known to be informative and sometimes reliable but until recently I have noticed television has become the sole creator of what I like to call “The Pseudo-Professional. These “Pseudo-Professionals” watch countless marathons on crime, vigilantes, and politics and automatically believe they can do the same in the real world without silly little things like degrees, professional training, and experience. I too am guilty of this. Every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday I sit in front of my television, turn it on USA and watch Law and Order SVU. After hours of countless episodes I feel like I can go out when in reality it takes months even sometimes years to get warrants, evidence, lab work, testimonies, trial prep, the actual trial, and sentencing. Lucky for us Law and Order SVU manages to do it in 42 minutes.
Fortunately for me I know better but some people don’t. Lately I have been seeing reports left and right of copy cat characters from very popular but dangerous shows like Showtimes “Dexter” and ABC’s “Scandal”. There was a person who really stalked, knocked out and tried to cut up someone he thought was a pedophile which mirrors the show “Dexter” to the letter. In seeing this it really made me wonder how influential IS television? Does it really have the power to change someones whole perspective on life? Or is it that the mind is so impressionable its not really televisions fault?
Just like everything else TV does have its ups and downs. TV can be a great way for children to learn about letters, numbers, polar icecaps, and the life cycle of a butterfly but it can also show what a group of people do in jersey and how to get away with a crime. A give and take yes but I think the lesson is really everything is moderation. Too much of anything can warp your mind, especially the minds of a young child.