On Fri, Jun 19, 2015 at 4:16 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> I just watched both Daily Show and Nightly Show. And if I'm honest, both > are examples of why I don't watch those sorts of shows anymore. Both > admitted, as the president did, to the fatigue of having to react to > another tragedy, knowing nothing will change. I don't doubt the sincerity > of Stewart or Willmore, but the rhetoric just doesn't matter, regardless of > whether I agree with it. It is too emotionally draining to be inundated > with opinions catered to an audience who already agrees with you. It is why > even though I find Jon Stewart much more affable than a Bill O'Reilly or a > Dennis Miller, in the end I find myself just as frustrated and exhausted > watching him. And although I intentionally didn't watch the news at all the > past 48 hrs (those who follow me on the Book of Face or the Plus of Google > can read my post explaining why), I'd guess the news people reacted in much > the same way as the Comedy Central teams, rehashing the same material they > always do after a mass shooting. > > As NBC Pages, we used to say that Jay Leno only had 25 monologue jokes... > he'd simply change the names and dates to make them applicable to whomever > was in office or whomever got arrested or whomever got drunk. And that's > how I feel about all the current events comedy shows in the US these days. > People used to say video games desensitized people. Well I've stayed away > from these sorts of shows for several months now, and this shooting > affected me deeply, moreso than Sandy Hook or any of the other recent > shootings, and I can't help but wonder if part of why I was so moved was I > had cleansed myself of the sarcasm and cynicism found in these programs; > all I was left with was my own unfiltered reaction to the murders of nine > people in a church. So while everyone on TV had this, "here we go again" > response, I couldn't relate. This one felt real to me. I've never been to > South Carolina, but I now feel connected to that old AME church. And > watching Daily and Nightly, I didn't feel connected to those programs at > all. > I respect your experience, but it is the opposite of mine. I watch TDS regularly, and TNS semi-regularly. Doing so had no muting affect on the painful response to hearing the news of the murders in South Carolina - indeed, I wish it did, as the pain has been deep and long-lasting. I also do not read his despair, or that of Obama's, as a numbing or lack of caring - quite the opposite. The fatigue is not to the pain or outrage of these horrors, but to the hope that the nation has the moral character to do anything about it. -- -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
