Are We Becoming A Nation Of Nasties?
Whilst channel hopping with
the TV remote the other night - as we all do when we haven't got anything better
to watch - I came across what I thought appeared to be a rather entertaining
quiz-combined-adventure programme. I happily watched while eating my Marmite and
crisp sandwich (bizarre I know, but you should give it a try some time before
you knock it - it really does taste delicious) as the contestants went through
their endurance tests and answered a few questions. However, I nearly choked on
a bit of Marmite-soaked cheese & onion crisp when it came to the moment in
the programme when the contestants had to nominate each other out of the game.
Some of the answers the contestants gave would have made Anne Robinson look like
a mild-mannered Blue Peter presenter (if that's possible). I know I should have
swapped channels there and then, but I was transfixed by the contestants'
vicious banter about each other. I felt that I was no better than the spectators
you see in films who eagerly await the gruesome hanging of the poor wretched
victim (who you know really is innocent in the movie).
After the
programme had ended, it left me with a very bitter taste in my mouth (and no it
wasn't the Marmite); I honestly felt quite depressed. Sadly, this programme and
the Weakest Link aren't the only programmes on television which feature
nastiness that is passed off as entertainment. Before the usually light-hearted
Blind Date came to an end, some of the contestants used to proudly bitch about
their 'holiday companions' in a way that seemed to me, to be totally
unjustified. Another programme which contains this pantomime nastiness but
without the humour, is Big Brother. I'll never forget last year's Big Brother 3
when I saw Adele coming out of the 'house' to loads of booing and jeering. The
nervous look on that poor girl's face made me want to weep. Murderers have
received less public hostility I'm sure.
Unfortunately, nastiness just
isn't reserved for the television, it has contaminated most gossip magazines and
newspapers, especially the Sundays - it's everywhere. It's like a disease. And
this disease is bound to affect those who come into contact with it; more so, I
would suspect, children whose minds are very impressionable. For instance, I was
in a shop the other day when I couldn't help but overhear two schoolgirls
bitching to each other about some unfortunate girl who is in the same class as
them at school. Some of the things they were saying about her left me cold. And
yes, there was bitching when I was in school, but never as bad as I had heard
that day. Is it any wonder that bullying in schools is on the rise? The number
of children who commit suicide as a result of bullying is rocketing.
We've got to stop this 'nastiness disease' before it gets out of
control. If enough people lean on T.V. producers, etc, we can get it stopped.
After all, they make T.V. programmes the way they think we like them. If we
don't do something, then we may find ourselves not batting an eyelid when
someone comes out with yet another cruel retort on programmes like the Weakest
Link (that's if we haven't already).
There is already evidence to show
that today's children are immune to 'shock' and 'horror' tactics that would have
terrified their parents. Just watch a so-called horror movie made in the 70s and
then compare it to the sort of horror movie made today. I remember being in fits
of laughter when my mum told me that she found the film, 'The Blob' terrifying
when it first came out in the cinema. And the sort of horror movies that used to
scare me as a kid will no doubt seem laughable to today's children. Now that's
really scary stuff!
Bring back nice T.V. that's what I say! Before we
all become a nation of nasties.
Copyright Donna Antoinette
Coleman (2003)
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