Thursday, February 3, 2011

Starting today: teens and TV

So, do you agree that teen TV is all mindless and sets the barre really low? Are teens being talked down to instead of elevated? Is TV further isolating them from adults and encouraging them to live in the moment and not concerns themselves with the future? If it is, is that a good thing or might it have a negative influence on their development and the adults they become?
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11 comments:

  1. beccaFebruary 3, 2011 at 3:25 PM

    I would agree and say that most of teen TV is pretty mindless. As we discussed in class, the shows don't seem to represent the reality of the teen world, but exaggerate many aspects for pure entertainment/money making reasons. No lessons are being learned, not much can really be applied to the real world, allowing people to just relax and escape from their own worlds.

    Sadly, I think these shows alone are what give adults the idea that teens are such trouble makers.. that they all drink, do drugs, have sex, etc. Adults can see commercials or glimpses of TV shows, and immediately create a stereotype. This creates a huge wall between the two generations.

    I don't think the shows have a negative influence on teens, in that they'll go do drugs or party every day themselves, but I think it certainly puts a pressure on teens. It makes them see what society "expects" from them. For example, many new shows today revolve around high school sex, which many people in high school aren't ready for. However, it becomes the "popular" thing and people end up having to lie about themselves, or hide who they really are from their peers (because they feel they are doing something wrong by not joining in to what is "cool"). I feel, in many cases, the pressure isn't great enough to push on over the edge, but i'm sure that in some cases it can. Either way, insecurities arise, making people feel uncomfortable.

    I guess my question is, if teen tv shows are so mindless, so unrealistic.. what joy do people get out of it other than relaxation time?

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  2. sarah surretteFebruary 7, 2011 at 10:06 AM

    I do not think it is necessarily a bad thing that TV is primarily viewed as entertainment. To many people (myslef included), it is relaxing after a long day to sit and watch dramatic shows unfold that are unlike anything we may experience in life. Putting yourself in the mind of other characters for a mere hour could be a good way to take a break from your own life. Some TV shows are certainly mindless, but I think that in instances like this it is ok. Most people turn to the TV for entertainment or relaxation, so "dumbed down" programs surely fit this purpose. Also, I feel that younger teens may not see that some shows are unrealistic. It is not until they start to gain a sense of exactly how high school, college life, etc. really is that they will come to realize the false reality that TV presents.

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  3. TaliaFebruary 9, 2011 at 1:39 PM

    Although I agree that most shows geared towards teens are unrealistic, I think we just assume that for some reason their (the writers') goal is TO be realistic. I truly believe that the writers and producers of these shows know exactly what they are creating. Many of us, myself included watch these programs and compare them to our own lives. I don't necessarily wish that I lived inside Grey's Anatomy, Glee, or Teen Mom, but there are aspects that are easy and comforting to watch. For instance, in Glee - they always confront their problems, sing about them, and end up happy. And, in Grey's the incestuous love circles never end - but everyone always has a reason to be happy.
    I agree with Sarah in that I don't think it's necessarily bad for teen tv to be somewhat mindless. I enjoy watching TV because I know that it's not my real life - and that it never could be my real life. With the exception of reality TV (which I also love) I think the unrealistic nature of TV is pretty good in most situations.

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  4. ErinFebruary 10, 2011 at 7:45 AM

    I would say that teen tv is mindless and is not a good representation of real life but then again nothing in hollywood represents real life either. There are many movies that blow situations out of proportion or just make things seem really intense and we all know life isn't like that but it is entertaining none the less. I think that tv shouldn't have as much influence on teenagers as people claim that it does. Lots of teens watch programs catered to adults so I do not think that all the programs they watch separate them from adults or make them feel belittled.

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  5. Nicole GFebruary 10, 2011 at 9:07 AM

    I think that there are not many shows on TV with role models for tweens especially, but also teenagers. One of the readings for today says that teens will rise to the challenge if they are called to act as adults, so I think it would be beneficial if there were more mature shows with positive images that were socially acceptable to watch. I feel like any one teenager can watch a show that his or her parents enjoy as well, but that would not really help teens as a whole because there would not be much conversation about the show if no one else had watched it.

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  6. NicoleFebruary 10, 2011 at 9:24 AM

    I definitely agree with the posters so far that television today is pretty mindless and quite unrealistic. However, I think that TV is more of an exaggeration of reality than a falsity all together. I think when you take shows that show extreams (like the sex, drugs and alchol lifestyle) they take lives of teenagers, like the boy we saw in the Frontline special on marketing, and find out the craziest things he's done or his friends have done,the exaggerating it into television.

    I think some shows definitely talk down to teenages, but there are also shows which show teens take matters into their own hands, make their own mistakes, and stand up for themselves, which, i believe, speaks well to the teenage moral. It seems to show that teenagers can be more independent, can make their own decisions, but also that they can fail. Boosting teenage moral helps to elevate teens to an adult level rather than pull them back. Although plotlines and vocabulary might be simple and dumbed down, it's representational of how people speak to one another. For example, when I call my mom (even as an adult) i'm not likely to use incredibly complex sentence structures or the elevated academic vocabulary I may use when writing a paper or speaking with a professor or future employer. I think we don't give teenagers enough credit to knbow the difference between a conversation with peers and a conversation with professionals. There are definitely outliers that speak to authority figures as if they are their peers, but I'm not sure that this can be blamed on television alone. (I think environment & upbringing might be the source of this)

    I don't think television has a positive or negative influence on teenagers. I see it as a method to relax and turn off your brain for an hour or so. Although I think it's definitely true that some teenagers are incredibly impressionable, the same is true for adults, who I believe can also be positively or negatively affected by television shows that they watch, making the gap between teens and adults a lot smaller than we may think.

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  7. AnonymousFebruary 10, 2011 at 9:35 AM

    I'm in agreement with everyone who has said teen TV is mindless. Talia said that she enjoys watching shows that she doesn't necessarily want to "live" and I feel the same way. Back to one of the points I made in class, I watch shows about things that I would LIKE to do but for one reason or another don't. For me, it's back to that aspirational factor. It's also a way that we can highlight things that we like or don't like about our society. While some shows are less up to date that others, many confront modern day issues and it gets us to thinking about how we would handle them if the situation were our own.

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  8. NicolasFebruary 10, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    I think there are different types of TV for the different methods through which it is consumed. I think that what is often categorized as "teen TV" is really for people who watch TV just zone out, whereas other programs are made for people who want to view something that is aesthetically pleasing, and intellectually stimulating.

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  9. kapiFebruary 11, 2011 at 2:42 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. kapiFebruary 11, 2011 at 2:43 PM

    I can’t agree that all TV is mindless and set bare really low, because some TV shows are really interesting and also educative. Most of TV shows which can be name "mindless" are created by great companies which focused only on making money and their own interest. In this kind of shows teens are not presented from a fair side, most of their behaviors are exaggerate in order to increase audience and make show more entertaining. The image of teens in those shows does not reflect the their real behavior, it is only based on extreme examples, which promote bad habits and behaviors, which are very immature. Such an image can have big impact on growing teenagers and can lead them in wrong directions. Increasing the age when teenager really become adults is wrong because pushing back responsibilities can also occur in their later life and have bad effects.

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  11. JasmineFebruary 13, 2011 at 12:01 PM

    Personally, i think TV is what you make it. It all depends on what you are viewing. Some shows are not mindless, and they exist for the sole purpose of educating people. On the other hand, some shows really do have no purpose or plot. They simply exist to entertain. TV show producers are surely not concerned with whether or not a child learning something. I think their main concern is making the money. The shows that make the most money are ones that people do not want to have to think about. At the end of the day, people just want to turn their brains off and watch a little bit of TV.

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