Central Argument: Television has its negative and positive areas; it just depends on how society uses it to benefit them.
Since I was very young, I have watched television. Cartoon Network, HBO, Nickelodeon, Star Movies etc. A bit of my English is derived from TV, from Dexter’s intelligent theories and spectacular pronunciation of his French language, “omlette du fromage” (Dexter’s Laboratory) to Johnny’s expert ways of approaching women with determination and confidence (Johnny Bravo). The feeling of independence and patriotism from movies like Jean D’arc and Brave Heart had illuminated new virtues into my life. Movies ‘can’ bring change to a person’s life; it can teach you how the world is working and how it had worked. It may seem rather inappropriate at times, but without television, we might have never even heard of the 9/11 terrorist attack in New York or the national Trade Union strike in India. Needless to say, TV ‘is’ good for you as it teaches you how life is today and what is happening today, so it can be a source of knowledge for the people.
Dexter had always used big words that were too complex for me to understand, but most of whatever happened on his shows was true; like the fact that potatoes can light a very bulb as long as the right materials are present. He had taught me my first foreign sentence, which I am very proud of even to this day, “Omlette du fromage.” After a few years, I had found out that it meant cheese omelet, I couldn’t stop laughing. Dexter had taught me a few words in a different language and an interesting fact.
Brave heart was a movie I stumbled upon when I was surfing through the channels when I was young. Today it is one of my favorite movies of all time. A movie that touched many hearts all over the world. A movie that had had taught the rest of the world, and me, to never give up on something you love or the fact that everyone has the right to do what they want. I was still young when I first saw this movie, but I knew that this movie had taught me to have a ‘Brave Heart.’
Recently, there had been a major strike all over India which involves trade unions. There had been strikes and violent behavior among the officers in banks and other trade unions. This was something I saw in the news, and kept me aware of the things happening today. If there was no TV in India, or if no one was watching the so-called idiot box, what might have come of these innocent people shopping or going out for long walks?
The idiot box ‘does’ have its negative and positive areas, but it depends on how society uses it, or what they watch. Watching movies that have no meaning or no point, has no point in watching it. Movies can be, or have, a source of knowledge if used properly—like Dexter’s Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Brave Heart and news channels like BBC News. Noticing that each cartoon shown on the channel: Cartoon Network has a moral in it. TV shows like 90210 and Gossip girls have no meaning or moral, therefore it should be avoided.
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