In today’s society the human existence has simply relied on the usage of entertainment for survival. Entertainment is seen a necessary component of everyday life that helps individuals get through their day. However it has become increasingly apparent that entertainment is not beneficial to society. It has served as an addictive drug encapsulating its users from a young age. Also it has cause increased sleep deprivation in many individuals who participate in these activities.
Furthermore, it has caused extreme dissatisfaction for consumers by raising one’s expectations for what life has to offer too high for reality to compete. Thus, entertainment in the form of advertisement, gaming, media and electronics negatively affects the individual consumer by promoting unrealistic opportunities, promoting violence, and promoting a distractive experience to manipulate users. Entertainment is the opium of the modern era. This idea is prevalent in the field of television. Television provides individuals with an experience that can be closely associated with addiction.
In her piece, “The Plug-In Drug: Television, Computers, and Family Life”, Marie Winn states, “It is, in fact, the parents whom television is an irresistible narcotic, not through their own viewing (although frequently this, too, is the case) but at a remove, through their children fanned out in front of the receiver, strangely quiet. ” This reveals that parents use television to pacify their children for their own benefit. Television’s addictive qualities allows parents a chance to obtain peace of mind that is not provided in their regular life.
However, this activity robs the children of actual life experiences. Winn also states, “It is easy to overlook a deceptively simple fact: one is always watching television rather than having any other experience”. This indicates that as humans participate in watching television they are not participating in any other activity. This means that while a child can be using valuable time learning how to ride a bike outside, they may be locked into a television show that stops them from doing anything else. Television is a ‘one way transaction’ that allows a human to be checked in but still remain inactive.
Furthermore, Marie Winn writes, “There is indeed, no other experience in a child’s life that permits quite so much intake while demanding so little outflow”. This exposes the fact that television can make children lazy. It can be the reason that children stay inside and live unhealthy lifestyles. Instead of playing tag, will be watching others play tag in tv sitcoms. However television is not the only form of media that is detrimental to society. Gaming creates experiences that cannot be achieved in real life. In the gaming world, individuals are constantly faced with winning.
They are consistently being given updates and rewards to give them drive to keep playing. This then causes gamers to create an expectation that in reality, they should always be winning and be rewarded for their actions. However, life does not always permit us the opportunity to win. Gaming causes individuals to set their life standards too high to compete with what reality has to offer. In her work, “Reality is Broken”, Jane McGonigal writes, “But as they devote more and more of their time to the game worlds, the real world increasingly feels like it’s missing something. This is indicative of the idea that gamers are feeling underutilized. McGonigal describes that reality does not provide an experience good enough for the gamer. However, it is more realistic to say that the gamer is looking for an experience that cannot be reached. One cannot always emerge victorious from every life event.
Gaming causes a momentary feeling of superiority that can lead to life in reality becoming totally lackluster. Games have also shown individuals the more violent side of society. Games like Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty and Battlefield all display an explicit and violent picture of warzones, bullying, gang fights, nd drug deals to consumer. According to http:// videogames. procon. org/, “Several peer-reviewed studies have shown that children who play M-rated games are more likely to bully and cyberbully their peers, get into physical fights, be hostile, argue with teachers, and show aggression towards their peers throughout the school year”. This reveals that gaming can negatively affect a developing youth causing them to develop unsatisfactory behaviors. Gaming is theoretically reuning society. One here might object that entertainment is not all bad by saying that it promotes culture.
For example in the field of music one might say hip hop creates an interesting experience that strengthens an entire culture. In “Hip Hop Planet”, James McBride states, “This defiant culture of song, graffiti, and dance, collectively known as hip-hop has ripped popular music from its moorings in every society so it has permeated”. This reveals that hip hop may have created a culture that has prevailed over many other music forms. One would argue that this form of music may be beneficial to the development of world connection and culture. However, hip hop has been accused of causing violence around the world.
According to Hip Hop Planet, “In France it has been blamed, unfairly, for the worst civil unrest that country has seen in decades”. This scenario has happened in many places throughout history. For example NWA’s creation of rioting toward police. This hip hop does create culture but this culture may be violent and vulgar. Individuals are increasingly dissatisfied with everyday life due to entertainments detrimental grasp on consumers. Television has become an addictive drug for user; individuals are using televisions as pacifiers to keep their kids quiet.
Gamers are displaying increased dissatisfaction because they are setting life standards too high for real life to fulfill. While others might say entertainment leads to development of culture for example the hip hop community on black culture, it is blatantly obvious that some music promotes violence and civil unrest. Therefore, Entertainment not only has the capacity to ruin society. Its effects in the modern day has already ruined many aspects of society. One should not fear global warming, one should clearly fear entertainments effects on society.
