I think that absolutely these talk shows have an impact on our culture. Look at the time of day they are on, most being on between the 10:00am to 4:00pm time slot. Many of these shows are watched by housewives, and individuals who stay at home and work. These shows do have an argumentative tone, two individuals are having relationship problems, so they search for help from a talk show host who may or may not help them through their situation. Though I also find that many people that watch these shows do so to make their own lives seem as if it is less dysfunctional then they would like to believe.
There is a major issue I have with how these talk shows teach us how to deal with conflict. When you watch these shows, you usually hear a lot about the story, the two sides, and what the host believes is the correct course of action. The thing is we don’t get to see how it works out. These hosts don’t teach us how to deal with our issues, teach us how to communicate effectively, teach us how to calm a hostile audience, even if that is our significant other. They just teach us a tiny portion of what may or may not be good for building a relationship.
What does this mean for the public? Those who spend much of their daily time listening or watching these shows as they clean their houses, check their stocks, or do whatever is it they do during the day? I believe that these shows are a detriment. Not only because the show only shows a tiny fraction of the work needed to come out of a conflict in the first place, but we fail to see that the individuals chosen for the show were hand picked. These are extreme cases of a situation, not the norm. Then when we hear the responses of the hosts, we are hearing a response to a situation that would be on the extreme end of its spectrum.
There is one exception, and that in my opinion is Dr. Phil. I am not saying I agree with all of his methods, but he actually talks to people about the little things they can do in their lives to bolster communication in your relationships. Though even this program can have a detrimental impact because it might make someone think they are like a mini walking psychologist, thinking they know all of the social intricacies that go along in a conversation. They haven’t gone through the schooling involved and they are definitely not an expert.
These examples are the ones I believe affect our society the most. Individuals that accept the stories portrayed on these shows as the norm are the ones who are negatively impacted by these shows. The other issue is that these shows give people only a partial glimpse of a situation and resolution, without the details one needs to fully understand the topic at hand. They don’t actually help people communicate better, just give then little tiny pieces, spread out over so many areas that one cannot actually piece them all together. Because of this I believe these shows impact our culture in a mixed way, some do better at being a positive influence than others.
Hey Bryant.
ReplyDeleteI think the targeted audience for these talk shows are definitely more susceptible to the stories they feature from 10:00 to 4 p.m. As to the housewives, I think these women are just reaching out for something a little more interesting than what time they have to get Susie off to soccer practice. They want "real-life" drama to distract them from the daily grind, and they don't necessarily care about the actual resolution of the conflict. The superficiality and the drama of these stories act as a kind of drug for the people who watch them. I think it is similar to someone on some sort of hallucinogenic drug staring at a lava lamp, or something similar, for hours on end and forgetting about everything else. These shows are like a distraction drug.
As to Dr. Phil, I understand how his show is a little above the typical talk show variety because of his conflict follow thru, but, as you said, this instills people with a false feeling of intelligence. I would be worried that people would stop seeking help for their problems. That they would simply turn on the tube and catch a little Phil for some words of wisdom, a course of action.
I used this topic for my blog this week as well, and I used the obvious example of Oprah, probably the most prestigious talk show host of our time. And really she just serves to solidify the grayness of talk shows, neither black nor white. Neither good nor evil.
I honestly have never thought about it like that. I am never home between 10:00am to 4:00pm so I know that they are on but I have never sat down and watched them. My theory was that our culture in return impacts the media. They see that the view ratings are high so they know what sells so they keep it up. I think that when you said, " that many people that watch these shows do so to make their own lives seem as if it is less dysfunctional then they would like to believe"; It is completely true. People do not want to face their own problems so they watch someone else struggle with their problems. This causes people to live in a fantasy world. People start to live in a fantasy world. They watch these programs, which they only show them being successful. The show makes it LOOK LIKE they are actually being resolved. The people at home try to use that to solve their own problems and when that does not work they think they are hopeless. So in general I love the fact that you brought this issue up. I think that it is something that our culture should focus on more rather than focusing on people using cuss words on the television.
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