Online: | |
Visits: | |
Stories: |
Story Views | |
Now: | |
Last Hour: | |
Last 24 Hours: | |
Total: |
Follow TIS on Twitter: @Truth_is_Scary & Like TIS of Facebook- facebook.com/TruthisScary
Watching my son James grow up has been a blessing in so many ways, one of which has been the opportunity to learn more about myself. Watching him learn how to learn has given me so many insights into my own childhood mentality and how those early experiences continue to affect me today.
Of all the things I have learned in my short time as a father, one of them sticks out like a sore thumb, and that is the remarkable influence television has on a developing mind. Television is not something I desired to introduce into my son’s life until much later on, but I’m almost glad I have because of what I’ve learned from watching him watch the tube. Of course, he isn’t sitting in front of it for very long, maybe an hour every morning to get through breakfast, but even in that time I’ve observed some things that I think are important to consider.
Live Television
My journey with television also started at a young age. Mind you, I had three television channels while growing up, one of which could only be changed by someone going on the roof of the house and adjusting the direction of the antenna. Even though we only had three channels, I can tell you with certainty that I watched a lot of television. And my tastes were wide-ranging; from Oprah to Star Trek (the original and The Next Generation) to the great soap opera, Another World, to Spider-Man, Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Tail Spin… I grew up in a great time for great television.
The Simpsons was a hit in our household, at least for my father, sister and myself. Looking back with the clarity and understanding that comes with age, I realize now that I only ever watched the Simpsons as a way to connect with my dad and my sister; I didn’t particularly like the show in and of itself. I was my mother’s son while my sister was daddy’s girl, and I often found it difficult to connect with the two of them. Television acted as a neutral medium through which I could bond with them, though I only figured this out later in life when I began to live and breathe television.
As a self-reflective adult, I know I’ve undertaken a long journey of transcendence, transforming my subordination to authorities into independence and an entrepreneurial spirit. I chose to break the old paradigms of my life and find out what I can really accomplish. For a kid who grew up on TV, a career in television which started out literally living inside a television studio made perfect sense, particularly if that child hoped to learn how to grow beyond the magic of the screen. I had to understand how what I had watched had been made if I was ever going to get it out of my head.