it has come to my attention how bad television has become these days. I might just be getting old, or more conservative (god forbid) but I’m starting to agree with John Humphries. He once argued that reality TV was innately bad for you, and TV was getting worse. Although his argument was flawed in some respects, he was correct on a few counts.

Last night I was watching TV with my parents and brothers. We were watching Pop Idol on ITV, as my mum likes it for some reason. Frankly, I was struck by how manipulative the programme is: its designed to achieve maximum conflict. That is to say, since viewers like to watch people argue, its edited to highlight the arguments and the friction between the judges. Thus, what can be shown in 30 minutes is extended to be shown in 120, packed with adverts, highlights, replays…

Humphries cites what he calls the ‘Blue planet defence’. That is to say, there are certain programmes – The life of Mammals, A history of Britain, Himalaya etc which one can argue make television worthwhile. But, due to their nature, these are few and far between. It is cheaper to throw together something like Big brother than forge a David Attenborough documentary series. While sir David is infinitely more interesting than a bunch of halfwits in a house, big brother will get more viewers because it appeals to the lowest common denominator.

I’m not sure why. The British public seem to like watching this kind of pap, like being told what to think, who to like and who to hate. We will sit passively down to an episode of a soap opera without an inkling that what is going on before us is a melodrama designed to re-enforce the status quo. We sit down to feature films, barely aware of the complex socio-political mechanisms involved. The very mise-en-scene is designed to reinforce these messages, but I digress.

My point is we are better than this. We are better than being entertained by watching a few people sing discordantly. If you like singing, turn ff the TV and go to the bar, or indeed the Opera! By all means watch TV, but watch it critically. Watch documentaries, then hit the books. T.V can be so wonderful, as it has the potential to inspire, but its doing that less and less these days. Alas.