| Obviously television has both
advantages and disadvantages. (78) {{U}}In the first place, television is not only a convenient source of entertainment, but also a comparatively cheap one.{{/U}} With a TV set in the family people don't have to pay for expensive seats at the theatre, the cinema, or the opera. All they have to do is to push a button or turn a knob, and they can see plays, films, operas and shows of every kind. Some people, however, think that this is where the danger lies. The television viewers need do nothing. He does not even have to use his legs if he has a remote control. He makes no choice and exercises, no judgment. He is completely passive and has everything presented to him without any effort on his part. Television, it is often said, keeps one informed about current events and the latest developments in science and politics. The most distant countries and the strangest customs are brought right into one's sitting room. It could be argued that the radio performs this service as well; but on television everything is much more living, much more real. Yet here again there is a danger. The television screen itself has a terrible, almost physical charm for us. (79) {{U}}We get so used to looking at the movements on it, so dependent on its pictures, that it begins to control our lives.{{/U}} People are often heard to say that their television sets have broken down and that they have suddenly found that they have far more time to do things and that they have actually begun to talk to each other again. It makes one think, doesn't it? There are many other arguments for and against television. We must realize that television itself is neither good nor bad. It is the uses that it is put to that determine its value to society. |