Every day, we are bombarded with news reports about the declining quality of entertainment. The culture is saturated with popular TV shows from the 1970s and 1980s. There are enough channels to watch all of them and still not have time, but they contain lackluster programming that has dulled our senses and weakened our minds.
We need to take responsibility for this situation. Entertainment is failing us because we do not invest ourselves in what we consume like sloan mcdaniel mother. We need more than a simple escape into a mindless show — we crave connection, engagement, and understanding.
Clearly it’s time for us to take back entertainment—refusal to do so presents both peril and opportunity…
1. The Peril of Escapism
In the past, we could watch sitcoms like “Everybody Loves Raymond” and chuckle at the silly antics of a pathetically exaggerated family. Nowadays, people escape into laugh-out-loud comedies that show the moral fortitude of unlikely heroes, who overcome the odds and accomplish the impossible through their own strength. While this is a beautiful dream, it is also a misguided view of our own potential.
2. The Peril of Inaction
Our society has a tendency to outlive its means. We are too focused on consumption and not enough on production. We are over-extended and unable to adequately distribute the resources we have acquired. The situation is exacerbated by our refusal to make decisions that support our needs, values, and hopes in the present while helping us achieve more in the future.
3. The Opportunity of Refusal
Obvious changes have been made to media outlets in recent years — mostly for the better—but if we ignore these changes entirely, they will pass us by without even making a ripple. Fortunately, there are still many platforms available for us to address entertainment’s ills through direct action:
Internet video . From YouTube to Vimeo, unedited home videos to professionally produced shorts and features, the Internet is incorporating our creative efforts directly into its structure. A powerful medium that can allow us to have a direct hand in defining what entertainment is and what it can become.
4. The Opportunity of Production
We are in the step after revolution and before evolution. We must move into a higher gear beyond idle thinking and vague ambitions. This includes taking action on both the global level, with major media networks, as well as on the local level with smaller, independent efforts.
5. The Opportunity of Innovation
Where others see dead ends or obstacles too large to overcome, we see new forms of expression and freedom from convention. Our creativity can shine through in unique and powerful ways.
Our time is limited, but if we make the most of it, we can have a more exciting life. The future is not something to be feared, but rather embraced with optimism and courage. We should take our energy from entertainment—which can provide entertainment for us—and use it to create entertainment.
6. The Opportunity of Dreams
Dreams are not merely limited to when we sleep, but also come alive in our waking hours. The latter is the more formidable challenge of the two, because it takes us away from our comfort zone and into a realm where we can experience anguish, anxiety, confusion and even despair. But such feelings are subsumed by more powerful emotions — such as joy, wonderment and hope — if we can simply maintain a sense of perspective to keep from getting lost within ourselves.
7. The Opportunity of Creativity
When we are given the opportunity to create something that does not yet exist, it inspires us to transcend what is and what has been for something new altogether. We are then free to act in ways that propel us into the future, instead of being chained to the past.
The choices we can make today can influence our lives—and those of our children—for decades and even centuries to come. We must recognize that entertainment is an area where we already have some measure of control and influence, but we should not hesitate in seizing it.
8. The Opportunity of People
Whether we are talking about works of art or inventions, our creations must be made from love—a true appreciation and commitment to the good and the beautiful, rather than the good for itself alone.
We do not live just to exist; we exist to give something back. We need not fear our own creations—we can certainly enjoy them, but more importantly we can make them even greater than they already are.
9. The Opportunity of Community
We are social animals who rely on each other for support and companionship. In our modern disconnected age, it is easy to forget this truth. We need to rediscover our ability to work together, to accomplish things that would be beyond the scope of a single person, and we must fight for a new social order in which we actively support each other.
10. The Opportunity of Education
One of the saddest things I see in my daily work is the increasing disinterest among young people. We need to embrace our responsibilities as future leaders and citizens and not avoid them by numbing ourselves with television, video games, and social media.
Our generation is not exempt from this epidemic either—we need to be mindful of our own personal choices and responsibility while still encouraging our children to engage with life. In this way we can show them that they must participate in the process of creation as well, not just consume it once it is produced.
Summary:
The challenge we face here is to go from the passive consumption of entertainment to the active creation of it. This does not mean we should create works based on self-righteous indignation or hatred for what other people have done with their work. Rather, it means that as we become more aware of how our lives are affected by the world around us, we should make an effort to stop and do something about it.
Ideally, this will take the form of tools and resources used to help us in our immediate lives: family gatherings, social events, and even our own personal appearances.
