| Television: History Repeats Itself? |
| "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." These words spoken by George Santayana seem to echo through the times, but how many of us tend to follow this quote in our everyday lives? One of the most likely candidates for this quote may come from a source that has so much power over our daily lives that if their ways do not change then this world's society shall repeat the same fate as those in earlier times. In case you do not believe me, I give you proof throughout this essay on how television is following the same course as its predecessor...theater. Theater was created as a way to entertain those around the Greek countryside. Such wonderous masterpieces from well-known Greek playwrights such as Sophocles, Euripides, Thespis, and numerous others have been considered the best plays ever written. Some even tend to challenge these plays against the great William Shakespeare. There was no need for brutal death scenes in Greek Theater for the deaths would always occure away from the spectators and the chours would update the audience on the events that had occured through their poetic chants. However, unlike the upcoming Romans, they rarely ever killed anyone off-set but pretended. Not to mention that the language was kept decent and the scenes seemed not only suitable for everyone to watch, but able to teach lessons which made everyone who was fortunate to watch one of these legendary plays feel better about changing their lives. Television was created to entertain the masses as well. Through the success of the radio and science, television became an enjoyable part of everyday life. People would gather around and watch as some of the most famous shows of even today's standards were revealed to them. Shows which did not include detailed slaughter scenes were still enjoyed by the audience. Scenes which could have possibly displayed poor behavior unsuitable for children were almost non-existant and some sitcoms even taught the viewing audience lessons on life and how they can change their lives for the better. However, when the Romans captured Greek society, they also took over one of the most innovative works of art that the Greeks created: theater. The Romans, who reveled in the shed of blood, had much more interest in creating theater with a less subtle twist. The Roman style of theater packed as much obsenity, vulgarity, and indecientcy as it could into each play. Plays in which required someone to die within the play actually did play out the scene to where the actor receiving the dagger would actually die and must say their lines they needed to say quick before their death. Due to such immoral standards, theater was considered to not be worthy enough for the rich so, until the Shakespearian Era, theater was only watched by the poor who had nothing to do. Television is following the same road. The idea of using "shock" methods to gather an audience is working the same way as the Roman's idea for the "shock" method in theater. However, if society continues with this trend then soon television as we know it will cease to impress and shall be condemned to obscurity for centuries if not permanently. Those who are considered famous for their acting abilities will be shunned for their involvement in such an indecent field. We must learn to change the ways of television soon before it's future ends up in the clutches of the past. |
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