This is a little essay I wrote last week about a recent ordeal in my life involving everyone's favorite TV show about lots of angry, stranded people. Try not to judge me for my weaknesses.
As I learn more and more about the media and its effects on our society, I’ve begun to realize the impact it’s had on my life and the lives of basically everyone I know. The media is pervasive and completely unavoidable unless you decide to be a hermit for your entire life. I think in my generation the act of watching television has become epidemic, and I would be a liar if I denied being affected by it in some way. However, despite television being a part of my life, I generally used to watch it only to distract myself when bored or update myself on what’s been going on in the world. Entertainment that’s drawn from watching television programs has never interested me all that much, given the fact that the high quality entertainment offered by cinema just makes anything broadcast on television look comparatively low-brow.
That was back in day, though, when television programs didn’t receive the attention or the funding it receives today. With more and more money being put into television programs, I’m finding that the quality of these programs is increasing exponentially. Some programs used to be laughably bad, yet nowadays, more often than not, television programs are very reminiscent of the high-budget blockbusters that we see in movie theaters around the globe.
I had the fortune (or misfortune) of becoming friends with a particular neighbor who happened to be in possession of three seasons of a hit program called lost. Before my mission, I had gotten word that ony of my best friends had gotten quite hooked to the program after he began watching it from season one. I thought this strange, and, if you knew my friend, you’d understand why. He’s never been the type of guy to get hooked onto anything involving the media, much less a television show. So, I was even more surprised to find out that during my tenure as a missionary, which ended up being seasons 2 and 3 of Lost, he remained a faithful viewer, eventually buying all three seasons on DVD, like my neighbor here at BYU-I.
So, curious as I was, I decided to take a risk and try watching season one. What fascinated me about the show was the top-notch quality in which it was made, ranging from the directing and writing, to the amazing performances by each and every one of the actors and the excellent musical score. Everything about the show has “Hollywood” written all over it. Even the producer, J.J. Abrams, has his hand in Hollywood, producing and directing many blockbuster films, the latest of which, Cloverfield, is in the theaters right now.
But what impressed me the most about Lost, besides being remarkably entertaining in every respect, was the way in which every episode was crafted and designed to hook the viewer and make him want to see more. The story seems to have been carefully calculated to addict the viewer. And the more you watch, the more the show takes over your life. You find yourself dreaming about Lost and thinking about Lost constantly. You feel attached to each one of the characters as if they were all your best buddies. The music gets into your head, and worst of all, you find it difficult to concentrate on anything. You find that all of your desires have become focused on one thing: knowing what will happen next in Lost. For the space of two weeks I felt utterly worthless as I poured through episode after episode of the twenty-four episode season. My mind was always in another place, speculating about the mysteries of the island where the show takes place, and the complex back stories of each of the many eccentric and interesting characters. One might say that my attitude and very way of life changed to that of a poor college kid hopelessly in love. I was in love, but with something that lacked flesh and bones and a legitimate soul. I was addicted to Lost. And, when I finished watching season one, the temptation to head right back downstairs in order to retrieve season two from my neighbor was very powerful. However, my academic side prevailed, and I decided I would not watch Lost for at least two weeks. I would observe how I reacted and how I would cope with the absence of something that had suddenly become, in my mind, a necessary part of my life.
The first few days were by far the most difficult. For something that had really dominated my every waking hour for the last while, it became difficult to find motivation to do anything. When I was consistently watching the program all the time, I actually found it easy to do my studies, though one may wonder why. I think Lost had sort of become something I would subconsciously reward myself with if I successfully completed my studies. Whenever I studied, I would think to myself, “just finish this paper and you’ll be able to watch Lost all afternoon.” This was something that quite obviously motivated me to get my studies done fast and sometimes efficiently.
However, without Lost it became difficult to think of a way to reward myself after finishing my homework. Without a reward, I just couldn’t summon the proper motivation I needed in order to get my homework done. It became more of a chore than ever before. I tried doing other things, like playing video games or reading, but I just couldn’t get the characters and mysteries of Lost out of my mind. What also didn’t help was the fact that season one ends with a major, and I mean major, cliffhanger. It’s almost as if some divine force knew what I was planning on doing for my project and wanted to make it as hard for me to accomplish as possible. It worked.
I made it through the first few days however, and I moved on to the second stage, which was perhaps the best and easiest. This was the phase in which my motivation to do things began to return, and I found that I didn’t need Lost to motivate me all that much, that doing homework for the sake of getting good grades was good enough for me. Besides, I began to enjoy studying again, although I still strongly missed the TV show. Bit by bit I also began to realize that the amount of time I spent watching that show was a great detriment to me, my grades, and my social life. Suddenly, I got excited as I thought of all the possibilities with regards to how I could best utilize all of the rediscovered free time. I spent more time studying in order to perfect class assignments beyond what was necessary, or study extra hard for a test even when I was already comfortable with the material. I even (*gasp*) got a girlfriend somehow. That’s something that would never have happened during my Lost phase, seeing as how each and every evening was spent in front of the tube.
The last phase comprised the last three or four days of my two week hiatus from Lost. This is when the initial excitement of suddenly having more time to do thing started wearing off, and I started to miss the show again. This was interesting because I began to miss elements of the show just like I had a week previously. I began to feel almost nostalgic when I talked to my friend about certain characters I had grown fond with, like Jack, Katie, Hurly…
Suddenly, I began to strategize and think of ways in which I could get my “fix” and still have time and motivation to lead a productive and balanced life. So here I am today, about to start watching season two of Lost, this time with the firm resolve not to fall into the trap and become addicted by this, the most diabolical form of media.
As I learn more and more about the media and its effects on our society, I’ve begun to realize the impact it’s had on my life and the lives of basically everyone I know. The media is pervasive and completely unavoidable unless you decide to be a hermit for your entire life. I think in my generation the act of watching television has become epidemic, and I would be a liar if I denied being affected by it in some way. However, despite television being a part of my life, I generally used to watch it only to distract myself when bored or update myself on what’s been going on in the world. Entertainment that’s drawn from watching television programs has never interested me all that much, given the fact that the high quality entertainment offered by cinema just makes anything broadcast on television look comparatively low-brow.
That was back in day, though, when television programs didn’t receive the attention or the funding it receives today. With more and more money being put into television programs, I’m finding that the quality of these programs is increasing exponentially. Some programs used to be laughably bad, yet nowadays, more often than not, television programs are very reminiscent of the high-budget blockbusters that we see in movie theaters around the globe.
I had the fortune (or misfortune) of becoming friends with a particular neighbor who happened to be in possession of three seasons of a hit program called lost. Before my mission, I had gotten word that ony of my best friends had gotten quite hooked to the program after he began watching it from season one. I thought this strange, and, if you knew my friend, you’d understand why. He’s never been the type of guy to get hooked onto anything involving the media, much less a television show. So, I was even more surprised to find out that during my tenure as a missionary, which ended up being seasons 2 and 3 of Lost, he remained a faithful viewer, eventually buying all three seasons on DVD, like my neighbor here at BYU-I.
So, curious as I was, I decided to take a risk and try watching season one. What fascinated me about the show was the top-notch quality in which it was made, ranging from the directing and writing, to the amazing performances by each and every one of the actors and the excellent musical score. Everything about the show has “Hollywood” written all over it. Even the producer, J.J. Abrams, has his hand in Hollywood, producing and directing many blockbuster films, the latest of which, Cloverfield, is in the theaters right now.
But what impressed me the most about Lost, besides being remarkably entertaining in every respect, was the way in which every episode was crafted and designed to hook the viewer and make him want to see more. The story seems to have been carefully calculated to addict the viewer. And the more you watch, the more the show takes over your life. You find yourself dreaming about Lost and thinking about Lost constantly. You feel attached to each one of the characters as if they were all your best buddies. The music gets into your head, and worst of all, you find it difficult to concentrate on anything. You find that all of your desires have become focused on one thing: knowing what will happen next in Lost. For the space of two weeks I felt utterly worthless as I poured through episode after episode of the twenty-four episode season. My mind was always in another place, speculating about the mysteries of the island where the show takes place, and the complex back stories of each of the many eccentric and interesting characters. One might say that my attitude and very way of life changed to that of a poor college kid hopelessly in love. I was in love, but with something that lacked flesh and bones and a legitimate soul. I was addicted to Lost. And, when I finished watching season one, the temptation to head right back downstairs in order to retrieve season two from my neighbor was very powerful. However, my academic side prevailed, and I decided I would not watch Lost for at least two weeks. I would observe how I reacted and how I would cope with the absence of something that had suddenly become, in my mind, a necessary part of my life.
The first few days were by far the most difficult. For something that had really dominated my every waking hour for the last while, it became difficult to find motivation to do anything. When I was consistently watching the program all the time, I actually found it easy to do my studies, though one may wonder why. I think Lost had sort of become something I would subconsciously reward myself with if I successfully completed my studies. Whenever I studied, I would think to myself, “just finish this paper and you’ll be able to watch Lost all afternoon.” This was something that quite obviously motivated me to get my studies done fast and sometimes efficiently.
However, without Lost it became difficult to think of a way to reward myself after finishing my homework. Without a reward, I just couldn’t summon the proper motivation I needed in order to get my homework done. It became more of a chore than ever before. I tried doing other things, like playing video games or reading, but I just couldn’t get the characters and mysteries of Lost out of my mind. What also didn’t help was the fact that season one ends with a major, and I mean major, cliffhanger. It’s almost as if some divine force knew what I was planning on doing for my project and wanted to make it as hard for me to accomplish as possible. It worked.
I made it through the first few days however, and I moved on to the second stage, which was perhaps the best and easiest. This was the phase in which my motivation to do things began to return, and I found that I didn’t need Lost to motivate me all that much, that doing homework for the sake of getting good grades was good enough for me. Besides, I began to enjoy studying again, although I still strongly missed the TV show. Bit by bit I also began to realize that the amount of time I spent watching that show was a great detriment to me, my grades, and my social life. Suddenly, I got excited as I thought of all the possibilities with regards to how I could best utilize all of the rediscovered free time. I spent more time studying in order to perfect class assignments beyond what was necessary, or study extra hard for a test even when I was already comfortable with the material. I even (*gasp*) got a girlfriend somehow. That’s something that would never have happened during my Lost phase, seeing as how each and every evening was spent in front of the tube.
The last phase comprised the last three or four days of my two week hiatus from Lost. This is when the initial excitement of suddenly having more time to do thing started wearing off, and I started to miss the show again. This was interesting because I began to miss elements of the show just like I had a week previously. I began to feel almost nostalgic when I talked to my friend about certain characters I had grown fond with, like Jack, Katie, Hurly…
Suddenly, I began to strategize and think of ways in which I could get my “fix” and still have time and motivation to lead a productive and balanced life. So here I am today, about to start watching season two of Lost, this time with the firm resolve not to fall into the trap and become addicted by this, the most diabolical form of media.
2 comments:
do you realize that your posts are INSANELY long?!?!
all of them. i just scrolled down!
you're interesting. though i must say that you have a way with words. :)
Okay, so this is why I don't watch Lost. Instead, I am addicted to 24 and feel exactly the same way when I can't watch it. With the writers strike, I thought I would go crazy - however my wonderful friend decided to lend me 1-5 seasons, so that I would get my fix. I know I am pathetic!
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