Despite being a long-time subscriber to Foxtel, some months ago my wife and I started to seriously question whether we should continue with it. Most of the channels seem to run either tedious documentaries, unfunny sit-coms or unwatchable movies that should have never even made it to video, let alone the cinema. The few channels that ran programmes that you might actually want to watch had ruined the viewing experience by interjecting so many ads that even the most unscrupulous Channel 10 executive would blush with embarrassment.
It was only one Monday night when I looked at the choices on the free to air channels that I realised I had to continue with the subscription, no matter how poor it had become. ABC was showing its godawful "Australian Story", which ought to be re-named, "Suicidal Story", while the commercial channels had a choice between watching a bunch of people trying to sing, another bunch trying to cook and the final bunch trying to shed 30% of their body weight while being berated by a mob of sadistic hard-bodies who looked like extras from the film "Gattaca". Suddenly all those moldy documentaries about the Kennedy assassination and Hitler's rise to power started to look pretty appealing.
Of course, this isn't a new development in free-to-air network programming. These sorts of shows which are glibly titled "Reality TV" have been around for years and barely a night goes by where some hapless soul doesn't get made a fool of on national television for their complete lack of cooking, singing or dancing talent. One can conveniently blame the networks for putting this dross on television but then again, why would they do it unless it delivered superior ratings to other forms of programming? Unfortunately, the blame must ultimately rest with the viewing public, who are getting exactly the programs that they deserve.
The fact that these sorts of reality programmes, together with such vacuous fare from America such as "The Kardashians" dominate the airwaves did however get me thinking about what this says about modern-day humanity as a species. The conclusions to be drawn are not at all good and to my mind, the drivel that is modern-day television is a symptom of a broader malaise in society in that we will tend to prefer anything which gives us a short, sharp burst of titillation or our 15 minutes of fame over endeavours that have a longer gestation period but which are substantial and might actually benefit us in the long run.
This sort of thinking (if you can call it that) is unfortunately prevalent everywhere. Witness the appalling standard of political debate in this country since, and indeed before, the last election. If for a minute we are able to get Craig Thomson and his prostitutes or Peter Slipper and his boyfriends out of the news, then do we have politicians debating the big issues like industrial relations, tax reform and sensible immigration policy that could help all of our prosperity? No, instead they want to score points about issues that are peripheral to most of the population like gay marriage, poker machines and boat people. Frankly, I despair about the quality of people on all sides of the political divide. It is impossible to imagine any party at the moment having the foresight, intellect or will to implement ground breaking reforms that their predecessors did such as floating the dollar, introducing the GST or establishing Medicare. Instead of actually doing anything, all that anyone in government seems to care about is winning the battle of the 24-hour news cycle.
Apart from the obvious examples of television programming and our political leaders, if you look deeper, this preference for "bling" over substance is prevalent everywhere. I for one have always found it bizarre that the average Herald Sun reader can castigate teachers for going on strike over seeking a pay rise of about 4-5% but at the same time defend someone like Travis Cloke seeking over $1 million a year for playing football. Now, let me think, a teacher is responsible for ensuring your children get a proper education, while the other catches a bit of leather and kicks it 15 times on a weekend - mostly not through the big sticks, either. While I do enjoy my weekly fix of football (especially like this weekend when St Kilda were playing the Gold Coast), I know who I'd much rather see get the loot.
It's high time we reversed this appalling and frankly, worrying trend and started showing some respect, appreciation and admiration for those who warrant it rather than some dimwit who manages to get their head on television for a few minutes. To get most people's attention though for our hard working and/or eminent Australians, we might need to stoop to the lowest common denominator. Maybe we should concoct a reality TV show where the people who invent our vaccines, donate millions to charity or successfully run our public companies sit in judgement of the likes of Mark Holden, Dicko or Matt Preston? Imagine Paul Keating giving that pompous twat Preston one of his legendary sprays, now that would be great television. Or maybe we could have a Gladiator-style show where say Geoff Dixon got to throw custard pies at his simpering Irish successor or the fund manager dingbats who scuttled the $6 buyout of Qantas five years ago? That alone would be worth the price of a Foxtel subscription.
In the meantime though television remains a wasteland, so I think I will spend this Queen's Birthday Monday night reading through all of our new ACs, AOs and AMs. Now THERE is a list which reconfirms one's faith in human nature. Plenty of doctors, philanthropists and judges, and not a Big Brother contestant or celebrity chef in sight. The trick is now to get people to aspire to get on that list instead of aspiring to get on television.
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