A recent New York Times article written by Alessandra Stanley picked at the fans of television shows like “Lost” and “Heroes,” going so far as to claim that viewing these supernatural programs is a sign of social decline. Support for this claim lies in the alleged link between enjoying these programs and actually believing in the supernatural, an apparent given. This, to me, is absurd. So now because I like the Star Wars trilogy, for example, it means I actually think “the force” exists? I’m pretty sure I haven’t lost sight of reality just yet. Television is a form of entertainment, not a declaration of one’s beliefs.
The article also points out that fans of Lost are “unusually passionate and devoted, carrying a clout not unlike that of anti-abortion activists.” Since I don’t watch either of these shows, nor have I witnessed these anti-abortion activist-like antics, I was interested to read on and see what kind of crazy things these viewers were up to. Well apparently, they visit websites and weblogs about their favorite shows. Sounds pretty crazy, but unfortunately not quite the juicy scoop I was hoping for.
The Unseen and Unexplained, Inching Closer to the Truth, NYT
Derick Vollrath @ Sat, 02/10/2007 - 12:24pm
Yeah, I don't know what's been up with the Times recently. All these weird psychoanalytical puff pieces about TV watching (see my post on The New York Times and super bowl ads). It burns me to see the media print this sort of drivel and still hold themselves out to be the "fourth branch of government."