Kill your television... kill other people's televisions...

[flexagon]

Ha ha ha! We have a houseguest and he's brought this delicious keychain into our lives. Apparently they're all kinds of fun.

For those too lazy to click, imagine a tiny remote control that does nothing but turn off televisions -- small and unobtrusive enough to take into all your favorite restaurants, laundromats, airports, et they-seem-to-be-everywhere cetera. We've ordered two of them already. Heh heh. :)

HLM and our houseguest suggest that I start a tv-free community on LJ. Possibly worth trying, though a) it probably wouldn't take off and b) I'd hate for it to turn into another stupid rant community.

UPDATE: a comment on my community_quest post informs me that televisionfree already exists -- and by the way, it doesn't look especially ranty. I think I'm off the hook.

Comments

[webrat.livejournal.com]

*grins* - That's a funny little gadget. :) I can imagine all kinds of fun with that thing. Screwing with the bartender at a local bar, etc.

I think you'd be surprised with a tv_free. I bet people would join. Had you gotten me about 6 years ago or so, I would have.

[flexagon]

*grins back*

I'm seriously thinking of giving it a shot. I've posted on community_quest first to make sure there isn't one out there already -- though I've already searched and I really think there's not.

[webrat.livejournal.com]

Does it count if I own a tv and barely ever watch it? :)

[flexagon]

I would definitely consider you an interested party and eligible to join. I was thinking open membership for anyone interested in limiting TV in their own lives, or even just interested in thinking about it.

Honestly, not trying to start a fight, but...

[jg26.livejournal.com]

Isn't any *_free community necessarily going to devolve into a rant community? Isn't the whole point of a *_free community to claim superiority state opposition to a behavior which is the norm, or is, at least, very common?

Can you not infer from a X_free that those are involved are ANTI-X, and thus, at their most harmless are just going to rant. A more proactive passive member of such a community, might be incited to take some action... like to go out and deprive those who are PRO-X of X, maybe with legislation, maybe with a cool little universal remote (btw, be careful: if you were to do this near a sports bar, especially if it's an important game, and you were found out, you may be subject to violence).

The right wing of this country is always trying to shove lifestyle choices down the throats of the unwilling (anti-abortion, anti-gay rights, etc). These are, of course, much more serious stances than being anti-TV, but I'm just pointing out that what is completely lacking is the respect for other's choices when contrary to your own.

I have no doubt that bluechromis is going to be shocked to read this, as I was just professing how I could use less (if any) TV in my life... and I don't watch all that much now. flexagon, I agree with your point of view about TV, but for myself, not as a general statement about what is right for everyone.

Re: Honestly, not trying to start a fight, but...

[flexagon]

Nah... actually I think it's pure laziness when a x-free community devolves into an anti-x one, and no, there is no call to infer that an x-free person is anti-x. They are very different attitudes. I once spoke out against rants on childfree, and was challenged on what else we could talk about. I came up with a ton of things. For a tv-free comm I could imagine posts on the following topics, just for starters:

What do you say to people who challenge your decision?
Anything about new studies that have come out regarding TV
Quotes about TV, or from books etc. that talk about TV
Ethical uses of (or unethical fun recently had with) a TV-B-Gone. Arguments against TV-B-Gone. Whatever.
What made you decide to go without TV? Are there advantages to limiting it instead of not having one? Are there times you wish you had it back?
Do you feel you are unable to join a lot of conversations because of your lack of TV watching or are you able to pick up enough from magazines, etc, to fit in?
Do your feelings about TV extend to movies (in the AV direction) or to radio (in the sense of uncontrollable gouts of emotion entering your life) or neither? Why?
Posts about withdrawal symptoms ("I turned it off 4 days ago, and I think I'm gonna die.")

Mild rants about personal experiences (e.g. "goddamnit, they added a TV to my favorite quiet restaurant and it seems like there's nowhere you can sit to not see it").

Finally, I'm currently thinking I would allow posts from people who simply are interested in studying and limiting the effects of TV on their lives, and are curious, like yourself.

I would love to see posts on all these topics. None of these things talk about the infliction of a belief on other people. Rather, they're expressions of what it's like to have made an uncommon choice, and discussions of things that arise because of that choice. And one final thing... as the moderator I would wield complete authority. :) I could always declare it tv-free and rant-free if the ranting became any sort of problem.

As for the TV-B-Gone, I wouldn't turn off a TV that people were actually watching. That would be mean. A lot of times the damn things just sit there flickering and nobody is watching them, and I've turned them off plenty of times in those situations. I admit the gadget adds a little sneakiness to the process, but *shrug*. I'm gonna use it anyway. In case this wasn't clear, it does leave the TV quite undamaged and in a state where it can be turned back on. :) Only at a critical moment in a sports bar can I imagine it seriously discomfiting anyone.

Re: Honestly, not trying to start a fight, but...

[bluechromis.livejournal.com]

Hey - had a comment sitting waiting to be posted, so I didn't see this before I put mine - just a quick note: I don't think J was saying that there is nothing to talk about on the topic other than rants (at least that's not what I'm saying), just that practical experience tells us that x_free tends to end up as a ranty sort of place. But if you wield your iron fist then it could spark some very interesting discussions (as is this one we're currently having).

As for using the clicker...well, if no one is watching the tv then it should be easy enough to ask the wait staff to turn it off, no? I can see using it if the waitstaff isn't around and there really isn't anyone watching, but sometimes it can be hard to tell who is watching.

Re: Honestly, not trying to start a fight, but...

[flexagon]

I would totally wield my iron fist. I don't like rant communities and if I found myself owning one I'd probably stop reading it.

Reply to the rest is on another comment thread, for those who are reading this in not-real time...

[bluechromis.livejournal.com]

Ha!

I agree with webrat that there would be interest in such a community. I also agree with J that it would be destined to be rant-oriented (not to say that might not be entertaining in it's own way), and I think he made a good point about whether those clickers are appropriate to use or not. It is annoying how TVs are everywhere now, but in public places they almost always have their sound off and are easily ignored if you're inclined that way. It's not right to be making decisions for other people about how they spend their time.

[flexagon]

Eh, well, it goes both ways. This is just like smoking: does other people's 'right' to smoke trump my 'right' to a smokefree environment? Different answers can be made, but we know that Cambridge recently decided that it didn't. And as rapidly flickering, constantly changing, glowing visual input I would argue that a TV in a public place is NOT easy to ignore unless you can get the damn thing out of your field of vision. Human eyes are drawn to such things -- it's tough to fight.

In your other comment you noted correctly that it's easy enough to ask the waitstaff to turn a TV off... likewise, it would be easy enough for other people to ask the waitstaff to turn it on. I would never re-stop a TV if someone did that. But I would turn it off in the first place if I couldn't see anyone watching. What should the default state be -- off or on? In a semi-public place there's no obviously right answer.

[jg26.livejournal.com]

funny, I was going to use smoking as an example too. But I was going to say that the legislation put every bar/restaurant on the same footing. People no longer have the right to choose to go to a bar where they can smoke, so it doesn't negatively affect bars which outlaw it. I think as far as bars (though maybe I'm talking about pubs) are concerned, they would lose business if they lost the TV's (unless everyone had to). Especially during red-sox season.

[flexagon]

Yeah, they would. In the current culture it'd be hard to advocate bars/pubs actually getting rid of their TVs. Sit-down restaurants I sure could though.

[hiddenbear.livejournal.com]

LOL! I spent most of this morning going to the Comcast store to get two additional cable boxes and hooking up the third t.v. in my apartment. A is getting a new HD projector. And we just signed up for Digital Platinum instead of Digital Gold to get additional movie channels. Five t.v.'s between two guys, and I still want another. :-)

[flexagon]

Haha. That is funny. How are you avoiding making them the focal point of every room? Or are you just not fighting that?

[jg26.livejournal.com]

I would guess that it is the point... to never have a room where you're not looking at a TV.

[flexagon]

Maybe so... but it might also be to never have a room where you couldn't watch TV. That's actually different (a little) than ending up with all your furniture pointing straight at the things, which is something that bugs me about a lot of living rooms. We'll never know unless hiddenbear can stop laughing for long enough to rejoin us. :)

[hiddenbear.livejournal.com]

Sorry. Went away for the weekend and didn't have time to form a response.

The answer to your question is that I don't try to make it anything other than the focal point in my living room. My living room is for either a) laying on the couch watching t.v., b) eating dinner watching t.v., or c) using the computer with the t.v. in the background.

I almost never watch the t.v. in my bedroom. It's there in case I am really tired some night, but am in the middle of some show that I want to see the end. In which case I can go to bed and pretend to watch the end of the show, but actually just fall asleep.

The t.v. in my guest bedroom is there because there is no other place for it. When I have to give back the t.v. in my living room (lent to me by a friend), it will go back in the room it is supposed to be in.

For me, the t.v. in my living room is the only thing that makes the room worth being in. I rarely have friends over. And I'm single. So I'm normally in that room alone, with no one to talk to or look at. So I eat dinner with the t.v. on, and relax at night with the t.v. on, etc. etc.