(The Study of Threes)
http://threesology.org
Lights ~ Camera ~ Action
Third Wave Television Inc. is dedicated to empowering women through media. They produce videos about women, their lives, their history and the issues that affect them. They are a vehicle for women's voices and strive to be an active agent working for change, enlightenment and empowerment.
http://www.thirdwavetelevision.org/
Three main classes of Television effects:
Aggression- Viewing televised violence can lead to increases in aggressive behavior and/or changes in attitudes and values favoring the use of aggression to solve conflicts (Huston et al., 1992).
Desensitization- Extensive violence viewing may lead to decreased sensitivity to violence and a greater willingness to tolerate increasing levels of violence in society (Drabman and Thomas, 1974; Thomas et al., 1977).
Fear- Extensive exposure to television violence may produce the "mean world syndrome," in which viewers overestimate their risk of victimization (Gerbner, 1970; Gerbner et al., 1994).
by John P. Murray, Ph.D.
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p011070.html
| 3-part utterances | Expressed by these characters... |
| Yaba ~ Daba ~ Do Scooby-Dooby-Doo Hey-Hey-Hey Snap-Crackle-Pop Umm-Umm-Good Ho-Ho-Ho |
Fred Flintstone- cartoon Scooby Doo- cartoon Fat Albert- cartoon Rice Krispies- advertizement Campbell's Soups- advertisement Green Giant- vegetables-in-a-can advertisement |
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Ho-Ho-Ho - Ho - Ho (and a bottle of rum) Make-It-So MIC~ KEY~ M-0-U-S-E Surprise-Surprise-Surprise Up-Up-and Away HI HO - HI HO - It's off to work we go Great Caesar's Ghost! Be careful, Matt Marcia, Marcia, Marcia Not now, Gilligan! Oh, fiddle-faddle! Oh, my Lord! Oh, my stars! Ohh, Mr. Gra-a-a-nt! Resistance is Futile Saint's Preserve Us Sit on it! Who is it? Whoop-dee-doo! Works for me Would you believe? Yo, Ho, Rinty! You big DUMMY! You done good You look Mar-r-r-velous! Can we talk & Oh, Grow up! Can We Laugh? Don't be ridiculous! Dy-No-Mite! I dood it! I'm with you! It's been real! Jerk! Jerk! Jerk! Kiss my grits! That's Punky Power! There ya go Th-uh-th-uh-That's all folks! Two snaps up! Two Thumbs Up! Christmas, Ba Humbug! Heh-Heh-Heh |
Santa Claus- Christmas Attributed to pirates Jean Luc Picard... Star Trek- Next Generation T.V. show Mickey Mouse Club- T.V. show Gomer Pyle- T.V. show Superman- T.V. show/comic books Seven Dwarfs of Snow White- Fairytale Perry White- Daily Planet editor in Superman T.V. show Miss Kitty Russell- Gunsmoke T.V. show Jan Brady- The Brady Bunch T.V. show Skipper- Gilligan's Island T.V. show Aunt Bee- on The Andy Griffith T.V. show Larry Appleton- on the Perfect Strangers Sitcom Samantha Stephens- Bewitched Sitcom Mary Richards- The Mary Tyler Moore show Borg- on Star Trek: Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager series Police Chief O'hara- Batman T.V. series Characterized phrase used on Happy Days T.V. show Faceless voice used for Phone, Internet & P.A. (public address system) Archie Bunker- All in the Family sitcom L.A. Det. Sgt. Rick Hunter- Hunter television series Maxwell Smart- Get Smart television show Command call to Rin Tin Tin- Rin Tin Tin T.V. show Fred Sanford- on Sanford and Son sitcom Chief of NYC Det. Earl Eischeid- Eisheid police drama Catch phrase on Saturday Night Live show Joan Molinsky (Joan Rivers)- comedy routines Bozo the Clown (1949) Balki Bartokomous- Perfect Stranges sitcom J.J. Evans Jr.- Good Times sitcom The Mean Widdle Kid- The Red Skeleton show Stan Ross- The Jack Haley show Early Eyeball Fraternal Marching Society Popular audience chant- Hot Seat talk show Florence Jean "Flo" Castleberry- Alice sitcom Penelope "Punky" Brewster- Punky Brewster sitcom Deputy Marshall Sam McCloud- McCloud police drama Porky the Pig cartoon character Antoine Merriweather and Blane Edwards- In Living Color T.V. show Gene Siskel and Robert Ebert- Siskel & Ebert at the Movies (critics) Ebenezzer Scrooge (Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens) Hopalong Cassidy's typical laugh |
On the children's program The Electric Company (PBS/1971-73), the cartoon character "Letterman" was advertised as being:
- Faster than a rolling O,
- Stronger than silent E,
- Able to leap capital T in a single bound.
It's a word. It's a plan. It's Letterman." (Letterman de-scrambled words messed up by the villain, Spell-binder.)
Many of the above expressions came from:
http://www.tvacres.com/catch_coverpage.htm
3-part expression of The Lone Ranger: HI YO [HO]~ Silver,~ Away! may also be viewed as a 3 to 1 ratio if we separate the "HI YO [HO] Silver" from the "Away!" portion.
While we can recognize several characters making a varied use of the expression "HO," today's more familiar usage of "Ho" is an abbreviation of the word Whore. It is a characteristic behavior amongst many ghetto blacks to engage in a condensation of words to appear "cool," but is in actuality an effort to conceal their common difficulty with pronunciation. Another example of an abbreviation is the expression "Mo" for More, such as in the phrase "Mo Money.") However, it must be understood, for those readers not taking it into consideration, that any race of people will adopt their own language usage depending on social circumstances. Yet, when given the opportunity to hear and practice another speech pattern, many will adopt it instead. By so doing, they may be ridiculed by those in their social circles that do not adopt an other-than colloquial vernacular.
3 types of movie Triologies can be recognized:
Those that are true sequels like chapters in a book with a storyline of characters and events which overlap.
Those that may make some reference or inference to events and or people in a previous movie but are representative of a different story and are not an overlapping continuation.
Those that are simply referred to as a sequel by the media or movie producers in an effort to influence the recognition of some similarity. In other words, it is an advertising gimmick to try to gain profit through association with a former movie that did financially well.
Note: I haven't listed all of them and some early Trilogies have additional titles.
- Apu Trilogy: (Pather Panchali - Aparajito - The World of Apu)
- Back to the Future Trilogy:
- Beverly Hills Cop Trilogy:
- Dead or Alive Trilogy: (Dead or Alive - Dead or Alive 2: The Birds - Dead or Alive: Final
- "Dollars" Trilogy: (Fistfull of Dollars - For a Few Dollars More - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly)
- Evil Dead Trilogy: (Evil Dead- Evil Dead 2- Army of Darkness)
- Highlander Trilogy:
- Indiana Jones Trilogy:
- Jurassic Park Trilogy:
- Lord of the Rings Trilogy: (Fellowship of the Ring- The Two Towers- The Return of the King)
- Mad Max Trilogy: (Mad Max - The Road Warrior - Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome)
- Matrix Trilogy:
- Naked Gun Trilogy:
- Ninja Turtles Trilogy:
- Omen Trilogy:
- Red Curtain Trilogy:
- Scream Trilogy:
- Star Wars Trilogy: (Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back - Return of the Jedi)
- Terminator Trilogy: (The Terminator - Terminator 2/Judgment day - Terminator 3/Rise of the machines)
- The Dead Trilogy: (Night of the living Dead - Dawn of the Dead - Day of the Dead)
- The GodFather Trilogy: (The GodFather - The GodFather Part II - The GodFather Part III)
- The Mighty Ducks Trilogy
- Three Colors Trilogy: (Red, White, Blue)
- Tremors Trilogy:
Sources:
http://www.geocities.com/princepat69/tripat.html
--- Movie Forums- Best Trilogy ---
--- Examining Movie Trilogies ---
http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Boulevard/2196/trilogies.html
--- The Movie Blog: Trilogy Buzz ---
http://www.themovieblog.com/2003/09/trilogy_buzz.html
--- Best Movie Trilogies ---
http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/topic/9787-1.html%20onmousedown=
In some cases there may be more than three films made with (or without) the same characters and similar storyline, but many viewers would consider the first three or choose three particular shows as being the best, such as the first three (out of six) Star Wars films, or the first three (out of five) Rocky films, or the first three (out of four) Superman films. It must be noted that the recurring usage of a trilogy sequence in film making is a later-born development with respect to the growth of the film industry. In the early stages (early 20th Century) single films were the dominant choice of film makers, in later years (1930s, 1940s) there might on occasion be two similar films, and thereafter till now (21st Century) we have a recurrence of three similar films, whether or not some viewers would consider them to be true Trilogies, according to their definition of the term. Also, a 3 to 1 ratio might be said to arise by the adoption of the trilogy into a television series or play...
An attempt to make more than three films as a sequel fails to develop representative specialized references such as quadrilogy, quintilogy, sextilogy, septilogy, octilogy, etc., nor do we devise a specialized form of recognition for a two-film sequel with a reference such as bilogy (or dilogy). In other words, why only "Trilogy" and no other type of numerically focused sequel reference?
In addition to the typically labeled trilogy which consists of three separate but linked movies, we can sometimes find a single movie with three tales, particularly in the horror section of a video store.
It must also be noted that while movie critics may refer to three particular movies as a trilogy series, neither the producer and director may do so. An instance of this is the three movies starring John Wayne: Fort Apache, She wore a yellow ribbon, Rio Grande.
Threes referenced in shows:
- War of the Worlds movie based on a story by H.G. Wells.
- Star Trek Episode: 18, Season: 5, Air date: 23-March-1992, entitled Cause and Effect.
- X-Files Episode: 14, Season: 9, Air date: 7-March?/April?-2002, entitled Improbable
Triad character groupings on the X-files television series:
Fox Mulder - Dana Scully - Walter Skinner
John Fitzgerald Byers - Melvin Frohike - Richard 'Ringo' Langley
3 maintenance drones (robots, labeled drone 1 - drone 2 - drone 3) are shown in the movie Silent Running. #3 drone was lost while the space craft passed through Saturn's Rings.
3-part phrase in an old American folk song:
Oh my darling - Oh my darling - Oh my darling... Clementine
3-part reference to an actor in the movie "Heist" starring Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, and others (2001): Young, Dumb, and full of Cum.
Various Triads of Characters (U.S.):
- Fred - Wilma - Pebbles (Fred Flintstone cartoon)
- Barney - Betty - Bam Bam (Rubble family in the Fred Flintstone cartoon)
- Theodore ~ Simon ~ Alvin (Chipmunks- cartoon)
- Huey ~ Duey ~ Louie (Donald Duck Nephews- cartoon)
- Yogi ~ Boo Boo ~ Ranger (Yogi Bear- cartoon)
- Chico ~ Harpo ~ Groucho (Marx Brothers, of which there were originally five.- middle 20th century Movie actors)
- Larry ~ Moe ~ Curley (3 Stooges- movie actors)
- Tom ~ Jerry ~ Spike (Tom & Jerry- cartoon)
- Sylvester ~ Tweety ~ Grandma (Tweety Bird- cartoon)
- Jody ~ Buffy ~ Sissy (3 siblings on the Family Affair- T.V. show)
- Billy Joe - Bobby Joe - Betty Joe (3 sisters on the old U.S. Petticoat Junction television series.)
- Mary Ann - Ginger - Mrs. Thurston Howell the 3rd (3 women on the old Gilligan's Island television series.)
3 (trio) of the old Perry Mason series: Perry Mason - Della Street - Paul Drake (private eye)
3 (trio) of the new Perry Mason Returns shows: Perry Mason- Della Street- Paul Drake Jr. (private eye)
3 (trio) of the new Perry Mason Returns shows: Perry Mason - Della Street - Ken Malansky (graduating/graduated lawyer that works as a detective)
Three Emmys were won by the Perry Mason series, two for Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) and one for Barbra Hale (Della Street). (This is a 3 to 1 ratio.)
3 cases lost by Perry Mason:
The Case of the Witless Witness- begins with a judgment being handed down against Perry by judge Daniel Redmond.
The Case of the Terrified Typist- a jury returns a guilty verdict against Perry's client.
The Case of the Deadly Verdict- Perry's client is found guilty of murdering her aunt for money, and is sentenced to die in the gas chamber.
http://www.oz.net/~daveb/pmbook/pmb_c209.htm
3 Liberty's Kids (animated cartoon about the events of the American Revolution):
- 14 year-old James Hiller is an apprentice journalist at Ben Franklin's Print Shop.
- 15 year-old Sarah Phillips is bright-eyed and strong-spirited, who arrived from London as a guest of Benjamin Franklin's.
- 8 year-old Henri is a street urchin who sleeps in the barn behind the Print Shop and helps out with errands to pay for his keep.
http://pbskids.org/libertyskids/behindscenes.html
3 singers were nicknamed "The Rat Pack": Frank Sinatra - Dean Martin - Sammy Davis Jr.
3 recognized relatives who frequently appeared on The Adams Family Television show:
- Uncle Festus
- Grandmama
- Cousin It
3 mothers of the 3 brothers on the Bonanza T.V. show:
- Elizabeth- (Adam)
- Ingrid- (Hoss)
- Marie- (Joe)
3 (fingers) to 1 (thumb) ratio is the typical hand digit configuration used by cartoonists and cereal character illustrators. (Humorously, one must wonder if they aren't all Japanese who have had to cut their pinky finger off as a sign of loyalty. It's no wonder the Cartoonist Guild has become replaced by computer animation. Although seriously, many of us decry the loss of so much talent to those whose talent lays with a keyboard and little else.)
http://webster.commnet.edu/gif/animated.htm
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For other 3 to 1 ratio examples: --- Three "to" One ratios page A --- http://www.threesology.org/321-a.php |
There also is a predominant usage of 1, 2, or 3 characters on cereals. For those interested in viewing a collection of cereal characters, see:
http://www.lavasurfer.com/cereal-guide.html
3 nieces of Daisy Duck: April ~ May~ June.
3 leading Beagle Boys:
- 176-167- is the smarter and generally tougher leader of the band.
- 176-671- is the dumber one who often tends to foul up the plans.
- 176-761- is the epicure of the gang with a special liking for prunes.
3 Beagle boys nephews called The Beagle Brats numbered 1, 2, 3
http://stp.ling.uu.se/~starback/dcml/chars/beagleboys.html
Star Wars Triads:
- OB1 Kenobie
- R2D2
- C3pO
3 main human characters trio in Star Wars: Luke Skywalker - Han Solo - Princess Leia
3 prominent non-human characters trio in Star Wars: R2D2 - C3pO - Chubaca
Wizard of Oz Triads:
- Dorothy's 3 Uncles
- 3 witches (Good witch, Bad witch, and the Witch her house landed on.)
- 3 lollipop kids
- Lion - Tinman - Scarecrow
- 3-part phrase "Lions, Tigers, and Bears"
- Dorothy clicks her heels 3 times together to go home.
- L. Frank Baum (author of the Wizard of Oz story had at one time presented the story in 3-stage plays.)
3 Star Trek television series versions:
- Star Trek- James Kirk commanding.
- Star Trek the Next Generation- Jean Luc Picard commanding.
- Star Trek Voyager- Kathryn Janeway commanding.
(If we include the Enterprise series with Captain Archer, we have a 3 to 1 ratio.)
RESISTANCE IS FUTILE: 3-patterned expression used by the Borg on the old U.S. Television Series entitled "Startrek the next generation," Star Trek Voyager, and other related science fiction programs. An earlier usage was by the Dorcons in the U.S. Television series entitled "Space 1999," DVD volume #16, episode #48 (entitled "The Dorcons")
Three-patterned hand gesture performed by
Spock:
The story is now legend within the Trek community of the source of the famous split-fingered Vulcan salute. The original Star Trek episode "Amok Time" introduced the Vulcan home world, and was in fact the first time viewers would see Vulcans interacting with one another. During the shooting of the episode, Nimoy felt that something was missing, that Vulcans should be seen as having a deep and complex culture. So, rather than shaking hands like Westerners, or bowing like Asians, Nimoy suggested to director Joseph Pevney that Vulcans should have their own distinctive greeting. "What do you have in mind?" asked Pevney. After some thought, Nimoy held his hand up in an unusual but now familiar (Jewish) gesture. Pevney liked the idea, and the rest is history.
Information source:
http://www.scifidimensions.com/Dec02/leonardnimoy.htm
Image source:
http://ryoung001.homestead.com/Freud.html
3 Vulcan characters as regular crew members appearing in the different Star Trek series:
- Spock: In Star Trek with Captain James T. Kirk.
- Tuvok: In Star Trek Voyager with Captain Kathryn Janeway.
- T'pol: In Enterprise with Captain Archer.
Captain Kirk ~ Mr. Spock ~ Bones {Dr. McCoy} (3 main characters of Early Star Trek- T.V. show).
Beam Me Up (Characteristic 3-patterned phrase associated with the Star Trek television series which refers to the de-molecularization of an animate or inanimate object that is transported (via teleportation) from one place to another.) If we use the phrase "Beam me up— Scotty", it is a 3 to 1 ratio.
On one episode of My Three Sons, Robbie Douglas and his wife Katie have triplets. (Three boys named):
- Robert Jr.
- Charles- named after Uncle Charlie
- Steve, named after Robbie's dad
3 long-running American television game shows:
- Wheel of Fortune: 3 contestants; 3 beeps indicate time limit for answer.
- Price is Right: 3 door prizes
- Jeopardy: Jeopardy Round ~ Double Jeopardy ~ Final Jeopardy
3 groups (couples) of contestants and 3 successive questions must be answered by them to win $5,000: Supermarket Sweep (Television game show)
3 lumps of sugar are used by the character (Detective) Lt. Columbo on the Columbo crime drama television series.
Fear Factor television program:
- 3 extreme stunts must be accomplished to win $50,000.
- 3 men and 3 women are the customary contestants on Fear Factor.
3 contestant categories on the Star Search television program: Singing - Dancing - Comedy.
3 patterned utterance used by children to mimic the 3 to 1 ratio utterance use by the cartoon character Woody Wood-Pecker: (you try writing the expression)
#3 T.V. Channel is used for video/DVD watching in some U.S. areas (other places use #4. VCR's frequently came with a movable switch that the consumer could alternate depending on whether their area of television coverage used station #3 or #4.)
3 part Candid Camera U.S. Television program phrase: Somehow ~ Somewhere ~ Sometime (when you least expect it...)
- 3-part advertisement: Plop, Plop ~ Fizz, Fizz ~ Oh what a relief it is (Alka-Seltzer)
- 3-part advertisement: Gimme' a break ~ Gimme' a break ~ Break me off a piece of that Kit-Kat bar.
- 3 jars: Herman Munster spent most of his childhood in 3 jars. (The Munsters television show.)
- 3 boys, 3 girls, 3 adults (Alice ~ Mother ~ Father): Brady Bunch television show
- Zebra 3: Starsky & Hutch vehicle Call Sign
- 3 Charley's Angels (U.S. Television show and Motion Picture)
- 3 Pep Boys (automotive parts distributor in U.S.): Manny - Moe - Jack
- Three's Company (U.S. Television show)
- Third Rock from the Sun (U.S. Television Sitcom show)
123 Sesame street: (Childrens television show that relies heavily on hand puppets and has been transformed into a promoting a Black-American perspective.)
3 typical language selections available on menus of DVD's in the U.S.:
- English
- French
- Spanish
3 sequence career formation of early prime-time comedians:
- Had a career in Vaudeville performances.
- Had a career in Radio performances.
- Had a career in Television performances.
Some of the early pioneers: Gracie Allen, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Robert Burns, Bob Hope, Red Skeleton
3 "dog" movies starring Patrick Swayze:
- Wild dog in 'Steel Dawn'.
- Black dog in 'Black dog'.
- Companion dog in 'The Three Wishes'.
3 patterned expression used by Clint Eastwood in the movie
"The Outlaw Josey Wales":
Josey Wales knows 3 types of "Suns" in Kansas-
- Sunshine
- Sun Flowers
- Sons of Bitches
From the vol.4, season 5, episode 17, entitled "Failsafe" of SG1 (Stargate) DVD:
Colonel O'Neil says: Plan 3 works everytime. He also chooses to cut the 3rd wire of a nuclear bomb, and then the 1st (from the bottom) wire, then the 2nd (from the bottom) wire, then the 5th (from the bottom) wire.
3 evil characters of the PBS (Public Broadcasting System) childrens television show Cyberchase:
From left to right the names of the 3 evil characters are: Buzz, Hacker, Delete. Notice that Hacker has three pens (?) in his pocket and that in this picture he has 3 upper and 3 lower teeth.
3 hero kids of the same show are, from left to right, Inez, Jackie, Matt. The Bird character which accompanies the kids is named Digit. The light-bulb headed character is Dr. Marbles, and the figure in the television-like screen is Motherboard:
--- Cyberchase: Meet the Cybersquad ---
http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/meet.html
3-judge panels used for the 2003 (U.S.) "Reality" television shows:
Are You Hot? The Search for America's Sexiest People-
- 1 white male
- 1 white female
- 1 black male
American Idol-
- 1 white male (Simon Cowell)
- 1 hispanic? female (Paula Abdul)
- 1 black male (Randy Jackson)
3 overall (publicly acknowledged) American Idol judging groups:
- Studio Audience
- Home Audience
- Simon-Paula-Jackson (Judge trio)
3 categories (with 3 contestants each) used on the Star Search television program:
- Singers
- Dancers
- Comedians
Note: The "Reality" television shows are also being referred to as television shows which show some of the tactics of exploitation that media corporations engage in to manipulate the public, for profits. It also provides some observers with an indication of which media corporations practice Democratic values and those which don't. For example, in the television production "America's Sexiest People," the three judges are seen as dictatorial because their vote alone is used to determine who is or who isn't considered to be sexy in all of America, as if these three exhibited all the experience, intelligence, and vision that is appropriate for choosing, and the public is too ignorant. (Sounds like they follow the mindset of politicians.)
Yet, in the show "American Idol," the American public is permitted to have a vote of who they think should be considered as an American Idol.
However, some observers think that the voting process is rigged and that the winning of the first American Idol position by a white female is an expression of the Corporate world's out-of-touch-with-reality "Diversity" policies to the extent that a black person and then another (hispanic? asian?) person will be next in line to win.
American Idol Lineup (at the time of this example):
First winner is a White Female (Kelly Clarkson with a White Male (Justin Guarini) as Runnerup.
Look for a Black person to win this (American Idol 2) time. (American "Diversity" policies are getting extremely predictable and politically standardized to give the Black Community the impression it has achieved social equality in a preeminent way.)
My prediction about a Black person winning the American Idol #2 contest is now confirmed. Ruben Studdard (pitted against a white male- Clay Aiken) is said to have won by a close margin (50.28% to 49.72%). And to think no one is publicly questioning the behind-the-scenes politics with respect to this black/white confrontation that results in a Black male winning (by a small margin) over a white male. It sounds just as politically rigged as the Bush presidential elections of 2000.
Let us now see if there is an American Idol #3, and whether the winner will be an Hispanic, Native American, Asian, Pacific Islander, or that another white/black confrontation will be used as a means to get more viewers for the sponsors.
The results for American Idol #3 are in. As many viewers suspected, it was another black/white confrontation... This time between two females! And to not overstate the ludicrous dramatisation, the black female had a child! (It sounds like the old adage: "I'm just a poor little black child (so have pity on me."), or: "I'm just a poor black woman carrying a poor little black child, so have pity on me and let me have the upper hand."
Fantasia Barrino, a black 19-year-old single mother from High Point, North Carolina is the newest winner of the American Idol contest. Her white female opponent was Diana DeGarmo, a 16-year-old Georgian.
If there is another American Idol contest, perhaps we might now see an Hispanic, Pacific Islander, or Native American winner. Or, maybe the sponsors will "arrange" it so that different Native American tribes are the final two contestants. Or perhaps two different races of Asians or Pacific Islanders... Anything to get viewers, sponsors, and increased ratings for the sole purpose of increasing wealth. Everything else is secondary and tertiary... in other words, negligible.
For the historical note, there have been more than three American Idol Contests.
As an aside note, it's interesting to compare how the networks, Bush, and Jesus all used variations of "philosophies of confrontation to attract "customers":"
- American Idol: Black/White- Male/Female (etc.) confrontations.
- Bush: Terrorism- War confrontations.
- Jesus: Matthew 10:34 (he came to bring division)
The so-called reality television programs are actually viewed by the public as Corporate manufactured perspectives of fabricated truth experienced by individuals with "scripts" defined by contrived personalized interests in a program that generally involves money. In other words, they are just another form of television production lie presented by people who are not customarily paid to create false personas such as actors and actresses. In fact, television producers of the so-called "reality" shows use psychologists to identify particular personalities that they think will hold an audience by creating particular types of situational scenarios. In still other words, the shows are artificially designed by calculated attempts to produce manufactured circumstances to heighten viewer interest through the application of personality tests that will distinguish specifically sought for characteristics in individuals being considered for participation in a particular show. It's just a modern day form of mythology creation mixed with instances of actuality that relies on confabulation and hearsay to create fanciful images. They are splintered microcosms projecting kaleidoscopically-arrayed macrocosms... Children making make-believe out of bits and pieces of self-interpreted realities.
3 examples (amongst many) of the negative impact that too much television, particularly at ages critical for language development and manipulative play, can have on young minds:
Higher levels of television viewing correlate with lowered academic performance, especially reading scores. This may be because television substitutes for reading practice, partially because the compelling visual nature of the stimulus blocks development of left-hemisphere language circuitry. A young brain manipulated by jazzy visual effects cannot divide attention to listen carefully to language. Moreover, the "two-minute mind" easily becomes impatient with any material requiring depth of processing.
The nature of the stimulus may predispose some children to attention problems. Even aside from violent or overly stimulating sexual content, the fast-paced, attention-grabbing "features" of children's programming (e.g., rapid zooms and pans, flashes of color, quick movement in the peripheral visual field, sudden loud noises) were modeled after advertising research, which determined that this technique is the best way to engage the brain's attention involuntarily. Such experiences deprive the child of practice in using his own brain independently, as in games, hobbies, social interaction, or just "fussing around." (Many parents of children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) found the difficulty markedly improved after they took away television viewing privileges.
The brain's executive control system, or pre-frontal cortex, is responsible for planning, organizing and sequencing behavior for self-control, moral judgment and attention. These centers develop throughout childhood and adolescence, but some research has suggested that "mindless" television or video games may idle this particular part of the brain and impoverish its development. Until we know more about the interaction of environmental stimulation and the stages of pre-frontal development, it seems a grave error to expose children to a stimulus that may short-change this critical system.
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/chm98nws.htm
Last update: Friday, March 7, 2014
Herb O. Buckland
herbobuckland@hotmail.com