'Television' feels like the fun aunt with an unstable career and one too many makeovers, but without a doubt with the best stories ever! She was an essential part of my early childhood but I kinda gave up in my late teens - I thought it wasn't cool enough. Yet, now, feeling a bit too old in my early 20s I reflect back and I actually love her for whoever she is - sometimes trash, sometimes gripping but all times - entertaining!
So, working in TV has completely changed me - that's what you expected me to say right? Well yes! But no I am not going to flex that again. (i just did though). Anyway, I really want to emphasise the fact that #television as a medium of art has transformed over the years - from a domestic, family-building experience to a more introspective and me-time activity. personally, this is the one that took me 19 years of life to take seriously and properly recognise what exactly is considered 'television.'
Television as a medium of art has transformed over the years - from a domestic, family-building experience to a more introspective and me-time activity.
Let me take you through different changes of me as a TV audience, explaining what each stage was and of course, giving some incredible recommendations along the way.
Childhood
As broad as this category seems, this is where all the #magic happened. TV was this enchanting gateway which I looked forward to every day after school. It was about unwinding with a cool drink (it is mostly always hot in Kolkata) and some snacks and forgetting all about homework or what drama happened on the way back on the bus. I am saying school life was tragic for me because it really wasn't - I loved the experience of going to a world that my parent didn't know and I make my own connections and I am in control.
#CartoonNetwork #POGO and #Hungama were everything but now seem irrelevant. In #Doremon, the story of a kid who struggled with math, in #Shinchan, a kid whom the world failed to understand and in #NinjaHatori a family f ninjas living together - I did not realise they added to my core beliefs and understanding of the world. Another sector of it was #Noddy, #Dora, #Dexter #PhineasAndFerb, #CouragetheCowardlyDog and so many more to name. I scare myself while admitting that I watched these in dubbed Hindi versions because the English language one came late on Indian television. However, the bright side of it is - I learnt a whole language which isn't my mother language from watching cartoons.
Early Teens
It was in 5th Grade when one day I decided I will stop watching cartoons because they are for kids and I am not one anymore. Before all the Frueds in my reader community starts psychoanalyzing this childhood behaviour, let me tell you it did me good. it ventured out from the 2D figures and simple stories to more complex ones and in live-action. my port of call was #DisneyChannel. I started watching everything there to watch, which was all very American -#WizardsofWaverlyPlace, #SuiteLifeofZackAndCody and of course, the iconic #HannahMontana. Alongside I had my Indian classics too - #SoanPari, #BestofLuckNikki, #ShakalakaBoomBoom and my always favourite #SonyChannel's #CID. It is noteworthy that the rest of the shows were inherently made for kids but CID (Crime Investigation Department) wasn't in the kid's section - it was my first move into grownup content. It is a show I watched with my grandfather after dinner and we both had our own version of who was the criminal! Thanks to CID, I have a pretty clear understanding of the forensic investigation and criminal psychology from such a ripe age.
Late Teens
While CID fuelled my dreams of becoming a detective when I grow up, my late teens introduced me to socio-cultural ideologies i.e, TV is beneath cinema in terms of prestige. It is rather controversial to say this but it was way too small in scale for the glamour of the cinema. I started comparing the high production value of films with the daily strategy of sitcoms and of course, I was disappointed. I moved away from everything that had a schedule and time and invested all my time in on-demand services. However, I was yet to have the biggest realisation that all the on-demand 'series' are part of the umbrella term television. As much as my parents had a tough time understanding this, so did I. This is when I discovered some of the greatest series that has shaped my understanding: #GameOfThrones showed me the big scale, #FRIENDS showed me intimacy and then #Chernobyl became the standard for comparing any limited series.
Now
I realised that I haven't mentioned every series I watched but is that even possible? We have watched television even before realising its effect on us and on society. Casually passing the living room and hearing snippets of dialogue, sitting beside someone on the train and glancing over at their phone screen - we consume television in so many mysterious ways. Surprisingly even after getting the job at Disney for lie-action original shows for #Disney+, it did not sink in that I work in television. Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+ and all other OTT platforms all around the world have transformed television, in form and content. It has spatially transferred television from the idiot box to a portable device which we sometimes value more than our wallets. Last but not the least, in content, it has successfully portrayed what holds society together but recently, it has also started spotlighting what breaks society! The boldness in approach and its dedication to being local and true and authentic has revolutionised television's position in my mind at least. At last, the familiar fun aunt can change but can never be estranged.
So, you must have already realised that there will be no actual answer to my question: idiot box or art? because this is a medium in an idiot box which is also art and the ones which are sometimes not in the 'box' turn out to be rubbish; thus, making the correlation utterly indecisive and complex.
[Television] the familiar fun aunt can change but can never be estranged.
Hope you enjoyed my version of a deep dive into television's role and my growing efforts of understanding media and the world better.
Love,
~ K.