Don’t spectate, participate
Americans spend too much time watching people do things instead of doing things themselves
When Bruce Springsteen wrote the song “57 Channels and Nothing On” in 1992, little did he realize that those of us with fewer than 57 channels by 2017 would be considered “channel-poor.” There will be no fundraisers for the channel-poor, but for those who can hit the “Guide” button on their remote and see hundreds and hundreds of channels, welcome to Spectator Nation.
It’s not just the scripted shows, the news and reality shows, sports-related programming and talk shows that have exploded our viewing options; the streaming services and mobile “apps” have added to the overabundance of ways to watch programming. A new term “binge watching” was born of certain Netflix programming. And YouTube gets its own mention.
Miss last night’s late-night talk shows? No issue. You can watch the only parts worth watching in the morning on YouTube. Want to watch the original episode of the “Batman” TV series featuring Jill St. John? Care to see the blooper reel from season 8 of “Seinfeld”? Both are easy to find on YouTube.
The days of me wrestling my brothers to determine if we were going to watch channel 2, 4, 11 or 53 (available in our house only with rabbit ears) are long gone, forever replaced by Spectator Nation.
The reality show format holds a special place of shame in Spectator Nation. Due to improved camera technology and low production costs, almost any idea can becomea reality show.
I will confess to watching every episode of the last two seasons of Lifetime channel’s “Married at First Sight” and “60 Days In” on A&E, two silly reality shows with implausible premises. But many ofus watched.
The shows had no redeeming value but did what A&E needed them to do — generate advertising revenue for the network and a per-subscriber fee from the cable companies. And, thanks again to YouTube, not only are the reality shows taking up our time and attention, there are now shows accessible online that do nothing but discuss the shows we’ve just seen.
It’s not just that citizens of Spectator Nation aren’t living a full life or having less time to do productive, creative things, but there also is a public health cost to “spectatoring” (a word just invented).
Reduced physical activity, one of the side effects of spectatoring, is a contributing factor to the nation’s problems with overweight and obese citizens. Spending your day in a job that already requires less physical activity than in generations past and going home to sit in front of a TV screen or computer screen has one major problem — being a spectator usually involves food. Hours of watching programming with food, restaurant and beverage commercials will overwhelm any impulse control you think you have. Add the consumption of even a minor amount of alcohol to reduce impulse control further and a spectator will find himself or herself consuming even more calories while watching television.
Robert Lustig, a physician and writer known for his research on the increase of sugar in our diets and the correlated increase in obesity, has a great suggestion. People need to “earn” their screen timewith activity time.
Maybe you should start by taking a walk or bike ride after dinner instead of watching the local news — which, full of crimes and fires, is rarely a good use of one’s time. (Sorry, Sally Wiggin.)
Have one evening per week when you leave the television and computer off and engage in some type of physical activity. Do something interesting and healthy instead of watching to see who gets kicked off “Dancing with the Stars” or who “The Bachelor” gives the rose to. (From the ironic file, I will share that Dr. Lustig has a highly watched video titled “Sugar: The Bitter Truth” with over 4 million views. You can watchthis video on YouTube.)
The greatest food-consumption day of the year is Super Bowl Sunday. Food, soda and beer companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars sponsoring the NFL. They want their return on investment on Super Day by having America consume billions of dollars worth of beer, pizza, chicken wings and anything else that has a high profit margin and canbe over-consumed.
I can’t fault anybody for watching a favorite sports team. But take Dr. Lustig’s advice and participate in physical activity before and after the game.
One of my favorite stories from Spectator Nation occurred many years ago when I was working in Tampa, Fla. It was a Saturday afternoon. The Super Bowl was being played the next day in Miami. Somebody asked my boss if he was going to the game. My boss had his own airplane. He could have flown across the state and paid any price for a ticket.
He answered no, but he did it in a cool way. “In this life, I’m a participant and not a spectator.”
It’s a story I share every chance I get. It also persuaded me to visit Spectator Nation on occasion but to never become a citizen.
The greatest food-consumption day of the year is Super Bowl Sunday. Food, soda and beer companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars sponsoring the NFL.