Chapter 38 11/12

In this chapter, psychiatrist Martin Gratjahn argues that television has not achieved its potential as a medium and instead has become another means of exposing viewers to commercials. I do not fully agree with this statement. There is a great deal of "garbage" on television, however there are certain channels that focus on worldly and educational topics that informs its viewers, such as CNN or MSNBC. He later contrasts art and television and argues that television is harming its audience by helping them to avoid coming to terms with their unconscious tension and other such phenomena in a persons life. He also adds that television is taking over our youths lives, as it consumes over 1/6 of a child's day. It should be noted that he wrote this article 30 years ago and that he would have to consider video games, computers and other electronic devices that exist in today's world. When comparing art and television, he described how art worked through unconscious conflicts, comparable to television distracting us from our conflicts. Art also deals with tensions about psychic phenomena, compared to people paying attention to commercials. Finally, art participates in facing the repressed, while television presents a show that amuses. If TV is a collective dream, what does this tell us about the psyche of the people watching it? Gratjahn believes television is taking over our lives and distracting us from coming to terms with the unconscious tensions within our minds.