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The Complete Season Boxed DVD Set and the
Corruption of American Society
Many believe that the cause of this decay of moral turpitude lies in the disintegration of the traditional American family structure. Without the framework and discipline that comes from being a responsible member of a complete family, our children are free to roam our cities and neighborhoods without the proper groundwork of what later becomes integrity and honor. I believe this theory to be right on target and I also believe one of the root causes of the breakdown in the family structure can be attributed to the dawning of the age of the Complete Season DVD set in a box. To understand my theory, you must first know a few things about me, and many of you will know what I'm talking about. I come from a time when watching television was a family event. Much like gathering around the radio in front of the fireplace with a glass of Ovaltine was to the generation before me, so was to my generation, scurrying around to finish the nightly chores before that evening's TV lineup hit the airwaves. My Dad would turn the station dial, reposition the aluminum foil covered rabbit ears, and adjust the horizontal hold until the picture was perfect. It was black and white, but it was perfect! Weeknights in my house meant everyone in the family knew the exact night of the week that we could watch the next episode of Adam-12, Dragnet, The Red Skelton Show, Bonanza, and in later years, The Carol Burnett Show, The Mac Davis Comedy Hour and The Sonny and Cher Show. Another thing you have to understand, and many of you will, is that our nightly television diet came at us from only three directions - CBS, NBC or ABC. Sure, there was PBS but that was what you watched during school when there was another NASA rocket launch to the moon or when another classmate was to appear on the Bozo show. Then came the Complete Season DVD Set in a box. Nothing has been more responsible for the breakdown of the family paternal unit, than sitting down to a watch a single episode of The Sopranos from The Complete Third Season DVD boxed set. The scenario goes something like this. The first episode ends, you listen to make sure the house is still in order, then, like a crack junkie looking for his next fix, you try to justify just one more episode, "I need to see what happens to Big Pussy." Four hours later, you pop in the 2nd DVD with episodes 5-8. That mesmerizing drumbeat of the Sopranos Theme begins, you press the "skip to next chapter" button to bypass the opening credits and the euphoria of a Sopranos fix fills your veins as your muscles relax and the sweet intoxication overtakes your body. The guilt of a neglected family begins to set in as you press the stop button. You notice that dinner was not prepared, the kid's homework was not completed, the trash still needs to be taken out and most importantly, the family structure was broken by your "Complete DVD Boxed Set" induced crack-house absence. Call me old-fashioned but I think times were better when television entertainment meant a congregation of the family for an hour or two followed by a week of anticipation and family discussion until the next episode aired. A constant16-episode infusion of always-on Sopranos and 24-hour non-stop Cartoon Network can't be good for anything and probably just further feeds our cultural and moral decay creating an environment of over-stimulated and under disciplined children looking for guidance and direction. Tomorrow I will sit down with my kid and read with him from a book and teach him how to draw, but you can rest assured that an episode of Band of Brothers from the Complete Season Boxed Set will be running on the TV in the background. ©2004, Reel Reviews. All rights reserved. |
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