Once the product of desire for artistic expression, everyday television has been reduced to what can only be described as garbage, as 'info-slop'.
The increasing presence of reality TV programs, as well as their increasing popularity, is in every way a threat to the health of the consumer population.
Designed to rake in as much profit as possible means quickly (and poorly) written, cheaply made and capable of ensnaring the viewer. It is not unlike a poison that
slowly drains its victim of life, eventually leaving their organs to rot. But this is in no way exclusive to television! On the contrary, it is everywhere: Marvel
& DC blockbusters, mukbang channels, Keeping Up with the Kardashians — low-intelligence entertainment permeates infocapitalist society.
The problem is not media which isn't intellectually stimulating but that which carries no deeper meaning, which glorifies vanity, greed or war, encourages
commodity fetishism or obedience to the system, that which is centred around fake lives and deceives the viewer whilst manipulating their emotions.
It is natural to seek distraction when trying to avoid facing the realities of a world which suffers so many ills, to flee a life which for many has lost meaning, one
which is often characterised by alienation and loneliness. But distraction is just that — a momentary escape which does nothing to address the root cause.
Cultural and intellectual rot, whether in the form of Hollywood celebrity gossip magazines or else — are a symptom of this society as well as something which serves
to reinforce it. Exposure to such material infects a large section of the population, rendering them vulnerable to manipulation, into acceptance of their servitude, acceptance
of the conditions which they are made to endure, into unthought. For all to become thinking individuals, who are nuanced in their reflections, sensationalist media must be
treated like what it truly is — garbage which poisons the consumer whilst spitting in his face.
