Entertainment Arguement

In today's society, everything has to be fast paced. We dread a slow Internet connection or sitting in rush hour traffic. As Americans, we have become accustomed to having everything we want, right at the moment we want it. So, when we come home from our demanding jobs, we want to relax and wind down. And what better way to settle down from a day of rushing around than to sit down and watch people on TV provide the entertainment that people 100 years ago provided for themselves?

One hundred years ago or more, people used to entertain themselves with what they had around them. If you didn't live in a tropical rain forest, you could only imagine what a parrot looked like. If you were lucky, you could make a trip to a rain forest yourself to experience it first hand, but these trips were only made once in a lifetime, if they were made at all. Today, we no longer have to wonder what a parrot in a tropical rain forest looks like---we have explorers on TV to make the trip for us. We have an unlimited supply of TV shows and channels that can show us a whole other side of the world. We have the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the Travel Channel to relay back to us "in stunning high-definition" every little detail of their location. Or in some cases, how the food of a certain culture tastes. I'm sure we have all heard of the show on the Travel channel broadcasting a fearless explorer who bravely tastes the strangest foods of the world. The viewer can ride on a cultural roller coaster as the host not only explains the foods, but also gives a nice tour of the area's geographical oddities. So if we, as Americans can simply turn on our TVs to visit an exotic rain forest, why spend the money, or effort, to go visit in person?

Although there are some people in the world who enjoy watching brave explorers eat revolting foods, most tune in to their favorite television show or movie for the action. There are those out there who love to watch boxing and wrestling, or see a secret agent blow up an enemy vehicle. But would these people actually do these things themselves? Because I don't see an average cubicle worker out boxing Muhammad Ali, I believe I can safely say no. Americans strive for ease and convenience when it comes to anything they can buy, which is why so much money is spent on Hi-def TV sets rather than extravagant vacations to the other half of the world. Although a poll by the New York Times says that people who spend their money on experiences rather than material items, we as Americans love the ease and painlessness of buying a TV set to watch someone else experience something exciting and dangerous rather than do it on their own.