Deon Barnard

If you’ve read my article ’3 reasons to turn off the TV’ then you know that I don’t watch much TV, in fact if I’ve watched 10 episodes of anything this whole year it’s a lot. I do however love movies. I try watching them on the big screen where possible so as not to miss out on all the size and sound as envisioned by the directors and producers. I love movies for many reasons; firstly because I’m a story teller myself, and messages are often easier to accept when you’re looking at them portrayed in the lives of others rather than being directly preached at. As with T.V. there is a pile of mindless nonsense being spewed out of Hollywood, Nollywood and Bollywood, but every so often something powerful, meaningful or true comes along that moves my heart and quite literally changes my mind or life in the process. These are not movies designed for the entertainment value of explosions or high speed car chases alone, but rather movies that say something about the human condition in a special way. I’ll start with five movies, and if there’s a request for more I’ll do another article. Maybe you enjoyed these as much as I did:

The Village (M.Night Shayamalin: starring Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver)

I think anything by Shayamalin is brilliant. His stories twist and turn and leave you with a sense of, “hmm, not quite what I expected, but wow!” This is not a horror despite the picture they used to advertise with. The Village is a wonderful story about how humans come together to form safe and loving communities but then fall into the trap of control and deception. It looks at censorship, leadership, culture, society, religion and a host of other human traits like courage and love. Shayamalin casts all his movies superbly.

Michael Collins (Neil Jordan: starring Liam Neeson, Aidan Quinn and Julia Roberts)

This movie inspired me! It is an historical look (back to 1920) at the early days of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and one of its leader’s, Michael Collins (played by Liam Neeson who instantly became one of my favorite actors). I was particularly impressed with how effectively this man organized and communicated to an underground resistance army almost entirely without the use of technology using a small group structure. As with all movies of this type (Brave heart, Rob Roy etc.), I was also moved by his personal bravery and determination.

Taare Zameen Par (Aamir Khan: starring Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safary)

I had not seen many Bollywood movies and incorrectly assumed they were all musical action-love stories with repetitive plots – boy was I wrong!! Every time I see this movie I cry my eyes out. It is a moving story (brilliantly acted) about a boy with dyslexia (and possibly HDD) who is misunderstood by everyone at school and at home and finally, on the brink of suicide, is rescued by an incredible (and also dyslexic) teacher. There are so many kids in this type of situation today – this movie should be mandatory viewing for all parents and teachers. A must see.

The Matrix (Andy & Larry Wachowski: starring Keanu Reaves and Laurence Fishburne)

Don’t watch this movie for the great acting, because there is none. I loved this movie because it was a revolution in the way movies did special effects, but most importantly it was the first movie that really tackled the question, “What if everything we know is wrong?” It also stirs up philosophical questions like, “Can we be sure that what our senses tell us is true?” and presents the concept of an ‘online’ existence separate from our physical self, which we’re now starting to see with apps like 2^nd Life.

Luther (Eric Till: starring Joseph Fiennes)

The dramatic story of the German priest, Martin Luther (date 1520), who all but single handedly stood against the Roman Catholic Church which ruled the western world through fear and manipulation. His actions resulted in the formation of the Protestant Church and eventually led to political reforms that have changed the world forever. I was deeply moved by his conviction and bravery. There are many other themes that come through in this movie like how one group can see the actions of a man as divisive rebellion and another group sees those same actions as positive reform – often only time can tell.

What movies changed your life? Leave comments!

The popularity of my previous article on TV “3 Reasons to turn off the TV” was quite surprising to me, I have to say. I expected my rantings about the uselessness and brain-deadening consequences of television to fall on the deaf ears of the already-comatosed. It seems I was wrong. My sense is that many people are caught up in the TV trap and have a deep desire to be rid of the thing so that they can get on with living. It’s almost as though people need ‘permission’ to turn off the TV – as though they may come across as socially unacceptable if they don’t put in the obligatory daily 4 hours worth of brainwashing time. So here it is… “It’s OK to turn off the TV! And if anyone gives you a hard time about it, tell them I gave you permission”

Need more reasons to turn off the TV? Not convinced yet? Let your logic chew on these little gems:

1. TV destroys your love life

How many couples start their relationship chatting till late hours of the night, going out for coffee to romantic corner cafés and giving each other erotic massages all night long? TV is never even considered in those early, heady, honeymoon weeks of a new romance. Then someone turns on the TV! What a stupid thing to do. He says, “Honey, let’s go explore each other.” She says, “uh, I’ll be there later my love, I just want to finish watching my soapy… you don’t mind do you?” He goes to bed and falls asleep before she gets there. The next afternoon she says, “my love, let’s try position 37, I don’t think we’ve done that yet.” He says, “Not now honey, Liverpool just have to score one more goal and they’re through to the quarter finals.” Before long, a once-romantic couple is in a constant state of distractedness and lifelessness. Television has sapped their energy, their passion, their libido and their reason for being together. There are thousands of woman everywhere screaming “I wish the stupid *&^%$ would turn off the *%^$% TV!!!!!”

2. TV is noise pollution

It is a fact that we are not ‘quiet’ enough. Check out http://www.quiet.org and this article about the consequences of noise on our health. There is a worldwide move back to being more spiritually aware. Generations have lived under a noisy flood of religion, media, television, radio and other sounds that fill our heads with words, clichés, convincing facts and a dull sense of mental anesthesia. To get in touch with ourselves, separate from our need for approval and validation from others, we need to become quiet. We need to learn to sit quietly in the garden, or under a tree, and… think, allowing our own consciousness and self developed opinions and paradigms to form. Some call it meditation; others call it having a ‘devotion’ or ‘quiet time’, (though often these terms refer to another tactic of the institution to influence even your silent thought processes). What we really need is time to be truly quiet. This heals mind, body and spirit, and injects new energy and opportunity into your life. TV is a sure way to keep the quiet out and fill your head with useless buzz.

3. TV is a money drain

Having already established that TV is a waste of time with a list of negative consequences on your life, it would make no sense to spend any money on it, right? Well, we do spend money on TV, and lots of it. Let’s consider the impact of television on your budget. This is a South African scenario but I’m sure the principles apply anywhere. Firstly, if you own a TV you have to pay a TV license fee to the national broadcaster. This enables them to keep churching out rubbish on 3 channels 24 hours per day. A TV license costs about R250 a year. Then there’s the TV itself. Most people aren’t content to watch TV on a small box anymore, after all if you’re spending 4 hours per day watching the thing you may as well do it properly right? An 81cm flat screen LCD TV costs around R7000, which of course turns into R10000 when taken as credit installments. Then, most people aren’t happy to have only three channels of local rubbish to watch, they want 100 channels of international rubbish too. A full ‘bouquet’ of DSTV channels will cost about R6000 per year, and throw in another R4000 for an HD decoder and, hey presto, you’ve spent R20250. You could be paying about R800 per month to keep up the TV addiction, and that doesn’t include TVs in other locations like offices and holiday homes. On top of that, time is money, and if you’re spending 4 hours per day watching TV and let’s say you might be investing at least one of those hours into an earning opportunity (like writing this blog), then TV is probably costing you well over R5000 per month in wasted opportunity. Instead, the poor masses stare vacantly at the screen waiting for their ‘ship to come in’ and throwing away opportunities for success, happiness, wealth creation and relationship building, all the while making companies richer – hmmm.

Started your TV fast yet? It’s easy – just unplug your TV from the wall and put it high up in a cupboard for a month. Move your couches around to fill the vacant space and start doing other things with your time. Start a small business. Invite some friends over for games. Read to your children. Make love to your partner. Read a book. Play an instrument. Improve your garden. Start a hobby. Get fit. Discover a new restaurant. The possibilities are endless. Have fun.

According to the American ‘Time Use’ Survey, consumers spend 11% of their lives sitting in front of a television. A German survey says 7%. Others put it even higher at 15%. Let’s put that into perspective shall we… Statistics are telling us that the average TV watching person is sitting in front of the Telly between 2 and 4 hours per day. Let’s call it three hours. That works out to 21 hours per week; or 95 hours per month; or 1140 hours per year. Wow!

That’s fairly impressive if the TV is improving our lives… but as you’ve probably guessed already, it’s not. The reality is that billions of people are sitting and staring at a noisy glowing box every day that is stealing their time, dulling their senses and blocking their opportunities for success. Here are 3 reasons to turn off your TV and take back your life – or at the very least knock down your zombie-TV-staring hours from 21 hours to 4 hours per week. I dare you.

1. TV turns your brain off.
   
   There are numerous studies that show the negative effects of watching television on your brain. Click here to read an article about the neurological impact of television published by the Centre for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics.
   TV is not making you smarter, despite the fact that you may be watching hours and hours of Animal Planet. Have you ever had that dull feeling after watching a few hours of TV, like you’re not all there? It’s a type of catatonic state that slows your senses and makes you feel like reality is far away somewhere… not unlike many drugs – this may be the very reason so many people spend so much of their lives doing it. Here is a sample of lyrics from a song called ‘Television, the Drug of the Nation’ by the group ‘Disposable heroes of Hiphoprisy’…
   

   TV, it
   satellite links
   our United States of Unconsciousness
   Apathetic therapeutic and extremely addictive
   The methadone metronome pumping out
   150 channels 24 hours a day
   you can flip through all of them
   and still there’s nothing worth watching
   TV is the reason why less than 10 per cent of our
   Nation reads books daily
   Why most people think Central America
   means Kansas
   Socialism means un-American
   and Apartheid is a new headache remedy
   absorbed in its world it’s so hard to find us
   It shapes our mind the most
   maybe the mother of our Nation
   should remind us
   that we’re sitting too close to…
   

    

2. TV steals your time. It seems that almost everyone I meet these days tells me, “I don’t have enough time”, and yet they can spend in excess of 1000 hours per year watching television. What could you do with an extra 1000 hours each year? Learn to play a musical instrument? (Improving your creativity and relieving stress). Start a small business? (Improving your finances and getting you out of debt) Write a blog like the one you’re reading now? (Potentially increasing your finances and improving your networking opportunities). Make a few new friends? Join a club? Write a book? Read a whole pile of books? Get a diploma?
   There are any number of life-improving things you could be doing with your time rather than watching TV but instead we just have to find out what the latest scandal is on the Bold and the Beautiful or Grays Anatomy or Big Brother. People actually sit for hours watching other people brushing their teeth and washing dishes… go figure. Let’s take our little mathematical projection further. 1140 hours per year means that in the 60 years of your life between ages 13 and 73 you will have thrown away EIGHT YEARS of your life sitting on a couch and passively staring at a box!
3. TV is antisocial. It is really annoying to walk into someone’s house and the atmosphere is filled with the sound and light of television. I have had people invite me to their homes so that I can advise or counsel them on personal matters only to have them sit me down in the lounge and chat to me with the TV blaring in the background, and then when asked if we could turn the TV off they turn the volume lower or just look at me as though I’m crazy… “What? Turn the TV off? You can’t be serious!”
   Improve your family and love live by turning off the box and sitting around a table playing games or reading to each other or discussing life or dare I say… have sex!

For your health, your mind, your body, your relationships and your future, I challenge you to cut down your current TV watching time by half. Even better, have a TV fast for a month. Make a deal with your family that for one month you will watch absolutely NO TV! Unplug it and put it in a cupboard. This little exercise will demonstrate to you that you can survive without TV and you’ll be surprised how many other great and productive things you’ll end up doing with your time, not least of all – talking to people. Just remember though, TV is like a drug, so for a few days you might be tempted to stare at the empty space in the wall where the TV was because your body and brain are conditioned that way. In time you’ll find that even when the TV is there, you seldom turn it on because you’re too busy doing meaningful things. Let me know how your TV fast goes.