Gandhi had it right...

Now I realize that the writers are still on strike, and I applaud them for standing up for what they believe in. Honestly. I fully agree with anyone exercising their right to dissent. I believe it is an integral part of what makes a democracy work. I have happily exercised my right to gather and protest on many fine occasions. I have the newspaper clippings to prove it. I remember once, I was 16...maybe 17, it was during Desert Storm...some friends and I went downtown to protest. We got the bright idea that we should all lay down on the side of Broadway with signs that looked like grave markers saying " we're dead" you know, to represent the innocent lives lost to war. It was one of those electrifying moments. I felt like no one could stop me or us. I felt like we COULD make a difference. We could STOP the war. We could stop ALL war! Unfortunately the news cameras came out that night as well as the Tennessean (our local newspaper) and my mug was all over a couple of local channels as well as in the paper. Did I mention that I had lied to my father and said I was going to the mall with my friends because the night before, as I marched across Broadway with a banner..." No Blood for Oil!" chanting " Hey, Bush, whaddaya say? How many kids have died today?" the camera caught me at just the perfect angel to be recognized, you know, full face forward looking right into the lens.
Anyways, yes, I believe in doing what you believe in at all costs. I was grounded for a month over that one. No sweat.
All of this to say, I am not getting on the writers here, this rant is directed at the ladies and gents in the offices, behind desks, deciding what to show on the networks right now. Until our beloved writers bring back our Heroes and The Office and whatever else it is that we watch...can we please get something with SOME substance on there? I mean, lets call it an experiment. There's some really great shows that could be rerun right now that would bring our attention to some issues that need to be addressed badly. Why can't we get 30 Days rerun? That was an awesome show. I bet not nearly enough people saw that, and I'd watch every single episode again. It's like that mommy swap show, but without the screaming kids. In case you aren't familiar with it, it's by Morgan Spurlock, you know, that guy that did Super size Me the McDonalds documentary where he ate nothing but their menu for 30 days and then his doctors told him that his liver was suffering and that he was doing real damage to his organs. Yeah, that guy. So the premise of his show was a mini-documentary where he followed people that he immersed into a totally different lifestyle from their norm for ...you guessed it, 30 days. He had a homophobic straight guy roommate with a gay guy, he had a Christian live with a Muslim, and he and his girlfriend lived on minimum wage. During the show Morgan eloquently defines the socio-political issues surrounding each unique 30 day experiment and tactfully interjects witty and poignant observations. Now THAT was reality TV.
I just can't help but feel like we are reaching a zenith, we are building up our critical mass. I beleive it is up to us as a society to use every tool at our disposal to alleviate the issues facing us. One such tool being that flickering box in almost every living room across this country. Instead of us depending on it to entertain, arouse, and excite us, lets use it to actually educate and enlighten us! Can't we show Sicko on a Friday night? I know lots of conservative people who would not dare to go to the theater to see it, refusing to give Michael Moore one cent from their wallets. Thats fine, again, standing up for what they believe in. But if it were played on lets say NBC or CBS at the Friday night primetime slot...well, that same conservative would probably watch it, just to see... And in doing so they will learn a lot about the American Health Care System and it's failures. Maybe they'll get motivated to write some letters. If not we could follow it up by showing West 47th Street. That was an award winning documentary from a few years back that dealt with the issues of mental illness and homelessness. It discussed how the two are intertwined. Maybe we could be so bold as to run Wal Mart-The High Cost of Low Price... let people out there who may not realize it already what their beloved Wal Mart is doing to our economy. I preach to Macey all the time about the evils of Wal Mart, yet just the other day she looked at me with that pouty face, lip out past her nose and said " I reeeeealy want to go to Wal Mart" in that child-like, whiny-you never let me have ANY fun- voice. Sigh. My work here is not yet done.
Our politicians are always asking us if we're ready for a change, I hear us saying we want a change, yet we don't enact those changes.
To everything there is a season, and now is the season for change. We've spent the past countless seasons in a nonchalant, aloof and apathetic state. This can't continue. Maybe now is the season for motivation, self examination and enlightened change. I start at home by renting quality informative dvd's , check out netflix's top 10 list of "Every American Should See" . Then I find ways to enact those changes in my life that I want to see. Yes, Gandhi did have it right, you must be the change you want to see in the world. What we are shown on TV is a reflection of what we demand as consumers. Lets demand something better, can we?