Don't like being preached at in TV shows

[NutellaEllaElla]

Is it just me? Has it always been this way? There seems to be a moral to every story. Try not to judge my TV watching habits but i'm thinking Grey's Anatomy, The Good Doctor, New Amsterdam. There's probably more i'm not thinking of right now. Was it always so heavy handed on social issues?

But @takehomepay what do you think it achieves? A racist person is not going to stop being racist because an Arab family is in Corrie or a black person is in an advert.

@Libraryghost

But *@takehomepay* what do you think it achieves? A racist person is not going to stop being racist because an Arab family is in Corrie or a black person is in an advert.

I'm not talking about ads, I don't watch much live telly so can't comment but positive representation of Muslims/Asians and other minorities in TV programmes is really important, it's important for minorities to be able to watch people like them on TV.

New Amsterdam season 1 was ace. Season 2 did a great job despite the pandemic but the new season.......I wouldn't call it preachy but just huge clunking 'issues' with no subtly or character development. Character has a biscuit in desk drawer-cue binge eating disorder for him. Character takes a painkiller. Cue painkiller addiction for her. Max the doctor has radical new idea to solve every problem in the history of the world. Someone wise looks like a killjoy and points out flaw in his plan. Max gradually realises the flaw and works together with killjoy and together they solve the crisis..........then gazes into the eyes of Martha from Dr. Who as part of the will they won't they plot which they will extend until the ratings drop. Yet I will still watch it all

Quite a lot of shows in the last year I watch (greys anatomy and the rookie) have become much more focussed on black issues which makes sense based on the casts and show runners but just a change from earlier episodes. But these writers have a platform and are just doing what they think is the best thing they can do. Sometimes it feels a bit forced but that just needs better writing at times. Better than in greys doctors discussing their sex lives in front of the patient and colleagues!

I've stopped watching a lot of them. I'm quite happy if they introduce a diverse cast and raise issues in a natural way but recently I feel as if I'm being lectured rather than entertained.

There was always a little lesson at the end of Trapdoor. Berk (Willie Rushton) would sum up like 'don't throw away the things you've got or then you won't av em anymore'

@ElizaBenson

Greys anatomy is a shondaland programme, to be fair with those you know what you are getting, strong black characters, particularly black women, usually tons of sex and some strong messages, if you don't like her programmes there are plenty of others to watch, personally I love them (although sometimes the sheer amount of sex is boring...) maybe you just aren't the target audience and should try something else?

I know, i watch greys with my dd and i had to do my own ""framing". Id say "oh! In to the supply room! Sex at work !!! What a risk? " It was really bad for a few seasons. If a pair liked each other they were straight in to the supply cupboard. I had to point out to my dd that in real life if a man offered you sex in a supply cupboard you might be less than delighted. Chances are that'd be followed by six months of awkwardness. When characters actually suggested a date, id say oh good! Start with DINNER! See how that goes before you fumble in the supply cupboard.

I thought it was just me who thought that! YANBU!!! Sometimes I want to be just entertained, I mean just taken out of the everyday world, so I can escape, is that too much?

He-Man always had a lesson at the end that made 9yo me cringe.

Country file is no longer for farmers, but for city folk who want to preach to country folk. Actual farmers stopped watching when it moved to evenings!

@Pedalpushers

People mentioning sci fi and zombie films as an escape, which are both generally metaphors for society and its issues...

Yes they are, and the word metaphor is key. Horror generally has always dealt with social issues but managed to do it in a way that doesn't leave the audience feeling like they've been preached at.

Country file is no longer for farmers, but for city folk who want to preach to country folk. Actual farmers stopped watching when it moved to evenings!

What do we fund all this stuff for? We are idiots paying tax, license fees, service users if stats brands or buying brands, using business and they think we are just there passive to be lectured to, think and do as they tell us to and give them power and money, Harry expected it as a Royal and now he is entitled to being able to do the same as an independent, monetising his brand. We are in a duo capitalist and state tyranny, and many don't accept that we are.

Another vote for Countryfile not being fit for purpose. I can almost see the presenter wagging his/her finger telling me I've been a naughty girl.

Just rewatched Sweet Tooth on Netflix. Its so bloody cute, and at the same time vomit-inducingly woke (not envy)

What do we fund all this stuff for? We are idiots paying tax, license fees, service users if stats brands or buying brands, using business and they think we are just there passive to be lectured to, think and do as they tell us to and give them power and money

^ This

They aren't achieving anything other than feeling superior and getting rich, I assume eventually another Brexit type incident will happen. People just turn off, stop buying brands or using services.

The state know people will use the service they fund via tax and businesses have worked out they will not loose all customers. They are accepting vigilante behavior now, because they take taxpayers money to fund police who are not interested in their old job description, some things have become legal as they don't prosecute it investigate they exoect us to be Agatha Christie and do the work for them (same as feckless parents child financial abuse so called support type agencies) and are now having grad police checking illegal Quazi religion thinking.

It's end of Empire democracy corruption era in the cycle where we are in Tyranny.

Yet another vote for Countryfile no longer being any good for farmers/actual rural dwellers.

I don't mind Greg Davies' “what have we learned today?” Summing up at the end of each Taskmaster…

[quote Libraryghost]@GrolliffetheDragon what a black person will not buy a bog roll unless they are featured in the advert? A white person will stop watching sky because it’s got Idris Elba promoting it? Can’t watch Sky , it’s for black folks. Now that’s racist![/quote]
Advertisers care about what sells products. But yes, people like to see people who are like them, it's part of my representation is important.

Off the top of my head - Go look up Ursula le Guin's Earthsea books and the responses from black people who found that here was a fantasy book where the people looked like them. Or the unusual amount of women who bought the original Tomb Raider game.

As for a white person will stop watching Sky, I do seem to recall that the first British Vogue with Naomi Campbell on the cover saw a drop in sales.

One would hope things have changed, but going back to Doctor Who, lots of men complaining about Jodie Whittaker and whining about why can't girls look up to male role models and how sexist it is to want a female role model. Funny how that doesn't apply to boys...

People just turn off, stop buying brands or using services

I try to avoid spending on brands that jump on the preachy bandwagon unless there is a good reason to do it or they are the only option in the market. Public services are more tricky, but you can still not donate when it's a 'charity', etc and contribute to the ones that seem more to the point and genuine

@limitedperiodonly

‘My friend worked for the Department of Health and they were always having meetings with scriptwriters to shoehorn in messages for the proles.’

The proles? Nice.

Yep that's why I rarely watch tv now. It's meant to be an escape from real life. I'll watch a documentary if I want info.

Highway to Heaven, Littlest Hobo, Quantum Leap anyone remember those. Back in the 80s it felt like all US TV came with a side order of moralising, all flavoured with patriarchy, racism and rugged individualism. There were only a few channels so it was impossible to avoid. That was hard.

New Amsterdam forgot to include a compelling plot and interesting characterisation, Grey's Anatomy is ridiculous fluff and the Good Doctor list me with its one note portrayal of Autism. So the heavy moralising is not the main issue that puts me off those programmes. Shondaland lost all moral high ground imo when marital rape was whistled past in Bridgerton!

I don’t have a problem with modern tv or adverts

I did have a massive issue with programs like tj hooker back in the day…..that really obvious’lesson’ right at the end

Ive just remembered that the brady bunch movies takes the piss out of the ‘end of episode lesson’ in the old series

Highway to Heaven, Littlest Hobo, Quantum Leap anyone remember those. Back in the 80s it felt like all US TV came with a side order of moralising, all flavoured with patriarchy, racism and rugged individualism. There were only a few channels so it was impossible to avoid. That was hard

This…..exactly this

As you say you just couldn’t avoid it 😀

Even the news - especially the Beeb - do it. I want my current affairs factual without bias and for me to be able make up my own mind about what’s happening in the world. There’s always an ‘angle’ and bias to most reporting. If there’s an exceptional weather event - it must be climate change etc etc

Celebrities on chat shows looking amazing and implying they look so good because they only eat organic, raw, prehistoric food which takes 9 hours a day to prepare and is only harvested when the moon is alignment with the planet Jupiter (but we all secretly know it’s because they have a great Botox practitioner) and that if we were all eating the same, we could look just as beautiful.

I just want to be informed, not lectured.

It's the adverts that get me.

Please stop preaching to me about climate change. Just attempt to make me part with my cash via a nice advert for your product.