So TV has not been a part of my home life for going on 10 years now. When I moved to college I didn't have one in my room, and I liked the effects. So even though a roommate or two might have had a TV that I watched occasionally (we're talking maybe an hour every couple weeks, at most), I walked away from it when I was 17 and haven't missed it since.
So it often happens that my friends/colleagues are having a discussion about some TV show or commercial, etc. Once these water-cooler chats get going, the flow usually comes to me and someone asks my opinion... and I always just say, "Actually, I don't watch TV." And people's reactions! It's like I've just announced that I don't like sex or something. Either that, or that somehow I'm a hippie or liberal, etc. Why do people respond like this? Doesn't anyone else NOT watch TV, or is it really that freaky to not watch it?
To me, other than a few quality educational or comedy shows (I'm talking 3-5, max), TV is THE major source of consumptive desires worldwide. It is also probably a major source of people's insecurities about their bodies and selves. My life has certainly not suffered from abstaining from watching TV, and hell I don't care if other people watch it (I mean, it's like watching someone smoke... if they want to harm themselves, I'm not going to condemn them on the spot).
But why do people react so violently when they hear that I don't watch TV? Any thoughts, TFP'ers? Feel free to call me a hippie, btw, but at least explain WHY you feel that way.
