"Why do we get addicted to TV Serials?"

TV Serials or Soaps as they are known in the west, have a special spot in our lives. Sure, you might cringe if I asked you if you were addicted to a TV serial but the truth is that all of us have used TV serials as an escape at some point of time in our lives. Maybe ‘escape’ is not the right word, maybe some people call it entertainment, time-pass, social bonding…whatever. When you look closer at our relationship with TV Serials, you might be able to see an entire paradigm of social behaviour which is unique as well as worthy of a snap study.

Coming back to the core topic in hand, ‘Why do we get addicted to TV Serials?’ some of the reasons can be as follows:

Liven up your day. Ever wondered why the largest viewer ships of most TV serials are housewives? They lead regular lives with a familiar and sometimes a boring daily routine…watching a TV serial which shows a wide range of action and emotions in other people’s lives…can help add a bit of spice in the day.

Fighting bouts of loneliness. TV Serial addiction stems from lack of real life contact with other people and many introverts are addicted to TV serials as it does not require any practice of social skills. Loneliness pushes many old people as well as people who have little to do all day long in the house towards the idiot box which becomes their window to the world. Today, many teenagers are also turning to the TV as families become smaller in size and they have fewer people to talk to.

Finding one self in the protagonist. This probably is one of the most prominent psychological reasons for people to get addicted to TV Serials. Somewhere in the back of our minds (and sometimes quite consciously as well) we associate ourselves or our situations with the protagonist/s in the serial. How else would you account for the fantastic success of Desperate Housewives?

Value of Entertainment…: Would you consider MASH a TV Serial? I would. And I would also consider it one of the most entertaining things I have ever seen on the telly. The humour helps me take a break and get back to what ever I am doing with renewed gusto. Humour on the telly can make some people very close to serials such as Seinfeld, Everybody Loves Raymond and as we all know Friends has a fan following of epic proportions!

Escapism? This reason can turn into a scorching debate and the opinions expressed in this article are purely mine ( usually this line is written in some part of the website which is hardly read by anyone, so I would like to mention it here, lest readers decide to leave this page as they might disagree with the line of thought)! TV Serial Addicts when profiled may have a dysfunctional family and lifestyle and watching someone else’s universe may give them a much wanted escape. Is it bad? Not really when you compare it with other kinds of addiction which exist and have a far more harmful effect on a person.

Sometimes serials are thought provoking. OK, so this might not be a solid reason to turn into a TV serial addict, but some viewers do become addicted to certain serials as they stimulate them mentally. It does take a few minutes to come up with names of such serials but then there are some such as the very popular Practice which makes you think of social issues around us.

Let’s give them something to talk about. If you have ever watched three episodes of Desperate Housewives in a row, you will be itching to know what happens next. If you miss it, it is likely that you will call up your closest friend and pick up from where you left off.

TV Serials give us a reason to talk. To bond with one another. They are now an integral part of our social fabric and thus sometimes a mild addiction to TV serials is a good thing if you want to appear updated.

It cannot be denied that TV serials are pretty much part of our lives. Addiction to them, however, is a personal preference and subject to one’s choices.

The first and foremost thing about TV serials is their availability on primeslots(7-11) which becomes available to both working women and housewives.Obviously every women gets stereotyped towards it.This stereotyping attitude is even appreciable if tv serials are viewed only as a relaxation criteria provided they do not contaminate women,pollute their thoughts and most importantly the serials must possess a message and don't exceed the limits.
Recently the same topic (Are TV Serials stereotyping women was discussed in THE HINDU-METRO PLUS section (VOICE YOUR VIEWS)).
Though there are lots of other things which are of importance than TV Serials older generation have nothing to kill the time than watch those serials.
Instead of discussing only the negative impacts of TV serials there are such things which provide some message either directly or indirectly.Though i cannot discuss all such things let me take an example. In a serial which is telecasted at night a doctor cheated a girl who have met him for a chance in modelling,published her photos(which were taken without her knowledge) in the internet,forcing her to indulge in illegal activities ,unable to oppose him ,frightening her with the photos if she fails to cooperate with him.Though these scenes are vulgar,it alerts people especially youngsters to know the happenings around them .Safety for women is always being a subject of discussion.If we take the positive thing in this current concept,it definitely creates an awareness on how technology is misused inspite of the fact that there are wonders in advancement of technology.

Bhargavi