I just turned on the television to hear the news. Our TV was set to a game show channel, and a commercial for a “special” new program greeted me. This “special” program, to premiere in the new year, gathers an assortment of people who would “do anything to win” in the game of their choice – this being the game channel. The game category includes sports and other arenas, of course. The main qualifier seems to be that these people made unbelievable attempts, went to great lengths, and did anything in their power to win for themselves glory and esteem from the world.
That sounded optimistic; sounded as though they had determination, and commitment to their goal of winning. I listened to hear who these people were, and what lofty goals they had accomplished with such character traits.
To my disappointment and disgust, the “special” program appears to feature not those who exercise character to its fullest, but those who employ any means necessary to win – moral or immoral. Instead of giving us role models whose moral values we can embrace and exercise, they are spotlighting many opposites.
The first story promised, for example, is one of Rosie Ruiz, a New Yorker. Rosie was just 26 years old when she crossed the finish line of the 1980 Boston Marathon as the first woman runner. She seemed to “come out of nowhere” to win, and the crowd cheered loudly. Minutes later, though, race officials questioned her win. She came in with a record-setting finish time, but had she done so fairly? The biggest question mark hanging over her win was that no one had noticed Rosie pass any of the marathon’s official checkpoints. Rosie’s record win remained for only a few days. Then her title was stripped from her and given to another.
This series of thirteen “Anything to Win” documentaries promises other scandalous stories, including Tonya Harding’s sordid tale and the Pennsylvania Lottery Scandal, in which “outright cheating” took place.
What purpose does this “special” year-end feature serve? As we all look forward to a new year, and sit down to write resolutions as to how we can better our lives in 2006, will this concentration of greed help us? Are we to be amused and entertained by stories of cheating, lying, and seriously injuring others in order to win?
Of course we are! The little I know of modern television programs, it is enough to know that baseness sells. With our society’s moral decline, television appeals to the lowest common denominator, and find that immorality is a big attraction.
As I looked online for information about this specific program, I found similar offerings on every network channel for our bright new year. I know television producers view most moral programming as fatal to their ratings. But this coming year, they are even betting we will be amused by a series about a minister with a pill-popping problem and a wife who likes the liquid kind of spirits. I can only assume that the writers of this show, too, will manipulate their characters to get “anything they want” at any cost. The reason? The writers want to get what they want – at most any cost.
I would like to introduce all of them to character-in-action.com and challenge them to write even one series based on that kind of character. I doubt I would have any takers.
That’s the view from my chair. What’s your view?