Aric Sigman: Remotely Controlled

I recently read this book and it joins the ranks of some of the best I have ever read. Why? Because Aric Sigman is motivated mainly by respect for truth and a concern for fellow human beings rather than by money. In other words, he has integrity.

In this book he is not afraid to take on the big TV corporations and produces a great deal of research to confirm what, really, should be obvious to all: too much TV, and the kind of TV generally broadcast, is bad for us, and we do watch too much.

Personally I had cancelled my TV license before even reading Mr Sigman’s fine book. There is potentially a danger of him “throwing out the baby with the bathwater” because some TV can be okay, but he does not say people should stop watching it all together, just that they should be more selective and not accept TV as a substitute for real life.

I say that too, and when you consider that you can listen to the radio free of charge and pull down any useful TV from the Internet these days, one might wonder how the broadcasters (especially the BBC) expect to survive at all. They only survive because people don’t read excellent books such as this (because, as Sigman notes - of course - they’re not promoted or even mentioned on TV).

Really the arguments of Remotely Controlled fall into two broad categories: watching TV is actually physically bad for us (which he fully backs up) and the programmes on TV generally promote bad values, which do not have our - but rather the broadcasters’ - interests at heart. This might seem obvious as well, but it is not obvious to everyone and it’s great to see it all written down so clearly.

Finally, Aric Sigman is concerned at the surrogate role TV has - it becomes a surrogate mother, a surrogate teacher, a surrogate friend. It even becomes a surrogate life for many people. Aric Sigman is saying (and I am certainly saying): show it the door. Stop letting it steal your personal relationships and time from you. Stop thinking people have some particular credibility just because they are on TV. Realise what is going on, read this important, excellent book, think for yourself, turn off your TV and take back control of your own life.

Television: Opiate of the Masses