When I was younger I loved courtroom dramas on television. I‘d love the suspense, the case-solving discovery by the local policeman, or the surprise witness in the back of the courtroom. It would wrap up neatly in 60 minutes time with the evil party receiving the punishment they deserved. When I got older, I was surprised to discover that real-life courtrooms look very different from Hollywood courtrooms. There are no surprise witnesses called to the stand from the back row of the courtroom or smoking guns found the night before a defendant takes the stand. Hollywood has changed the scene to create better drama and television.
But this is not uncommon for television to shift our view of reality.
Consider these other 51 Untruths That I’ve Learned From Television.
- Law enforcement departments hate working together. Someone will always pull rank or jurisdiction.
- Dumpsters prove to be amazingly soft landing zones.
- Good guys always win in the end.
- Everyone in America lives in a 30′ X 30′ bedroom.
- It is entirely normal for groups of complete strangers to spontaneously burst into perfectly choreographed but entirely random song and dance.
- Bad guys have terrible aim.
- The best chefs cook with exact ingredient portions stored in glass bowls.
- Most police forces and hospital staffs are full of sexual tension.
- Families typically sit on just three sides of the table.
- Republicans and Democrats never, ever work together.
- Most arguments can be quickly settled by delivering a really big kiss on the mouth.
- Chicks fall head-over-heels for guys who use the right deodorant or hair product.
- This week’s sporting event is absolutely going to be the biggest game of the Century.
- Promiscuous sex has incredibly few negative side affects.
- Cars always stay clean, turn sharp, and start on the first try.
- Homicides are far more entertaining than you’d think.
- Reality TV stars live a far different ‘reality’ than I do.
- Ventilation systems prove to be great hiding spots.
- A better credit card is the best answer to my personal debt crisis.
- Explosions look spectacular, but rarely cause harm to actual persons.
- When you’ve gotten the information that you need from a phone conversation, you can just hang up without saying goodbye and nobody seems to mind.
- Parties are always better with Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or Dr. Pepper.
- Babies are born the size of 5-month old infants.
- Heartbroken girlfriends always return to the place you first met.
- Kids will play all day long with plastic toys… especially ones modeled after TV characters.
- Fast food restaurants are typically full of slender, attractive patrons.
- The best way to get work done in the office late at night is to order pizza.
- The more blades on my razor, the more often my wife will caress my face in the bathroom.
- The newest kitchen gadgets will automatically improve my cooking.
- If you aren’t seeing cars fly off cliffs, you’re not looking hard enough…cause there’s apparently a lot of ‘em.
- You won’t get in trouble if you are sincere about your intentions.
- Any woman running for her life in high heels never thinks to take them off.
- Cars and trucks that crash will almost always burst into flames.
- Broken families are more comical than tragic.
- My friends and I can always meet at the same restaurant and get the exact same table.
- The older brother is always unintelligent… just like his dad, while the youngest child is always the cutest.
- Television can teach my children the A-B-C’s better than me.
- While running for your life, there is always time for a romantic moment.
- Lawyers always have a surprise witness up their sleeve that nobody in the courtroom knows about.
- It’s apparently not awkward for 1 guy to be dating 25 women living in the same house.
- This current bill being debated in Congress will ruin our country forever.
- Alcohol only improves life… never ruins it.
- Villains love explaining their detailed plans to heroes caught in traps.
- Your health problems can be easily cured with new prescription medication.
- New cars are totally worth the investment.
- During the day, it almost always rains in cemeteries.
- Back taxes are apparently pretty easy to get out of… if you just call the right people.
- Rich people have more fun.
- My teeth would be whiter if I switched toothpaste.
- Non-married couples have better sex.
- This next purchase will make me happier.
Perhaps courtrooms are not the only examples of television misrepresenting reality… perhaps it has been shifting our view of reality all along… and perhaps these untruths have been affecting our lives far more than we’d like to admit.
Perhaps their greatest success is making us believe it’s just harmless entertainment.
Here’s a helpful article I wrote on how to limit screen time for kids.
Freda says
I’ve not had a TV for eighteen years now – it got so that I felt I was living life at second hand..we found ourselves without and had so much time!
I soon realised I’d rather have the time than have the television, and live my own life, my real life.
Simple decision for me, and no regrets..
David W says
spectacular list. i’d have to say with knowledge like this, it’s hard to understand why you’d turn the TV off!
Tanja Hoagland says
This looks like 51 perfect reasons to limit or eliminate tv watching. What a fun post you put together here. I found myself laughing and interrupting my honey to read some of these aloud. I am so happy I’m not attached at the hip to a television set. ;)
LuigiMario says
If these are untruths, shouldn’t “Reality TV stars live a far different ‘reality’ than I do” be “Reality TV stars live the same reality that I do”?
Rachel Henry says
(I haven’t read all the comments to see if someone already said this)… but I completely agree with your post: these things have changed our society’s view on issues. But I think the bigger issue is that we watch things mindlessly, and parents dropped the ball by not explaining WHY what they saw on tv was wrong. Children are growing up seeing the lies but not hearing the truth from their parents. If parents would do their part, children might not only avoid the bad things they get from tv, but they would know WHY they avoid them and how to tell others. Thanks for this post, it’s a good reminder to me.
mlb says
#10 is being proved out all over the nation, not just on the television. That’s why we’ve got to ditch this rotten, broken two-party system.
Leiah says
I hate it how they never say “bye” on the phone! Who does that??
billie says
That drives me crazy! What is up with that?
bo Mcgee says
Something I always notice and it has always bugged me too!
gareth zahir-bill says
and no extended greetings, hows the family? did you see the match? that kind of thing, so rude..
David J Singer says
That was hysterical and so true. Fantastic. So great. Thank you
Darris says
22 years without TV and reading your post has me certain it will be 22 more . . .
Debra F’s comment is funny and accurate. I see this scenario in movies and just roll my eyes . . .
Debra F says
My favourite is 32. Any woman running for her life in high heels never thinks to take them off.
Now maybe it is because I don’t wear high heals, but that is the first thing I notice in any chase scene and it annoys me greatly.