Why the constant diet of violence, mayhem on TV?

THE EDITOR, Madam:

On Sunday evening, our television service presented the Andante con Moto from Beethoven’s 5th Symphony in C Minor for several minutes of uninterrupted service of the concert from the spectacular Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria. This acknowledgement may sound strange but service from the Classic Arts Showcase, which used to be one of our favourite channels, is so mutilated by freezing the signal, that it becomes unwatchable. With the currently inclement weather, we tend to watch television more than usual and so are exposed to its unpleasant content, a short survey of Sunday evenings fare revealing ‘….Marlow Murder…’, ‘Death in Paradise’, ‘…Fury…’, ‘Mortal Kombat…’, ‘Out for Blood….’, ‘Wicked……’, ‘Bad Moms…’. With this constant diet of violence and mayhem, it is small wonder that these contents are reflected in local life. Television is such a potentially powerful medium for good, one wonders why so little, apart from athletics and other sports, emphasises the great human successes and other programmes which are out there.

Of all the channels available, is it not possible to have one avoiding violence, perhaps focusing on music, dance, theatre, plays and the great achievements of human and animal life. Even musical comedies, some of earlier years such as High Society (1956), the more recent Notting Hill (1999), and Anything Goes (remade in 2001), although readily dismissed as slushy romantic comedies, often have philosophical underpinnings which might be usefully reflected in Jamaican society. Aware that much of the funding of the local service is generated by advertising, a powerful and wealthy audience could be available.

GRAHAM SERJEANT