Sunset But No Oasis

by Dale Easley

I wrote this while in Qatar for the 1994-95 school year where I taught water resource classes at the University of Qatar. Qatar is a small oil-rich emirate bordering Saudi Arabia.

I took my chair, a footstool, and a cup of tea to the balcony to watch the sunset. From my balcony I can see buildings being constructed, a football stadium and its lights, a water tower, and a minaret at a mosque. The sun sets behind the television station. On the building next to mine, the TV antennas look like guns pointed at the station, ready to blow it away. Perhaps they correctly see the threat that station poses to this society and are considering a preemptive strike like Israel's upon the Iraqi nuclear reactor.

Each day that TV station beams death rays at each of the households in the city. Death to a way of life centuries old. In this city it is still safe to walk at midnight with my wife by the waterfront. But if we come into the apartment and turn on the TV, suddenly we are attacked by images of fighting, shooting, killing. If not in movies, then in the news. Scenes of seduction, both sexual and material, show attractive men and women demonstrating the attractiveness of the credit card. The Diner's Club is exclusive, not inclusive and generous as traditional Arab culture.

I'm no strident nationalist trying to eliminate all Western influence. No, I'm a Westerner myself, product of that very television-based culture. The theme songs of The Flintstones, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Gilligan's Island all jingle in the back of my head. And there are many things in my culture that I am proud of---the liberty, human rights, legal tradition, scientific record, religious heritage and diversity. But I've also seen the crime and violence, the drugs and alcoholism, the broken homes, the unmarried teenage mothers, the old people cast aside as useless. The question that arises is as old as religion, ``How can you give people freedom to choose without them making bad choices?''

For people certainly do choose to watch TV. And to watch it hours each day. My wife asked her students to keep a record for a few days of hours spent studying and hours spent watching TV. Guess whether studying or TV was the overwhelming winner. And these were 10- and 11-year-olds. Households often have multiple TV sets, just like in the U.S. Add air conditioning in home and car and there is little need to be a part of nature or a community. Your reality becomes what you see on television.

Back home in the U.S., my wife and I have chosen to have no TV in the house. Here it came with the apartment, and I turn it on sometimes. I've watched part of the popular Indian movies, enough to see blood splattering from gunshots. I watch CNN occasionally, enough to pick up on how commonly the phrase `Muslim fanatics' is used. CNN apparently sees Muslim extremism as the replacement for communism as a threat to the stability of the free world. Meantime, the wonderful, peace-loving Muslims I've gotten to know feel stereotyped. I've listened to an interview with an Israeli settler who is afraid to live near the Syrians, and I've thought of my Syrian friend with his wonderful family and wished I had more neighbors like him. How can such complex realities be presented in a half hour each day?

The truth is that they can't, and what results are serious distortions. Add those to the distortions that come from sitcoms, movies, and soap operas (The Bold and Beautiful is popular here) and what you end up with is a lot of alienated people who not only don't know much more about people around the world, they know a lot less about people around the block, maybe even a lot less about the people around the house.

So what's the solution? I can't claim to have one. I don't want to take away people's right to choose, even to choose to watch TV. However, here are a couple of suggestions:

TV-free days: We need to turn off the tube, not only to save our minds and spirits, but to spend the time instead doing something in our community. What good are reduced working hours and electronic household assistants if we spend the extra time watching a few more programs on TV?

Neighborhood walking clubs: After the TV is turned off, why not go walking? What few neighbors in New Orleans I know I have met through walking my dogs. Here in Qatar there is a beautiful walking area by the waterfront where families can be seen strolling together. Old men walk along holding hands. Children ride their bikes.

I would like to see leaders speak out in favor of TV-free days, to begin to educate people in alternatives. Unfortunately, the best way to reach people with the message is probably through TV.