Friday, July 24, 2009
Page 15
AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)
Moon Walk Was Giant Leap for Riveting Television
By J’AMY PACHECO
A few days ago, someone asked if I remembered where I was when man first walked on the moon. I tend to forget a lot of stuff, like my address, or the second part of a half-uttered sentence, but I do remember where I was when Neil Armstrong took that one small step/giant leap on the moon.
My family was on a camping trip somewhere in the mountains. The only thing I remember about the moon walk itself is the fact that my siblings and I stood outside a pub, and peered at a television set through the window. To be honest, I wasn’t really interested in what was going on up in space – I was far more interested in the carved wooden dolls on display through the window. I really wanted those dolls. I didn’t get them.
I was young enough to think the whole thing was boring. I felt the same way several years later, when my father made us sit down in front of the television to watch President Nixon resign.
“It’s history,” he told us. He was right, and while I was resentful then, I do remember watching.
I don’t watch a lot of real-time television. Most television shows that I watch are recorded, because I find the constant barrage of commercials to be intolerable.
I wouldn’t mind commercials if they were clever or funny. But the minute television stations decided to start filling their broadcasts with pitches for male performance enhancement products, they lost my interest. Yeesh.
Although I wasn’t really interested in the moon walk, I do remember how it captivated the nation. Kids out riding bikes would pull over to talk about it. It was an exciting time.
These days, it seems the only time people are glued to the television is when something bad draws our attention. September 11 immediately comes to mind. Although I kept the television off, because my then-five-year-old daughter was with me, I was glued to my computer screen.
When the Challenger exploded, being at work in downtown Los Angeles kept me from watching television. The Internet was still essentially a twinkle in Al Gore’s eye, so instead, my co-workers and I all huddled around a radio most of the day.
If a space shuttle were to launch today, chances are I wouldn’t even know about it. Successful launches and landings have become so routine that they’re not even major news. Although I’d like to witness a launch or landing live one day, I don’t look for them on television anymore.
There have, of course, been many events that have interested me enough to make me want to leave the television on – OJ Simpson’s legendary slow-speed car chase, Princess Diana’s funeral, Michael Jackson’s memorial service. I’ll never forget watching rescuers desperately try to save Baby Jessica when she fell down the well in Texas more than two decades ago.
It’s unfortunate that these days, the stories that keep us in our seats are negative. It seems only disaster or tragedy is compelling enough to make us want to stay home and be witnesses to history.
The last positive huge television event I remember is Princess Diana’s wedding. I would have been oblivious to the whole thing if not for the fact that my dentist had a television set turned on in the examination room where I was having my teeth cleaned, and his whole staff kept stopping in to watch the wedding.
I still don’t get why that was big news, but hey, I’m happy just to remember.
When an American man took his first steps on the moon, everybody watched, marveling at the accomplishment. Even today, it surprises me to think they pulled it off with what they had to work with in those days.
I wonder why we don’t do that much anymore. Maybe it’s because we’ve come so far that it takes a lot to amaze us – although singer Susan Boyle recently did it simply with her voice.
Maybe it’s just because television and the Internet give us 24/7 access to so much information that we’ve seen it all, and it’s much more difficult to capture our interest.
I’d love to find myself riveted to the television screen, marveling in the accomplishment of some human being, American or otherwise. I’d relish witnessing something positive and exciting that makes me want to pull my bike over to discuss it with somebody on the street.
Here’s hoping that day comes soon — and without all those inappropriate commercials.
Copyright 2009, Metropolitan News Company