I turned on the
television while eating breakfast. I wanted to get the weather
forecast and the latest news. What I got was the Royal Wedding.
Well, not exactly the royal wedding; it was actually the parade of
people going to Buckingham Palace after the wedding. They were in no
hurry to get there either. The reporters were babbling about the
crowd, the wedding dress, the beautiful bride, the police, the
soldiers, etc. It did not matter which television station I tried.
None of them were telling me what I wanted to know because they were
all too busy covering every detail of every event having anything to
with the royal wedding. By the time I left for work my frustration
and impatience was quite evident.
“The news coverage of
the royal wedding was so damn boring this morning that I was actually
looking forward to the ads,” I said to a bright young lady I work
with.
This young lady,
however, was very interested in the wedding. In fact, she could not
get enough of it. She defended what I considered to be an excessive
interest in it by telling me it was an important historical event. I
suppose it has historical significance, but it is not the first time
a member of the royal family has married a commoner. Edward VIII
actually gave up his thrown to marry Wallis Simpson. Unlike Edward
VIII, it does not appear that Prince William has to make that choice.
This means we do not have to worry about him defending his decision
by saying “it’s a hell of a lot better than giving up my kingdom
for a horse.” It also means that the beautiful commoner, now
Princess Kate, might become the wife of a king. In which case the
story of their romance and wedding becomes a bit more significant.
In spite of the
potential historical importance of the marriage, I still think the
coverage of the wedding was excessive. With all due respect to the
young lady I work with, the British, and the royal family, a three or
four minute highlight film of the event is about as much as I have
the patience to watch. I feel that way about most ceremonial things.
For instance, I like to hear the inaugural speeches of Presidents
and Prime Ministers because those speeches set the tone for how they
will govern, but the swearing in ceremonies and inaugural balls bore
the hell out of me. I, however, am not a part of the demographic
group television networks consider to be their major market. I can
almost hear you cheering over that and probably with good reason.
I would like to see
television news programs spend less time on the trivial stuff and
more time on the things that really matter. I would like to see them
go beyond merely reporting what a politician says and do a little
fact checking regardless of the party affiliation of the politician
they happen to be covering that day. In regard to entertainment, I
dislike the contrived scenarios networks tout as reality shows. In
my opinion those reality shows are a poor substitute sports.
Furthermore, all award shows would be banished to some obscure “Ain’t
We Bitchen” cable station. I hate to sound like an economist, but
there are so damn many award shows that they have all become
devalued. Besides, I do not see the newest movies. I wait for those
movies to hit the movie channels. I guess I have reached the age
when men do not take young ladies to romantic movies to get them in
the mood. Most of the ladies I know prefer live shows anyhow, and I
am afraid this economy has made plays an infrequent treat.
All right, I am being a
bit grumpy. I do not expect you to agree with what I have just
written. The market is what it is, and I accept that. If you enjoy
the current television programs and the coverage of Will and Kate’s
wedding I am happy for you. As for me, it is time to fire up my
Kindle and download another book to read. I will catch up with you
on the next news cycle unless the networks are covering something
that bores you or me enough to tune them out for a while.
First published in macsbackporch.fictionforall.com on May 3, 2011
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