And haven’t, properly, in over 20 years
I don’t watch TV. Not just “I don’t watch much,” or “I only stream things,” or “I skip the ads.”
I mean: I don’t watch it. At all.
Not dramas. Not reality shows. Not the news. Nothing.
And I haven’t for decades.
It started with irritation. Then it became disgust.
Now it’s something deeper — a kind of rejection of the whole machine.
It Started With Adverts
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
The flashing colours. The fake urgency. The calculated attempts to manipulate you.
Every advert is a little hit of fear or desire. You’re not being informed — you’re being programmed.
It didn’t matter what I was watching. The adverts were always the same:
- You’re not good enough.
- Buy this, and you might be.
- Do it fast.
- Smile.
No thanks.
Then I Noticed the Propaganda
The news. The reality shows. The talent competitions. Even the sitcoms.
They all started to feel like tools.
Not for entertainment — for distraction. For control. For normalising very strange things.
News as panic theatre.
Reality TV as humiliation rituals.
Fictional worlds where everyone’s problems are solved by shopping or shouting.
It stopped feeling like “relaxing.”
It started feeling like being handled.
I Can’t Even Be In the Room
Now, if a TV’s on, I have to leave. I can’t focus. I can’t think. I can’t even have a conversation.
It’s like trying to talk to someone while someone else yells slogans and jingles in your ear.
And the volume isn’t just physical. It’s psychological.
TV demands attention. It sucks up the atmosphere. It insists on being the most important thing in the room.
I find that intolerable now.
Especially the News
Some people think watching the news makes them informed.
I don’t.
I think it makes them anxious. And often, misinformed.
Most “news” is just a rotating playlist of fear, division, celebrity gossip, and state-sanctioned narratives, dressed up as essential knowledge.
And when they try to “balance” it with feel-good fluff? That’s worse. The emotional whiplash is stomach-turning.
The worst part is this:
> #### People confuse knowledge of current affairs with being intelligent.
They’re not the same thing.
Final Thought
News still happens. Even if you don’t watch it.
The world keeps turning. You don’t need a scrolling banner or a talking head to tell you what to think about it.
I haven’t watched TV in over 20 years.
I’ve missed nothing.
I’ve gained peace.
And once you disconnect from that machine — really disconnect — the silence feels like a gift you didn’t know was being withheld.