Campus CrossWalk Magazine: 2006-07 Winter Issue -- Vicarious Living through a Stupid Television

It may be the “devil’s music,” but often you can find a lyrical gem hidden ‘neath the guitar’s distorted wail and the incessant drumming.

Poignant commentary can come from the most unlikely sources. Consider the following, from the song “Vicarious” by the progressive heavy metal band Tool:

: “Eye on the TV / ‘cause tragedy thrills me / Whatever flavor / It happens to be like.”; “Stare like a junkie / Into the TV / Stare like a zombie / while the mother / holds her child / watches him die / Hands to the sky crying / Why, oh why? / ‘cause I need to watch things die / from a good safe distance / Vicariously I, live while the whole world dies.”

Although other themes rear their ugly heads throughout the song’s seven minute duration, the lines above provide biting criticism of a startling and growing trend I have seen working with college students and young adults over the past six years. With the growing saturation of the internet, cell phones, text messaging, Playstations, and IPods on our culture, I am still shocked to see so many young television-junkies.

While going out to eat with groups of young adults or college students, talk often turns to television. The days of ‘Reality TV’ are on the wane, although there are still fans of Survivor or American Idol in our midst. Mostly talk delves into the story lines of shows such as Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, ER, 24, Scrubs, etc. Mythic tales from re-runs are often told and re-told, Friends and Sienfield leading that list. Nothing wrong with this—yet the passion, the infinite trivial knowledge, the outright zeal with which this talk is delivered can be troubling.

Often when I ask someone about their own life (nothing probing, mind you, just the regular ‘how ya doin’ talk), their replies will be listless, brief, and uninformative. If I get them talking about Grey’s Anatomy, though—watch out. They answer with a robustness and vigor that borders on zealotry. It makes me wonder out loud for all of us ‘TV-junkies’ out there, “Whose life are we living, anyway?”

I don’t believe anything is wrong with enjoying television shows. Yet I strongly believe that many are trading in their own lives in order to keep up with the fake lives on the tube. Young adults are living vicariously through the lives of these television characters. This ‘television addiction’ robs us of our true vitality and the true wonder of God’s reality which surrounds our every breath.

: 1. If you know more about Jack Bauer’s life than you do about your siblings or roommates, you may be living vicariously through your television set.; 2. If you skip devotionals, fellowships, game nights, movie nights, service projects, anything your campus ministry sponsors so that you can get “caught up on your TiVo,” then you may be living vicariously through your television set.; 3. If you spend more of your life watching TV then time spent in scripture, prayer, and church combined, then you are devoting more energy to a false god than in Christ.

Ouch! But if you are honest with yourself, the above statement rings true. I believe that for the believer, we can define “addictions” as the things that we run to for comfort or fulfillment instead of Christ. Most college students believe they are doing ok if they stay away from the “heavy hitters”: Drugs, Casual Sex, Drinking, Internet Porn, etc. But what of the hundreds of other things we cling to that take our focus away from the Author of Life?

Is “Must-See” TV really worth the better part of the best years of your life?

I implore you to consider living an actual, real life as opposed to living vicariously through television. Watch TV in moderation. Plan ahead what you will watch, and for how long. Don’t waste more than an hour a day on the ol’ “idiot box.” Get outside, take a walk, play music with friends on your porch, work out, read a book even---just practice participating in your own life, not the lives on TV.

True, it is easy to get sucked in: Your television set is there, your cable bill is paid, and you’ve had a long day. Yet, live to know the life and mind of Christ, not every single exploit of Susan Mayer. “For me, to LIVE is Christ, and to die is gain” Paul proclaimed. What does it mean to equate living with Christ? I’m not exactly sure, but I know that it doesn’t involve High Definition, TiVo, Satellite Providers or a TV guide.

In closing, consider another excellent thought from more “devil’s music”, this time from the Red Hot Chili Peppers:

Throw away your television /
Take the noose off your ambition /
Reinvent your intuition now /
It’s a repeat of a story told
It’s a repeat and its getting old!
Live your own life, live it for Christ, and skip an episode or two of your favorite show in favor of sharing time with friends, family, even God. Be careful, for it can be an ‘addicting habit!’

Mark Wylie currently serves as the Young Adult Minister for the University Church of Christ in Denver, CO. He and his wife Susan have been married for nearly eight years, and they have a 17 month old son, Andrew. Mark has also started the “Pioneers For Christ” Open Bible Studies on the University of Denver Campus, a weekly walk-in bible-based discussion group in which all DU students are welcome.