Dumbed Down

Listen while you read:  This one's for you, Korey!

I came home, I crashed out, I turned on the TV
I lay down before it and let it wash over me
Then I saw her, not pretty, they took her to the surgeon
And he made her look better
It nearly made me cry
Next week, seven episodes back to back

Dumbed down
I'm watching it anyway
Dumbed down
There's nothing to do today
Dumbed down
They're painting the kitchen
Dumbed down
'Cause something is missing

Here comes the program that shows us what to wear
And not to look like the losers that we already are
Here comes another: they kidnap your mother
And hold her for ransom till you come up with the cash
Sounds crazy, but I'm ready to believe it

Dumbed down . . .

They've found a house that needs making over
Here's a family that eat too much
I just found out that my wife is a man!

I came home, I crashed out, I turned on the TV
And lay down before it and let it wash over me
Then I woke up next morning, the TV still playing
Right then it hit me: I hadn't missed a thing
Next week, seven episodes back to back

Dumbed down
I'm watching it anyway . . .

~  James Maddock

So Korey and I met for dinner last night, and over Very Veggie Ciabatta sandwiches, we waxed philosophical over the state of the nation. I offered my notion that we entered the escalating downslide of culture in this country with the onset of Reality TV. (This followed Korey's repeated definition of one unnamed person in her life as a "kardashian," as if it were a common noun. And I suppose it has become one.) On the drive home, James Maddock started singing in my ear. (I did not mind at all.) "Dumbed Down" is a track on his wonderful 2010 release, Sunrise on Avenue C. There's some killer piano by Oli Rockberger on the live video linked above.

Neither Korey nor I watch cable TV. But sometimes when Korey is traveling by herself, she finds herself in a hotel room . . . with a TV. On such occasions, she admits to channel-surfing. I learned a lot about Reality TV offerings from her descriptions of these shows, like the one where the moonshiners, who live in a swamp, disguise their still by putting a Maytag Dryer box over it. Because everyone who lives in a swamp needs a new Maytag dryer, right? That'll fool the deputy.

I do admit to watching a news show or two on my computer. Lately, I've been seeing a commercial about a new reality show called The Job Interview. If your idea of relaxing at the end of the day is watching other people being interviewed for jobs, and you call that entertainment, I . . . well, I just don't even know how to finish that sentence. How dumbed down can we possibly get?

My fear is that, like Trump riding down that escalator on June 16, 2016, we will only go lower and lower. Will we hit rock bottom? Will it be too late? Can America pick itself up, brush itself off, and try on some integrity and taste?

Next week, seven episodes back to back . . .