My partner and I were discussing the world of television not long ago.  She has decided that either the programs on the television, in the movies, in the news are causing us, Americans, to become addicted to drama, or because we are addicted to drama our television, movies and news reflect that addiction.  No matter which way we look at this our society seems to thrive on drama especially the generation under the age of 30.  We have more arguments, more disrespect of authorities, and more needless murders.  The question is:  Is there a correlation between our society’s need for drama and the unruliness that is brewing?

I see this among families.  Sister 1 may talk to her other sister about their brother on something she feels important to share.  Sister 2 then tells Sister 1 another story about their brother.  Then brother talks to Sister 2, and learns what Sister 1 had said about him.  When Sister 1 is confronted by brother she tells him what Sister 2 had said about him.  Are you seeing a problem here?  The brother gets mad at both sisters, and never speaks to anyone again, or until someone intervenes.  The “he said; she said” syndrome makes for really good drama, but could also break up the family.

As a school teacher, I really notice the need for drama.  Students can’t solve their own conflicts without the aid of others.  They want to get their friends involved and/or their families.  This could last for days or even weeks.  The drama must stay alive.  Sometimes what happens in that time frame two original people in conflict may have resolved the issue, but the others folks who became involved later has no clue that the conflict has ended.  The drama stays alive, but the people involved have now changed and the conflict no longer exists. 

Look at our news.  CNN and HNN used to be about reporting the news.  Fox news arrived with a lean toward the conservative side of the spectrum, and then CNN moved further left toward the liberal side of the spectrum.  Now we have two major news forces that take the news; speculate what it means; how it was supposed to be presented; what the person really meant when he made a statement, and so forth.  Whatever happened with just reporting the news and allowing us to make informed decisions?