Formative Media Text

One type of media that I think impacted me the most as a kid was television. My parents were very protective of me and my siblings (and still are.) They liked to control everything we saw, heard, tasted, touched, and smelled. My friends, however, had different parents with different rules. They were allowed to watch all kinds of T.V. shows and movies. I had to hear about all the cool Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers movies that all the other boys my age were watching. All the restrictions I had against popular movies and shows just made me want to watch them more and more. I sat awake at night, wondering what I was missing on the other side of my parental control. A few times, I went to friends' houses to watch the forbidden shows. But my guilt usually took over and I could not allow myself to go through with it. I tried many times to change my parents' minds, but they would not budge. I was stuck with only thoughts of what could be. Eventually I reached an age when my parents slowly eased back. As soon as they did, I indulged myself in any kind of "bad" movie or show I could find. As I did, I started to notice that the thing I had wanted for years was not as great as I had thought. I realized that the time I wanted to use for watching cool movies and T.V. shows, I used for more useful things instead. My brothers and I used our imaginations, played games, and got exercise, and we developed a close relationship as a result. I guess the grass is not always greener on the other side.