Two Dimensions

Have you ever heard that dogs are unable to see what is happening on the television because it is only two dimensional? As I looked to see if this is true, I found that there really isn't a consensus about this. Many sites claim that the lights and colors on the screen are appealing to some dogs, but they are unable to make out shapes very well. Other sources say they can see about as well as they do in nature.

Another of life's mysteries that will remain mysterious to me.

But I do know that television is not only two dimensional in a literal way, it is also two dimensional in a figurative way. I think that leads us to a lot of frustration and unhappiness.

When we see people on television, when we follow their stories and their lives, we see super compelling things happening. Recently the show Game of Thrones ended with a lot of hype and conversation, and it reminded me just how deeply we can get into fantasy stories about people who have never really existed. We want the good to win, and usually in television, that happens. We want to see people struggle and then reach a moment of clarity or victory, so we can celebrate with them. And we dream that we, too, could win such a victory and live out our days happily ever after.

The almost unimaginable plot twists aren't only in our fantasy shows, however. They are in our realistic shows and even in what we call reality television. For the sake of the excitement of the story there must be a win against odds, or a fall from grace for the "bad people," or something else compelling enough to make us watch. Even on shows that are supposed to be about people in every day life, people are playing characters meant to compel us to watch.

Television can only show a two dimensional version of reality. For many of us, that two dimensional version is something we imagine happening in our own lives. Our conflicts will be perfectly resolved with just the right words. The problem we have been having will be solved within a thirty minute timeframe, and that problem will not arise again. Good will win, because it must, and bad will fail, because that is simply the way the world works.

But it isn't the way the world works. Things are messy. They don't work out the way we hope or expect. Conflicts don't magically resolve. We can't just put past issues behind and move on.

But we still expect these things, because, let's face it, television is the only time we feel like we are really able to look in at other families and see how they work. We only know our own lives and our own families. We may be very close to a few other families, but seeing the inner workings of how families really work... What's better for that than a show like "Modern Family?"

Since these are the only windows we have to other families, we imagine that's normal. That's how it's supposed to work. The reality is, there is no way it is supposed to work, except that we support one another through thick and thin with love. That will look different in every family. Even though we don't do this consciously, using television or other means to try to define what is normal for a family is harmful to us, because then we always feel weird, broken, unable to measure up. Maybe even a little boring.

Try to notice how you might expect things to be because of the vision of reality given to us through television. And try to remember that vision is two dimensional. Real life is three dimensions and involves conflict and lack of clarity and people doing things that seem out of character and all kinds of other things that don't fit into the box of a "good narrative." That's real life. And none of it is normal.

Anyway, that's the view today from where I stand.