Utopia (II) (2014)
1/10
Don't Watch Utopia!!!
8 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Don't Watch "Utopia." If you believe that society can better itself, if you ascribe to the Walden Effect, if you believe in peace truly or want to make the world better, or want to entertain your thoughts on Sunday evenings in front of a television, don't turn to Fox. Don't watch "Utopia". There are a million reasons not to watch the Fox Network. This is another one. Watching the television series called "Utopia" was something I stumbled into because I am interested in the theme of community improvement and societal betterment and because TV can be enjoyable. I wish I didn't. It pretty much scarred me for life. And there are 4 or 5 cameras constantly streaming in and breaking the barrier of privacy of the individuals in the show and those cameras will never be taken down for a year. Twenty four hours a day the National Security Agency (NSA) taps into all the citizens of the world without any form of consent. But it is not that kind of visual assault that I saw on "Utopia". It is much worse for the people in the show. They signed contracts saying that while they were in the show they would be unveiled, constantly burdened by the eyes and ears of the whole world. I do not blame the people in that show. It is a bad idea for all of their wellbeing.

Adding to the terrible lack of privacy, the first episode spanned just a few days, and made me feel sick about the perceived nature of human kind. Environmental factors inform all of our psychological responses to, well, everything. These people have so much pressure on them that within the first day, one of the cast/people was humiliated by her own alcohol poisoning. I believe in the goodness of human beings. But we must pull out of negative environments and situations and that can be very difficult and speak volumes to our resilience. Actually the woman who had to leave that first night because of alcohol poisoning came back in my eyes as the strongest in the leading compassion she showed the other people. She was the one to offer the most acceptance of another person who went overboard with his drinking and he made all of the women feel threatened. Already there was a trial and he was put on probation but allowed to remain in the reality show.

"Utopia" is possible. But we all have to work through our troubles in Privacyy. I hate the NSA. I watched the entire first season of "Survivor" which is called one of the first reality shows. But there were times and spaces of remoteness in that show. There was not a constant stream of the people. We as a world are not capable of killing and hurting and raping one another then coming to terms with all that we do on camera. But people kill, people hurt, and people rape. People commit atrocities every day. People are resilient though. We hurt and we are hurt daily. We sin and we forgive and we grow. We cannot improve without a moment of silence, a bit of space, a time to reflect or pray or meditate or just think. Concentrating on self betterment is tough for a lot of people (introverts and extroverts) under the constant surveillance of others.

This show is based on a sick concept that has not been thought out enough. The three white men who created the concept behind the show have made a mistake. I would challenge them to have higher ideals than those they stated in their original interview that I saw that led me to the show. Don't throw 20 odd people into the public eye for a year just to see what happens. Try to actually make the world better. It is possible. That is the worst thing, the name of the show refers to the book by Sir Thomas More. I actually read the whole book on Audible. More was pretty hesitant to believe in perfection of human communities. Utopia is a word that by definition carries a great paradox.

But you know what? I really believe in peace which is ultimately what I think our world needs. My parents are both so educated and aware of the world of peace work that I never questioned peace. It was always a given in my mind that it was something important, worth working for. I do stupid offensive brash things too. But I always want to transform my own fumbles and offensive behavior. I am responsible for what I do, but if there was an eye that constantly watched me that would be a violation. The National Security Agency is raping all of us, but if we know how, we can get away for as long as we want. We can go off the grid and drive those men crazy. These people in the show Utopia are stuck in a terrible place. I hope they find ways to heal that violated part of themselves that I haven't really heard directly mentioned (privacy). But it is thick through the show.

I really pray that the people in the show improve their emotional states (maybe via quitting or throwing rocks at the cameras.) I have no interest in watching the show anymore. "Utopia", the show, is down right offensive, violating the better interest of real social betterment.
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