Dumbing Us Down

Examines how the content of much TV, film and video material destroys the human spirit. Anne Glyn-Jones believes that cultural degeneration stems from a sense of lack of meaning amongst the most intelligent levels in society. When philosophers, scientists, playwrights, authors and other creative people come to believe that life is cruel and unfair and has no meaning, it trickles down into the educational and political systems which become ever more cynical. This licenses the popular arts - books, plays, films, TV, video - to pander to greed and our lust for short term thrills and materialistic gain until our whole culture, at home, school and in the workplace, is saturated with shallow consumerism of goods, relationships and experiences, which ultimately fails to satisfy us. She believes that, if it wasn't for our sense of humour, the cultural rot would be unbearable and explains why there is hope for a change for the better.