I was reading the other day about some new TV shows in the pipeline that reflect the current conditions of our economy.  Meaning that they’re about unemployed people.

from AdAge:
1)  “Canned” is about a group of Gen-Xers fired from their lofty banking jobs, who must now take stock of their lives.”

2) “Kelsey Grammar plays a Wall Street millionaire unseated by the economic downfall. Forced into a domestic role he must get to know the family he hardly knows.”

I realize that many television shows strive to reflect cultural trends, but I wonder if shows that so closely reflect the crappy crappiness we’re going through are really what people need to see.    Though the shows will first play to the crowd by giving these evil bankers their comeuppance, and then put a positive, spiritual spin on the redistribution of priorities resultant of getting laid off,  something about their existence feels a little contrived, and potentially negative.

The very notion that these shows are being created might actually remove hope that we will come out of this soon, and any self-fulfilling prophecies that might have resulted from that way of thinking.   It suggests we should accept what’s happening economically as a permanent part of our culture now, rather than a bump in the road.

I’ll be the first to admit that I know absolutely nothing about economics, or this whole financial crisis, other than what I experience.  But I do think that psychology plays a huge role in how we approach things.  When we see something up on a screen, movie or TV, it sort of becomes legitimate.  I’m not saying the recession isn’t already very real, or should be ignored, but creating entire TV series around it makes it seem like we’ve accepted it, and want to project that sentiment.

There is a George Bernard Shaw quote that I love, which (I hope) will help to explain why I don’t think that we should lie down and start using the recession as a plot element:

“Reasonable men adjust themselves to their environment. Unreasonable men attempt to change their environment to suit themselves. Therefore all progress is the work of unreasonable men.”

It’s reasonable to create TV content that reflects what Americans are going through right now.  Brand advertisers will buy into it, and it might make some people feel good to watch it.   But I think right now, we need to be a little unreasonable if we want to turn America around.