Turner Classic Movies: ‘Our last happy place’ is endangered after the network's parent company lays off three-fourths of its staff

Pictured: Norma Shearer. Photo via MGM

 #SaveTCM ‘Our last happy place.’ Despite whatever assurances Warner is giving at the moment, average American TV viewers and moviegoers have made it clear they prefer endless reruns of terrible ‘reality’ shows and the never-ending parade of dorky superhero movies. There very much is an element of deliberate ‘dumbing down,’ to one degree or another, that has been ongoing for decades in media and entertainment, and this is not meant as a defense of the ‘powers that be,’ but it is hard to ascribe mere malevolence as the motive when these corporations are only giving the American people what they so desperately want. Anything that does not sell with the ignorant masses is seen as a liability in the corrupt, uber-consumerist society. TCM may very well be the single most valuable window we have into 20th century history, but it does not have long for this world, and the day it disappears will be the day much of our history will be forever lost. {NYT 6/22}

Copyright 2023, Arthur Newhook. @Sunking278 and @FloydEtcetera on TWITTER, and at the same handles on FACEBOOK. MASTODON - @ArthurNewhook@mastodon.world, and POST - @arthurnewhook.