Television, Our Comforter

Television is now (and perhaps always was and will be) something more than just a humble babysitter, more than a plasticine friend, more than a stationary butler, more than a virtual family or a miniature menagerie, more than a strange substitute ersatz community, more than the instant cure for whatever or elusive promise of an endless club-med vacation, more than a ready-made dream-factory, even more (some would say) than a universe within a universe, the bizaro-world, mirror-image reversal of our own. Our constant comforter, it is thus, which is more than all these other descriptors combined. After having watched countless hours on the tube it finally hits me, that along with the screen itself, something else is there as well: an aura of sorts, like a person, a ghost, a shadow, a presence sent to comfort us. And what a strange subterranean message it is that this comforter brings, in new and subtle forms, with every waking show, every commercial, every news broadcast, public service announcement, weather report, cartoon, cop show, sit-com, mini-series or info-mercial. It's a weird positive sensation, a mood sent out, a gesture transmuted, a cryptic unspoken message beneath the blather and hum that tells you, tells me that everything's going to be okay, that everything is already fine (or at least, not too too bad), that what you're witnessing ladies and gentlemen at home is completely normal and shall remain normal, notwithstanding the news of the weird, the train wrecks, the car crashes, the wild animals, the natural disasters, the dysfunctional relationships, the yelling, the screaming, the broken hearts, the expletives deleted, the crowds cheering, candidates debating, the bombs exploding, the laugh-tracks, the soundbytes, the jewelry for sale, despite it ALL, the world is still turning apace... so relax, sit back and enjoy the show. The chaos is being dealt with, is being framed, stamped, indexed, numbered, packaged, programmed for your consumption, for your digestion, for your benefit, for your entertainment....so THAT you can handle it - eh? But I'm worried. I'm worried. There is something disturbing about - STOP. About the- STOP. When I see all the- STOP. Because we can't just- STOP. The comforter has spoken: relax, sit back, enjoy the show, and please, whatever else you may do, just keep on watching...We're dealing with the situation so you don't have to. Ahhhhhhhhh. ....And when television leaves the living room and becomes attached to you wherever you go, on your phone, your lap-top, in your car, following you around everywhere, not letting you rest because you need that comfort zone, because you need the warm reassurance of the mysterious comforter,  has it not become at that point something more than mere television? But here's when it- STOP. You see, I worry that - STOP. Because this can't be healthy-STOP. So I keep watching...