THE TELEVISION AND THE (film)THEATRE

Television is the rule of the day. But the theatre still survives. Is there an antidote to the death of this age old institution. Or is it real that in this age of internet and television, the theatre will survive in spite of all those setbacks posed by the other media. I believe yes. The film theatre will survive due to many a reason.

Television is a bad substitute for visual cinema. By visual cinema I mean feature film. The case of documents, I am not citing here, because, as an information imparting media, I think that television is a better substitute to theatre. Only for that, and not more than that. But with respect to the other genus , television is a total failure.

I firmly believe that a film should be individually appreciated like a novel or a poem. I am against the idea of a novel being recited at an open stage. I want to appreciate a novel in silence. For me a novel is not an audio symbol, but visual and likewise, a poem. I want to interact with it in the silence of my room. The same is my opinion about feature film. But then you advice me to sit silently before my television set, without no one at my proximity. No. it is not what I meant.

There are some strict contrasts in both these types of viewing. In viewing a film, it somewhat resembles like viewing a play. During my childhood days, whenever we have watched plays at the nearby grounds, it was during night. When the play starts, there will be pin drop silence surrounding us along with pitch darkness. The only place which was illuminated was the stage. The only thing audible was the voice of the characters and of the back ground music. In that silence we were directly interacting with the characters at the stage. It was somewhat similar to reading a poem alone. The people surrounding me, were meaningless in those darkness. They were dropped to oblivion. Only I exist.

But you are distracted before a television. There is light filtering through all the doors and windows. Everything surrounding the set is illuminated (normally we do not watch television in darkness). The flower vase on the set, the window at the side, the barking of a dog, the commends of my mother from the kitchen……etc. form an integral part of the artistic creation we are watching. We are not viewing the creation of a creator, but a collage of something, in which the creators work is also a piece. The work is degraded. We are not in it.

So, one man advised me. Switch off all the lights. Sit in front of the television and view the film. and only after 12 o clock , when the surroundings are in silence.

But what about my eyes.

SO, THE THEATRE WILL SURVIVE.