Infotainment

Infotainment is halal or haram?”
These recent years, televisions programs in Indonesia have been full of infotainment. Mostly, though, the infotainment programs are full of gossips. The hotter the gossip is, the more commercials it attracts, the more profit the producers/the television stations will get. No wonder if then the infotainment oftentimes don’t tell the viewers the real life of celebrities, more on the gossip. “People say …” without doing more investigation on one case, for example.
As someone who doesn’t enjoy watching television, of course, I hardly watch it. I it happens, not coz I am looking for some entertainment by watching TV. Sometimes it happens when I am in my workplace and the television is on in the teachers’ room and I happen to be there, among my workmates. And I really don’t like this program. However, seeing that there are more and more infotainment programs on television, I can draw a conclusion that this program is really well-liked.
Who are their regular viewers? Perhaps
housewives who don’t have many other things to do after doing some household chores, and who don’t really like reading.
People who love gossiping.
People who feel that their life is full of problems, and suffer from their long-lasting problems probably also like to watch this program so that they love to know that those celebrities also have problems in their life (Gosh, who doesn’t have problems in this life, anyway?) Maybe they think that those celebrities have a perfect life—fame, riches, beauty, etc. When they know that those celebrities also have problems, they feel like “that makes the two of them.”
People who are nosy, always curious what is going on with other people’s lives, moreover their favorite celebs.
People who don’t know what to do to spend their spare time.
Couch potatoes
Etc (no more ideas LOL)
I am of opinion that people who are critical will not like such a gossip program. When people are critical, I assume people will realize that they have no benefit to watch such programs. When many people think this way, not many people will love watching such a program so that the producers will bankrupt, and they have to think of making another program that needs more intelligence.
Unfortunately, I must say that the number of people with critical way of thinking is not much in Indonesia. Therefore, more and more television stations have similar programs.
And in Indonesia, where many people worship religious teachings and condemn secularity (they consider secularity is similar to devilish followers, I suppose) will not stop watching such programs that don’t educate them at all (coz they don’t use critical way of thinking!!!) unless the religious bodies issue regulation that watching such program is HARAM (HARAM means if people do that will be sinful, if people leave it, they will be rewarded by God.)
As a secular that used to be a religious person, I found it ridiculous though. Who the hell the members of those religious bodies so that they think that they have full rights to say that something is HALAL (HALAL means ok to do) or HARAM, as if they really know what God says to every problem in this world.
However, I realize that the majority of Indonesian people really listen to what those religious bodies say. And? To decide whether infotainment is a good program or not, people need to make use of religion’s name.
Very ridiculous. LOL.
(Well, this is Indonesia, Nana! Your beloved country! LOL.)
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