And yet, we cannot say which forms of entertainment are worthy forms of entertainment. Who's to say what is a good form of entertainment vs a bad form of entertainment?
Let's look at the Korean media industry. The dramas and the music.
People go crazy over them. Once again, this industry has created millions of jobs, from merchandise to cosmetic surgery.
(The term is actually cosmetic surgery. Cos it's for cosmetic purposes. Plastic surgery involves inserting a foreign object into the body. Just saying...)
So humans are once again drawn to entertainment. Dramas, music, concerts, whatever. That's all fine. Maybe there are somethings to learn. When you watch a show, it tells a story, there can be a moral of the story. And yet people get so attached to particular actors or actresses that they go down to the airport to welcome them. That's so much more over the top than just watching a show.
There are reports of people queuing for 15 hours so that they can see a particular boy band or, recently 2 teenagers were arrested cos they used their boarding passes to go into the airport just to meet a kpop idol, without the intention to board the plane. That's on the brink of fanaticism.
There also was an article (can't find it anymore, I think it was Sunday Newpaper sometime back) where a fan sent branded watches to the idol in Korea. She even quarreled with her husband cos he felt that she wasted the money, and yet she says it's worth it cos she feels happy when she sees the idol wearing the watch. All for someone who does not know her and will not remember her.
As I was going through Carousell, I noticed a popular girl group Twice, recently they came to Singapore for a concert. They have 9 members. Their latest song is "Signal", so obviously, they sell albums. In retail, the albums come in different CD boxes, red, blue, pink. Inside, on the CD, there is a random girl whose picture is on the CD, also there is a collectable card in the box as well. (I'm not sure how many cards are in 1 box.) Anyway, there are folks, buying 6 boxes, and dismantling them for resale on Carousell. The boxes are free, cos anyone can just buy the colour they want anytime, but the CDs are random, same song, just different girl on the CD. So CDs sell for $5-$10 depending on whose picture is on the CD, then there's the cards, some folks just collect the cards of those they like and others collect a full set of the 9 members. Cards range between $5-$15. Does this even make sense? The marketing of Twice is pretty awesome don't you think? It's by JYP Entertainment. They have made the cards collectable items but you need to buy albums to get it, so you increase album sales through this. Pretty brilliant. You see, they aren't really selling music, yes, it needs to be a catchy song, but in actuality, they are selling idols. There's a difference between Adele and Twice. When people buy multiple of the same albums for something else besides the music, then it has moved past the concept of just selling music.
(I'm not against the idea of resellers cos they provide a service to people who don't want to have randomness for a small token)
Moving on.
I'll link all the typical sports as similar to soccer from the previous post. So stuff like basketball, tennis, badminton, rugby, bowling, etc. Where the watcher actually doesn't have any real benefit from the match besides feelings of elation and a sense of community with others who watch the sport.
Note this is with regards to watching the sport only.
If the entertainment is playing the sport, one could pass it off as a healthy activity.
Then there's hobbies like fishing. Generally, it's just entertainment. The cost of the trip usually isn't worth the amount of fish that is caught. But I think maybe there is some form of benefit to the hobbyist? Maybe it's a day out in the sun on a boat, it's fun to fish, you actually can eat fresh fish, maybe a healthy activity out of the house.
Scuba diving is an activity which I deem to be a more reasonable activity. The hobbyist moves around, gets some exercise, it's a bit dangerous, and it's a good experience. People have learnt to love the ocean more due to this, I know of people who have stopped eating sharks fin cos they dive and understand how interconnected sharks are to the whole ecosystem of the ocean. I haven't dived before, I would like to try someday, a good alternative if you want to get a feel of diving is for you to go to SEA Aquarium at Sentosa. There is a super big tank somewhere deep in the SEA Aquarium, with 1 metre thick glass walls to sustain the immense weight of the water. I put my face to the glass walls with my hands by the side of both my eyes with the palms facing each other to imagine that I'm in the ocean with the animals.
LHS taken from http://www.rwsentosa.com
RHS taken from https://www.pinterest.com/marinkadanitsja/sea-aquarium/
So anyway, as you can see, there are many types of entertainment, some have some form of real value to the consumer and others might be a bit more intangible. As always, there's no right no wrong, as long as it makes you happy then by all means enjoy it, cos if we start talking about what is good to consume or what is not good, then there's no end to it.
For me, I like hobbies where I get to learn something, travelling, reading, walking around, people watching, even watching some dramas and MTVs, I learn stuff, like how make up is done, why some MTVs are made nicer, etc
Then there's entertainment which I find irrational, watching soccer or any other sport, car/bike racing. Cos there's no real tangible benefit, except for emotional happiness, which is also irrational cos why should you be happy that someone not related to you won?
There's other entertainment that is not irrational. There's actually some benefit to the consumer although it's probably not recommended.
Like smoking. Typically, I don't care about smoking, as long as I'm not affected, most of the time, I am affected, but I'm pretty used to it cos when I was younger, a bunch of my uncles smoked. So in someway, it relieves stress, yes it's a total net negative, but there IS some sort of initial benefit to the user. This is the same for drugs, and alcohol or any other form of substance abuse. It has a net negative to the user, but if you break it up into parts, the benefit is that there is an actual enjoyment when consuming it before all the negative points kick in. The substance actually has a chemical reaction which makes the user feel good.
(Sometimes I wonder, in history, why would anything think that inhaling smoke would be a great idea?)
Gambling also has a "benefit" to the consumer, a chance of winning, if you're playing with friends, it's a chance to socialize, that's also a benefit.
Please note, that I do not encourage smoking, gambling, substance abuse in any form.
Spending money on virtual items, such as better items or even buying an account. I find this somewhat borderline on rational and irrational. Cos although the act of playing a game has no real consequence in the real life, the player gets happiness from accomplishing something, maybe he can fight something stronger than previously, even though it's a shortcut, he has a direct relationship with the success of his character or account. So he feels that he is better than the opponent through his account.
When we look at it, entertainment is not really a need. It's stuff that humans use to fill up their free time. And yet without entertainment, there's probably no point in life, considering that most people work so that they can spend on entertainment. So by all means entertain yourself that's what makes life worth living.
Did you know
The word school derives from Greek σχολή (scholē), originally meaning "leisure" and also "that in which leisure is employed", but later "a group to whom lectures were given, school".
Of course the best goal is if you are able to find entertainment which will make money, then truly that would be optimal, then you could be entertained for your whole life.
Ok please note, that although I feel sport watching is irrational, it does not matter. As long as you are happy who's to say otherwise, rational or not, the emotional happiness is still real. How you reach the conclusion that you should be happy when your team wins, is not my problem, so you should be as happy as you can and enjoy it as much as you can. Life is about enjoying yourself, rational or not.
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