Analysis Of The Worst Years Of Our Lives By Barbara Ehrenreich

In “The Worst Years of Our Lives”, Barbara Ehrenreich asserts that television has become an indispensible part our daily lives, expressing her critical view of how the small screen has transformed Americans into lazy, “root vegetables.” Ehrenreich begins her essay by criticizing the inaccurate portrayal of reality that television presents to people, claiming that the world portrayed in television is somewhat “eerie and unnatural,” comprised of fake situations, characters, and conversations. She elaborates her argument by classifying an average person enjoying his or her free time as a “couch potato,” lying on the couch, refusing to get up and move around. Her description of modern humans as lazy beings may appear as an accurate depiction of

a typical child or adult, who watches hours of T.V. at some point in his or her life.

However, it is not true that all Americans are “root vegetables” and “couch potatoes,” as Ehrenreich claims them to be. Statistics may prove that a substantial number of Americans spend their free time watching television, but it is wrong to argue that television is the only source of entertainment people live on. First of all, most people do not live like “couch potatoes,” watching television all day and night. Students would have to leave for school, finish their homework while adults go off to work, eat dinner with their coworkers, and finally come home late at night. This leads to the second point: television is a source of respite, a brief hiatus from the strenuous lives of most modern day people. After hours of listening to lectures or worrying about financial problems, people rely on television to provide them a day’s worth of laughter and levity. Television, in addition to its role of providing a break from daily stress, is a relatable source of entertainment, in which people can associate their personal lives, emotions and situations to the lives being delineated inside the screen. Although television has definitely brought changes to people’s lives, it is a crucial component of daily life that provides many people relaxation, happiness and laughter.