Almost every time that I post something - a video, or perhaps some other piece - on Bill Maher, I point out that while I do not always agree with him (often I don't, in fact), nevertheless I feel that with this or that particular topic, he makes some very good points.
So it is this time around, as well.
In this short video clip, Maher lets us know that we should enjoy the Super Bowl being on network television, because this is surely one of the last ones which will be on a "regular" network like that. Soon, he warns, the Super Bow will be on one or another major streaming service.
This reminds me of the first such warning that I remember getting like this. It came from probably a surprising source: my father. While he never got what some people would consider a high-quality education at a college or university, he nevertheless was one of the smartest people I have ever known. And he had a knack for things that I would see come to pass in the world of the future. Some of the things did not - or at least have not yet -come to fruition. He was sure that the United States would win a World Cup, because he said that Americans tended to run everything like a well-oiled machine. This was sometime in the 1990's, probably the mid-nineties. On that particular score, he was both right and wrong. The US Women have won the World Cup (four of them, actually). But at the time, the Women's World Cup had only just begun, and was not yet regarded too seriously, and had not achieved a high profile. As far as the men were concerned (and that was what he meant), the United States has not won a World Cup. Has not even come close, in fact.
He was a bit off on other things, too. Like modern major cities being walled off, and there being standing armies posted near the cities to keep order, which I do believe we have seen in the world of fiction, in movies, and possibly where he might have come up with that particular idea. He also predicted that things would grow worse before they get better in the world. And while I differed with him on some of his opinions, that level of cynicism, for better or worse, is something which I did inherit from him.
In a world that was growing increasingly privatized, he foresaw a world where we would no longer be able to "buy" music anymore. Gone would be traditional music albums. Instead, he said, we would be able to rent music, kind of like we rented movies (from, say, Blockbuster) at the time. I did not ask how we would rent the music, although possibly (probably, really) I should have. As it turns out, he was right about that one. It seems that traditional music albums are indeed on their way out. And yes, we stream music from sites that kind of rent the music out to us, and we (many of us, anyway) pay for these services rendered.
He also foresaw a time when all sporting events would be "pay-per-view." And while that might not be precisely the case, he specified a time when the Super Bowl - which was then (and still for now is) broadcast on regular "free" television, would someday require some sort of subscription. Again, it might not be pay-per-view (at least not yet), but I do see a day in the relatively near future when indeed the Super Bowl will be on streaming services, which will require a paid subscription. And who knows? If that works, it probably will eventually be on pay-per-view services, eventually.
Bill Maher going on this rant about exactly that reminded me of that conversation that my father and I had decades ago. It made me feel that, while he might have imagined it happening much sooner, my father was still pretty much right about all of that.
And you know what? My own interest in sports, which has been steadily diminishing for decades now - might then largely cease to exist. For now, I still feel that the Super Bowl (and other major sporting events, like the already mentioned World Cup) are decent traditions. And while they are on regular channels, or even ESPN or such networks, then I have no problem watching it. But once they require subscriptions, my interests will diminish so greatly, that they will plummet. Possibly free fall to nothing.
Why?
Because it feels like nothing is sacred anymore. The one thing that made the Super Bowl feel like a welcome tradition is that it felt like a holiday, and that it was accessible to all who wanted to participate. Even if you were not going to a party, you could watch it on your own. Certainly, the organizers and the league and the teams were all cashing in. I mean, look at how expensive it is to have commercials during the Super Bowl. Of course the money is pouring in.
Yet if we learned one thing in this country, it is that it is never enough for some people. We Americans specialize in overdoing things. And those who are not satisfied, and feel that they can rake in still more money by making things still more private and costly, will indeed inevitably have their say. I am sure of it. Bill Maher is right, and my father was right. It is only a matter of time.
And when that time comes, I think I'm out. My interest in the Super Bowl - and likely, in football in general - will pretty much be a thing of the past. Because at that point, entertainment will have taken itself too seriously, and it will be time for more people like me (hopefully) to cut it back down to size. I cannot predict when specifically that it will happen. But more and more, I am certain that the day is indeed coming.
New Rule: Newer, Not Better | Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)
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