"Television is like the invention of indoor plumbing. It didn't change people's habits. It just kept them inside the house"
- Alfred Hitchcock
About this Quote
In this quote, Alfred Hitchcock skillfully compares the effect of television to the creation of indoor plumbing. He suggests that tv did not change individuals's routines or behaviors but rather motivated them to remain inside your home. Like indoor pipes, which merely provided a hassle-free method to access water inside your house, television became a means of home entertainment and info within the convenience of one's own house. Hitchcock suggests that tv did not significantly modify or change human behavior, however rather strengthened the propensity for people to stay within, inactive, and disconnected from the outdoors world. This analogy raises questions about the potential effects of technology on society and specific habits.
"Television brought the brutality of war into the comfort of the living room. Vietnam was lost in the living rooms of America - not on the battlefields of Vietnam"
"Television news is like a lightning flash. It makes a loud noise, lights up everything around it, leaves everything else in darkness and then is suddenly gone"
"Television sounded really different than the Ramones sounded really different than us sounded really different than Blondie sounded really different than the Sex Pistols"
"The printed page conveys information and commitment, and requires active involvement. Television conveys emotion and experience, and it's very limited in what it can do logically. It's an existential experience - there and then gone"
"I can think of nothing more boring for the American people than to have to sit in their living rooms for a whole half hour looking at my face on their television screens"
"Janet Reno, during her confirmation hearings, said she would come down harder on porno, and lately she's talked about how violence on television has an effect on violence in the real world"
"I think it's brought the world a lot closer together, and will continue to do that. There are downsides to everything; there are unintended consequences to everything. The most corrosive piece of technology that I've ever seen is called television - but then, again, television, at its best, is magnificent"
