TV and Films

Like readers, viewers of projected media don't control or even affect the narrative flow. They will often guess the answers in TV quiz shows, critique the flow of reality shows and contests, call in to talk shows, and discuss the shows and films they've seen, but TV and films are much more passive than video games. We sit forward for video games and backwards for TV and films.

Johnson suggests that we should differentiate between intelligent TV shows/films and those that force us to be intelligent. Intelligent productions go beyond clichés and provide stimulating plots and witty dialogue. The basic intelligence portrayed thus exists within the people on the screen and not within the viewers.

Conversely, the plots and sub-plots of many contemporary TV shows and films are complex and convoluted, omit plot information the viewer must insert, don't clearly differentiate between foreground and background, and require knowledge of law/medicine/etc that goes beyond the conventional. Such programs make real intellectual demands on viewers, and that enhances their appeal. Seinfeld was a TV show about nothing significant that drew a large audience who were stimulated by the show's intellectual demands. For example, it would set up a joke in one episode and provide the punch line several episodes later without repeating the setup.

Johnson suggests that this trend towards intellectual complexity has also emerged in TV shows and films that appeal to young people.