My TV memories are mostly
in black and white,
that’s how we saw the world
when I was a child,
how newscasters would present
each triumph, each disaster.
I couldn’t see the difference
on the wobbly monochrome screen
between grief and joy, now and then;
but we were taught that a cowboy
in a white stetson was good,
and the black-hatted one was bad.
So many grey areas to misunderstand.
Kim M. Russell, 14th August 2019
My response to Poets United Midweek Motif: Televised
Sumana has shared a little poem by Maya Angelou about televised news, which left her pondering.
Sumana would like us to write new poems on current topics brought home to us by television and the impact on us, letting patterns of life surface from the positive and/or negative sides of televised news, as well as its purposeful silence on certain current affairs.
writing in north norfolk 
Ha ha, love that last line. Too true.
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😊
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The black and the white. If only it were so easy. I like how the “black-hatted one” seems to bridge the gap between the early days of television with the old cowboy westerns, to the “black hats,” the malicious computer hackers of the present day.
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I never realised that about Westerns – I wonder how far we have travelled from those black and white rules
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I once watched a western in a small theatre full of First Nations people. How they roared with laughter at the white hero. How they mocked how their people were portrayed on screen. I was older before I understood their scorn. I suspect they feel it still, as Canada still oppresses them.
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The close hits hard. So true. Also love how the childhood time, a period of innocence is portrayed.
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Thank you, Sumana.
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I saw a western recently where the cowboys all wore black or grey hats. Turns out they were more practical in the old days. So many splits nowadays between right and wrong. It seems most of us wear grey hats nowadays.
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I haven’t watched a western in years. They don’t seem to make them any more.
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That was easy, by their hats. And of course the American Indians, our Indigenous peoples, all dressed the same. Some were helpful and others very scary.
..
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It’s more difficult to identify heroes and villains these days, Jim.
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Me, too! Especially the white and black hats. Nicely captured.
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Thank you, Susan!
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Flicks were so good in those days…especially the cowboy movies. As a family we all used to go on Friday nights as soon as dad had got home from work. If there was sloppy kissing in films that mum liked we would slip out the toilets then as theybored us boys silly!
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I don’t remember Saturday morning, picture, although I’m sure we went. But I do remember my dad taking me to see James Bond films – which is probably why I can;’t watch them now.
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It was simpler in black and white. But still no easier to explain. (K)
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I like black and white photography.
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Such wonderful memories Kim, but with a powerful message. I remember my favorite western was Rawhide. Clint Eastwood played Rowdy Yates- what a name, what a man, and my he was easy on the eyes!
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Thank you, Linda. I used to love watching Rawhide with my granddad.
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I love black and white movies and photography, especially of the beach in winter. The westerns were truly that way; now the world is.
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It’s the grey areas that politicians inhabit that worry me most.
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Exactly!
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I grew up with black and white tv. I remember when colour come out I could not believe it. I still marvel at the concept. I’m not one for keeping up.
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We have a new television and it’s just confusing. 🙂
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I remember those TV days when everything was in black-and-white.I find it funny that you could identify the cowboys based on the colours of their hats! Ah yes, those were the days.
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