Going back to the late 1960s and all through the 1970s, I used to read all that I could get my hands on regarding violence in television and movies. In many newspaper and magazine article and also in books, I would bump into a term, a subject: passive viewing. A passive television viewer was said to be susceptible to the violent sight and sound information of a television program (and, by extension, a movie in a theater); i.e., this category of viewers was most likely to act out as a consequence to a violent television program or movie in theater..... My memory is hazy, but I think I'm right about this... I never read anything about what the opposite of a passive viewer was. I'm being serious -- I am not trying to be facetious, here. So I'll ask a question: what is an active television or movie viewer? If you read my pieces at tumblr, I use the English language to convey the act of watching a movie (I haven't written about a teleivision program, yet). So...what is an active television or movie viewer?
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Hey, Jennie! Thank you for the work that you do. The key word for me in your response to my 'ask' is 'interacting.' I'm saving the articles that you offer to me in the links. I have to add that I've been writing about movies and television, starting in my junior year of high school and eventually made it a priority for me in 1978 before I moved to NYC. This question about 'passive' viewing and 'active' viewing was the starting point for something I call an 'experience outline.' Thank you for getting back to me...