RECREATIONS SANS RECREATION

Activities indulged in by individuals for pleasure outside usual work are recreational activities. Such activities are pursued out of choice and not of necessity.
Sport and Games, music, quizzing, going on tour or picnic and a plethora of other activities are all recreational activities for pleasure. The whole idea behind the concept of recreation is to enjoy oneâ??s spare time. So recreational activities are intended to refresh oneâ??s body and mind.
When there are adequate opportunities for recreation people can exhibit their talents out. Recreational activities, therefore, help the population to improve skills and mind and thereby enhance the overall quality of citizens. On the other hand in the absence of recreational facilities people idle. The youth of today, we find, waste their talents and energy in unproductive and useless activities. Still worse, many are found to indulge in unsocial and also anti-social activities because of lack of opportunities to channelise their bountiful energy. So it is understood that recreational activities are vital not only for the improvement of individuals but also for the advancement of the society as a whole.
What role the recreational activities play today?
Many of the recreational activities are being used for amassing wealth. The real concept of recreation has been totally distorted. For many, recreational activities have become careers. Instead of being used as a means of pleasure seeking avenues the greedy misuse them for accumulating wealth. This is an ominous trend. The net result of this trend is the deterioration of the overall culture of the society. Among many others three important fields have become victims of this trend.
Sports and Games
Sports and games is one such area in which this trend is very well observed. Many sports persons have made sports and games their full time career. It is not the pleasure of excellence that drives them to do this but the lucrative money such sports and games bring. As a normal corollary to this trend, the real spirit behind the sports movements is killed. Cutthroat competition seen in this field has led to rivalry, animosity, and other bad qualities in the participants. The original philosophy of pleasure has become a non-entity in this field. The fact that the overall aim of sports and games is to improve the physical fitness of people has been forgotten.
These sports persons use their fitness only in sports and games and their physical fitness does not benefit others. This is nothing short of subversion of the goals of the sports movement and therefore misuse of peopleâ??s money. Promotion of friendship, team spirit and such characters are not the concern at all nowadays. The rivalry seen is so great that it drives the people to take to drugs to excel. The stabbing incident involving tennis star Monica Seles is probably fallout of this trend.
It is sad to observe that it is the perks and privileges given to sports persons that work against the very philosophy. In every Olympics, we see the sports persons trying to break the previous records. This actually is not an improvement in any sense. What is this bettering of previous records? What is the necessity to go for such excellence? This excellence is being produced at what cost? The behind the screen operations that go with such feats will point out the folly of such human endeavours. The narrow concepts like the nations, regions and the like also have contributed to this phenomenon.
Even the game of chess is no exception to this trend. A chess playerâ??s mental faculty is glorified and therefore richly paid. But this talent is a waste as long as it is shown only on a chessboard and it does not result in any other benefit to fellowmen.
So, it can be easily understood that if the society is to benefit from this field we should see that the field is not allowed to deviate from the concept of recreation and physical fitness.
Music
Another recreational activity misused like the sports and games is music. Music in its sublimity is intended for pleasure. But we find that it is being terribly misused with money in mind. This trend is seen especially in cinema music. In the process of commercialization of music it has lost all its relevance to recreation and pleasure. The fierce competition in the field of music has resulted in the birth of what is called fusion music. This trend has contributed more for noise pollution than to the quality of music. Any music that is created necessitated by the inducement of money will not benefit people but will spoil their fine senses. Technologies like stereophonic system and computerized music system also have contributed for the deterioration by abetting commercialization of music.
Cinema
Yet another recreational activity that actually spoils the society besides squandering the hard earned money is the celluloid cinema. It is now considered as peopleâ??s cheap recreation. It is cheap not only in terms of money but also in terms of its content. A full time industry involved in making commercial cinema is itself a sad commentary of the prevailing culture in a civilized world. Men and women becoming full time actors and actresses doing nothing else for the benefit of fellowmen is a colossal waste of manpower. The huge money involved in producing commercial films is a criminal waste. This simple fact is not understood by the materialistic society. But the most disheartening thing is the fact that commercial cinema gets the patronage of the present rulers even at the cost of programs for common man. People are hoodwinked to believe that there is no escape from this cheap recreation. Still worse, the pseudo-heroes and heroines because of their popularity in cinema are able to become leaders and rulers in this misguided world. So, we find that from what started as a medium for recreation cinema has become a money spinning industry and in the process it has contributed, in no small measure, for degradation of the culture of the era.
So it is well seen that the avenues of recreation are increasingly being misused for the benefits of the few and more importantly are also found to spoil the society. Especially the celluloid demigods and goddesses are found to make use of their political clout to subvert the priorities of the society thereby causing grave danger to the interest of the people particularly the common man.
What can be done to remedy this situation?
In the field of sports and games there should not be any full time player. All players should do other than sports, some main work which will benefit fellowmen. This should not be done for namesake as it is being done now. Sports persons should not be employed in banks and other offices only to encourage their talent in sports. This is a sheer waste of peopleâ??s money.
Monetary benefits to the players should be restricted to a minimum that will take care of their nutritional and transport needs only. Cricketers and tennis players are now overpaid like cinema stars and also are lavishly rewarded.
Above all, the society should be made to understand that sports and games are recreational activities which should be used only to improve the physical fitness of individuals and these facilities should not be allowed to be misused as money spinners by a few.
Similarly music should be used to benefit man in the sense that it helps to freshen his sense. Individuals should never be allowed to misuse music even if they are great masters in the field only to make money by catering to the basal senses of misguided people specially the youth. Commercialization of music should be banned or restricted. Royalties should be abolished.
In cinema or drama there should not be full time actors. Acting should not be oneâ??s main career. The huge unaccounted money paid to actors is responsible for the glamour and the boosted image they enjoy among the masses.
The society should be enlightened on the folly of cinema, which causes irreparable damage to the values of the society by deceiving our youngsters and taking them away from reality. The sway cinema holds on our children is detrimental to an orderly society.
Commercialization of cinema in industry like fashion should be banned. Funds to cinema should be restricted by legislation so that the number is reduced drastically and themes monitored. The present censor board is quite useless in monitoring the standard of films. The high-tech quality of cinema should not be allowed to overwhelm the societyâ??s basic needs. The innumerable awards associated with cinema should be scrapped so that it is deglamourised. When the glamour of cinema is gone it will find its place it deserves in the society.
The right kind of philosophy in respect of recreation and the welfare of the society will be to see that citizens contribute for the overall improvement of the standard of life and that recreations are indulged in spare time for the betterment of the quality of all and not for self-aggrandizement.

And the point is ddavidd?

Why make a new account...Hmm?

Indeed

I don't really think that's dddddaviddddd... possibly. But I'm not really feeling it.

I disagree with some big portions of the original post, however. I really don't think you can generalize and say that people who participate in music, sports, theatre, etc are interested in it for the money and fame. Maybe some people. Maybe some portion. But there are -plenty- of people who do these activities out of pure passion for them.

That he does, jane. That he does.

Ya'know I would've read this if it was split into paragraphs. sorry, but just looking at it gives me a migrane

Lol... well like I said -me-, I only check out the suspicious ones...

"That he does jane. That he does"

^^ Either this have been a freudian slip or a play on -me-... lol... Seeing as its sibyellene, my bet is on the former...

lol...

I do agree that there is commercialism and competitive attitudes when thinking about leisure...

Even the art of paganistic mediumship is also commercialised, that's what you expect when dealing with capitalism... However, the poster hasn't laid any distinctions, thus leading him to generalise...

Oh and me or "Maria"... why would you correct sibyellene, when she's in your group (The Club) ... She would already know your name if you joined the club...

lol... you just outed yourself... tsk tsk ...if you kept quiet then everyone would assume that sibyellene is merely joking...

Thank you for finally revealing yourself... Ha!