Masterchef Manifest
Ten million Brits are locked to their television sets. They will Darren’s sorbet to set. They spur Suzy on as she blow-torches the surface of her crème brulèe.
The collective thoughts of the British people take to the air almost as a common prayer.
Outside ten million misted windows the Earth retains its shape and solidity and the sun scorches gardens brown.
I have been thinking about TV quite a lot lately and how it affects us. I was talking to my Dad about it after he came in to find my whole family watching masterchef. I explained to him ‘It’s the final (or something),’ and he expressed the thought that it's weird to think that right now millions of people are watching the same thing, thinking the same thing. He also said he thought it was a bit like brainwashing. I don’t know if I really agree with the brainwashing part (not in regards to Masterchef), but I think it is interesting that so many people could be forced into thinking the same thing at the same time.
I’m not sure whether I believe in the whole manifesting things for yourself, thing. It’s the belief where if you think something then it will come into existence. I believe it on the level that if you want something to happen and you’re confident it will, you are more likely to make it happen. But there needs to be an action as well as a thought.
Why this is relevant to television; if millions of people are thinking the same thing then that thing is going to have a heightened importance. Take Masterchef for example, if everyone is watching masterchef, more and more kids are going to grow up wanting to be chefs and various types of food (which feature more heavily in the programme) will become more popular pushing others out of business - everyone will be eating creme fraiche and mayonnaise will become obsolete.
These thoughts collected in my brain simultaneously made me think; what if a mass watching of a single programme, one thought streaming through the heads of everyone on the planet, what if that caused more than just a collective thought? What if it caused an actual physical manifestation? So, I’m planning to write a story on that. How a collective thought could change the world for better or for worst... I feel a novel coming on!
