Ethical television consumption

Is there such a thing?

Hacks, season 3 (HBO Max)

What is distinctive about ethical consumption is that consumer choices are turned into political actions.

…

From this point of view, ethical consumption remains an ambiguous repertoire of action distinguished by being aimed at the production and circulation of new norms in the space of consumption in order to influence the agendas of businesses and public authorities. It is not necessary that these norms be realized in concrete behaviours. It is enough that that they be taken up by discourses or instruments capable of implementing them in order to put pressure on economic actors and public deciders.

-”Preface,” Ethical Consumption by Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier (2013)

“She’s in consumer jail,” my sister told me about a celebrity who had recently crossed a line in her ethical playbook. Her and her husband had “locked” this individual away, and any film or television project would thus be barred from the household until further notice. “Well how long until they're released?,” I asked. “Until it feels right,” she said, after a pause.

Is it possible to be an ethical consumer of television? I’ve been thinking about it a lot as of late and this newsletter, which I knew would be an imperfect attempt to unpack that question, has been percolating amidst Hollywood’s reckoning with abusers and Palestine. Here’s where I’m at; less of a roadmap and more of a self-examination.