Summary

Growing up, the father watched television constantly. He did not know “the television could even be turned off” (6). The mother, however, did not watch television until she was 10 years old. Her mother told her the television signal did not reach their house. The girl therefore regarded the television as a “completely useless object” (6). When a classmate came over one day, she plugged in the television and turned it on. It worked fine. The mother was surprised, and told her mother, who feigned shock and joy.

Although the mother and father had different childhoods, they both want to keep their son away from screens for as long as possible. They have nothing against televisions. In fact, when they were dating and first married, they often watched movies and television series together. Throughout the mother's pregnancy, they were especially enamored with a series “about bloody...