Why Criticize Television?

I find it interesting that for such a long time, television was looked down upon by video artists. To me, a 30 minute episode of any television series could offer more in terms of social or political message than most pieces of video art I've seen. Richard Serra's 1973 work Television Delivers People is meant to criticize television as "corporate entertainment"; however, isn't any form of art entertainment in some way or another? If art weren't entertainment, if it didn't make us think, then we wouldn't be interested in it. What makes "corporate" entertainment so much more low-brow than any other kind of entertainment? In the '70's and '80's, while these video artists were looking down at television and mocking it through their black and white, vague, postmodern tapes, Michael Jackson was breaking racial boundaries through television with his music video "Thriller". It just makes me wonder if artists like Richard Serra or Klaus vom Bruch were actually contributing anything beneficial with their art, or if they were simply adding more cynicism to an already cynical society. Not only that, but in the '60's, when shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents became visionary classics for the writing, camera work, and title sequencing, the idea of video artists criticizing television and technology was already becoming cliched and overdone due to the numerous artists who were doing it.

The show's intro, in its utmost simplicity, can still unsettle viewers thanks to the use of shadowing.

Of course, with shows like Honey Boo Boo and Jersey Shore, modern television can be ripe for criticizing. But when I see women like Tina Fey and Lena Dunham becoming successful with their own television shows, it inspires me, and it makes me realize that even though I'm a woman living in a male-dominated world, I can still break through those kinds of challenges and be successful doing what I want to do. These women are creating art in their own way. It may not be the typical "postmodern" kind of performance art that women like Marina Abramovic are doing, but it's still critical. It's still satirical. Just like with any other artist's work, these people are putting all of their effort into writing, directing, and producing something that becomes their own masterpiece, and this kind of hard work has existed ever since television was first invented. Why does this kind of art have to be mocked simply because it's mainstream?