Entertainment is something which distracts us from the routine of daily life
Although the forms of
entertainment have changed significantly over the years, the function
of entertainment has remained essentially the same till now. Because
of the necessities of survival, life is filled with routine built
around schedules that govern daily existence.
This is true whether a society is
primarily concerned with producing its own living, such as a
hunter-gatherer or agrarian society type, or more advanced, such as
an industrial or modern society. For all of these societies, the
daily routine revolves around either directly producing food and
other things needed to survive, or earning money to purchase these
things. Despite vast differences in the particular contribution of
mental or physical exertion to these various routines, they are
repetitive by their nature and do become monotonous. While the rut
remains essential to survival, the human mind has always sought ways
to provide variety of input and experiences.
Fortunately, there has always
been more to life than just finding or producing enough food and
water that concerned early societies, or the modern routine of
earning a living. A part of life that helps to balance the
everydayness is entertainment. Beginning with self-entertainment,
such as storytelling, self-produced art, and self-produced music,
entertainment has now been developed into the myriad of forms
available to members of our modern society. Whether it is sought
through media, such as television or books, or performance, theater
or sporting events, entertainment can add an extra dimension to life.
When the day by day earning of a living becomes dull, there are many
kinds of entertainment available to restore interest and excitement.
Entertainment provides a means of taking us away to other places and
times. Although the form is different, it is easy to imagine that
this break in the monotony was true with storytelling, art, and music
from the beginning of its development. Entertainment is a part of
life with many possible functions, but a primary one has always been
a means of distracting us from the mundane routine of daily life.
