--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Television doomed us to the Family, whose…" description: "\"Television doomed us to the Family, whose household instrument it has become-what the hearth used to be, flanked by the communal kettle.\" — Roland Barthes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/roland-barthes-1062_doomed_television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose_581817.png" --- # Television doomed us to the Family, whose household… ![“Television doomed us to the Family, whose household instrument it has become-what the hearth used to be, flanked by the communal kettle.” quote by Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/roland-barthes-1062_doomed_television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose_581817.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/roland-barthes-1062_doomed_television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose_581817.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/roland-barthes-1062_doomed_television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose_581817.png) > “Television doomed us to the Family, whose household instrument it has become-what the hearth used to be, flanked by the communal kettle.” [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. TV has become the modern hearth, central to family life like the kitchen once was. **In simple terms:** TV is the new family centerpiece. Key Takeaway Recognize TV’s role in shaping domestic culture. Themes media family culture technology Mood critical observational Type cultural media studies When to use this quote - family gatherings - advertising - media studies - home design Key Concepts symbolism social ritual media influence Questions to Reflect On - In what ways does TV shape family dynamics? - Can alternative media fulfill the hearth role? A Different Perspective May overlook negative impacts on interaction. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Kettles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kettles/) [Television](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/television/) ## Related quotes > [I think interactive television is doomed. 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The Lord Jesus is the only one with absolute authority, and He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-hon/the-assembly-ekklesia-is-the-family-the-household-of-god-the-lord/) [Henry Hon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-hon/) > [My dad was a commander in the U.S. Navy with three daughters - you can imagine the tight ship that was our family household!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-compagno/my-dad-was-a-commander-in-the-u-s-navy-with-three-daughters-you-can/) [Emily Compagno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-compagno/) > [Be a good leader in your home by taking responsibility for your family and household.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-young-p/be-a-good-leader-in-your-home-by-taking-responsibility-for-your/) [Peter Young P](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-young-p/) > [God's patience is infinite. Men, like small kettles, boil quickly with wrath at the least wrong. Not so God. If God were as wrathful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadhu-sundar-singh/god-s-patience-is-infinite-men-like-small-kettles-boil-quickly-with/) [Sadhu Sundar Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadhu-sundar-singh/) > [Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg apparently called President Obama directly to complain about NSA and how it spies on ordinary Americans. That's right, the guy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jimmy-fallon/facebook-founder-mark-zuckerberg-apparently-called-president-obama/) [Jimmy Fallon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jimmy-fallon/) > [The world is full of pots jeering at kettles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/the-world-is-full-of-pots-jeering-at-kettles/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [There are two strains, I think, in American playwriting, of importance. 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Don't be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barton-seaver/while-there-are-many-varieties-of-grills-each-with-their-own-virtues/) [Barton Seaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barton-seaver/) > [Free yourself from the slavery of tea and coffee and other slop kettles!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-cobbett/free-yourself-from-the-slavery-of-tea-and-coffee-and-other-slop/) [William Cobbett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-cobbett/) > [ He \[the cat\] wound himself around her legs, purring the purr of ardent desire like a kettle coming to a boil and then bubbling… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/may-sarton/he-the-cat-wound-himself-around-her-legs-purring-the-purr-of-ardent/) [May Sarton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/may-sarton/) > [ \[Wladimir\] Klitschko is a different kettle of fish to Haye. He is a genuine man with an excellent team behind him and they are… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyson-fury/wladimir-klitschko-is-a-different-kettle-of-fish-to-haye-he-is-a/) [Tyson Fury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyson-fury/) > [Polly put the kettle on, we'll all have tea.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/polly-put-the-kettle-on-we-ll-all-have-tea/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors and shelves like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-mckinley/the-magic-in-that-country-was-so-thick-and-tenacious-that-it-settled/) [Robin McKinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-mckinley/) ## More by Roland Barthes > [“Werther identifies himself with the madman, with the footman. As a reader, I can identify myself with Werther. Historically, thousands of subjects have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/werther-identifies-himself-with-the-madman-with-the-footman-as-a/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The Text is not a definitive object.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-text-is-not-a-definitive-object/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Valéry used to speak of those people who die in an accident because they are unwilling to let go of their umbrellas; how many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/val-ry-used-to-speak-of-those-people-who-die-in-an-accident-because/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Today there is no symbolic compensation for old age, no recognition of a specific value: wisdom, perceptiveness, experience, vision.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/today-there-is-no-symbolic-compensation-for-old-age-no-recognition-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [The unary Photograph has every reason to be banal, 'unity' of composition being the first rule of vulgar (and notably, of academic) rhetoric: 'The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/the-unary-photograph-has-every-reason-to-be-banal-unity-of/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“A creative writer is one for whom writing is a problem.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/a-creative-writer-is-one-for-whom-writing-is-a-problem/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Man does not exist prior to language, either as a species or as an individual. We never encounter a state where man is separated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/man-does-not-exist-prior-to-language-either-as-a-species-or-as-an/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“It is said that Time soothes mourning – No, Time makes nothing happen; it merely makes the emotivity of mourning pass.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/it-is-said-that-time-soothes-mourning-no-time-makes-nothing-happen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“So long as I perceive the world as hostile, I remain linked to it: \*I am not crazy\*. But sometimes, once my bad temper…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/so-long-as-i-perceive-the-world-as-hostile-i-remain-linked-to-it-i-am/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [I think that cars today are almost the exact equivalent of the great Gothic cathedrals: I mean the supreme creation of an era, conceived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/i-think-that-cars-today-are-almost-the-exact-equivalent-of-the-great/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“(Sartre) (The world is full without me, as in Nausea; the world plays at living behind a glass partition; the world is in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/sartre-the-world-is-full-without-me-as-in-nausea-the-world-plays-at/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“Like love, mourning affects the world—and the worldly—with unreality, with importunity. I resist the world, I suffer from what it demands of me, from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/like-love-mourning-affects-the-world-and-the-worldly-with-unreality/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [Painting can feign reality without having seen it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/painting-can-feign-reality-without-having-seen-it/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [“There is an age at which we teach what we know. Then comes another age at which we teach what we do not know;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/there-is-an-age-at-which-we-teach-what-we-know-then-comes-another-age/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) > [As a jealous man, I suffer four times over: because I am jealous, because I blame myself for being so, because I fear that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/as-a-jealous-man-i-suffer-four-times-over-because-i-am-jealous/) [Roland Barthes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) [Explore all 282 Roland Barthes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/) ## More Doomed quotes > [One of the best moments of any Liars show is hearing the crowd squawk 'We're doomed! We're doomed!' on cue during 'We Fenced Other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-sheffield/one-of-the-best-moments-of-any-liars-show-is-hearing-the-crowd-squawk/) [Rob Sheffield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-sheffield/) > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [A language possesses utility only insofar as it can construct conventional boundaries. A language of no boundaries is no language at all, and thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-wilber/a-language-possesses-utility-only-insofar-as-it-can-construct/) [Ken Wilber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-wilber/) > [I didn't have any role models. I really thought I was doomed to this loveless, lonely life. I didn't know any gay people until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-batt/i-didn-t-have-any-role-models-i-really-thought-i-was-doomed-to-this/) [Bryan Batt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-batt/) > [“Despite which, Charlie seems doomed to stumble around in the dark, clutching pieces of a puzzle he still can't see.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-risk-hallberg/despite-which-charlie-seems-doomed-to-stumble-around-in-the-dark/) [Garth Risk Hallberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-risk-hallberg/) > [Monotheism is in its turn doomed to subtract one more God and become atheism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibn-warraq/monotheism-is-in-its-turn-doomed-to-subtract-one-more-god-and-become/) [Ibn Warraq](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibn-warraq/) > [“Why are we doomed to crave most that which we cannot have?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-are-we-doomed-to-crave-most-that-which-we-cannot-have/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm doomed! And all 'cause Miss Man decides to take her little drag show on the road. -Mushu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mulan/i-m-doomed-and-all-cause-miss-man-decides-to-take-her-little-drag/) [Mulan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mulan/) > [It is important for investors to understand what they do and don't know. Learn to recognize that you cannot possibly know what is going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-ritholtz/it-is-important-for-investors-to-understand-what-they-do-and-don-t/) [Barry Ritholtz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-ritholtz/) > [O Logic: born gatekeeper to the Temple of Science, victim of capricious destiny: doomed hitherto to be the drudge of pedants: come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-bentham/o-logic-born-gatekeeper-to-the-temple-of-science-victim-of-capricious/) [Jeremy Bentham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-bentham/) > [For the planet's sake, I hope we have bird flu or some other thing that will reduce the population, because otherwise we're doomed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-blackmore/for-the-planet-s-sake-i-hope-we-have-bird-flu-or-some-other-thing/) [Susan Blackmore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-blackmore/) > [The enemy's spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out, tempted with bribes, led away and comfortably housed. Thus they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/the-enemy-s-spies-who-have-come-to-spy-on-us-must-be-sought-out/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [I do honestly think that if women were running the world there would be more investment in peace, because basically as women we do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meryl-streep/i-do-honestly-think-that-if-women-were-running-the-world-there-would/) [Meryl Streep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meryl-streep/) > [When you think that most of us are doomed by divine grace to roast in hell, to say nothing of mortgages and hail and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/when-you-think-that-most-of-us-are-doomed-by-divine-grace-to-roast-in/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [I am doomed or fortunate to stick to what I do best.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-sobule/i-am-doomed-or-fortunate-to-stick-to-what-i-do-best/) [Jill Sobule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-sobule/) Browse all 648 Doomed quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Television doomed us to the Family, whose household instrument it has become-what the hearth used to be, flanked by the communal kettle.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roland Barthes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose-household-instrument-it-has/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Doomed" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose-household-instrument-it-has/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/roland-barthes-1062_doomed_television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose_581817.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/roland-barthes-1062_doomed_television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose_581817.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e9c/roland-barthes-1062_doomed_television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose_581817.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Television doomed us to the Family, whose household instrument it has become-what the hearth used to be…” — Roland Barthes", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Roland Barthes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roland-barthes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Television doomed us to the Family,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose-household-instrument-it-has/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roland-barthes/television-doomed-us-to-the-family-whose-household-instrument-it-has/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```