Janis Joplin Gave Me That Coat

I had a conversation with my mother recently about the nature of reading. She said that kids being exposed to television makes them want to read less, but I don't believe that's true. My little brother, only 11 years old, knows who Janis Joplin is. Not because he's heard her music but because on his favorite show, Doctor Who, David Tennant says "Janis Joplin gave me that coat!" 

I began to think about all of the things that I had read, because I was influenced by a TV show or Movie. (I had to finish each Harry Potter book before I was allowed to see the films.)

And I think this gives a new outlet for literary introduction, which is not a bad thing. 

If we look at the Beats, artists from 50 years ago that many american high school students have never heard of. ( Sorry, but that's the nature of public school) So when Jess and Paris in Gilmore Girls are arguing about whether the beats were new-wave or just 'angry hippies' and he pockets a copy of Howl, they are introducing an entire new generation of readers work they may not have been familiar with. Work they may see and think "If Jess is reading that, then maybe I should..." My personal favorite example of this is when Lindsey in Freaks and Geeks goes on a rant about Kerouac and On the Road. 

The Beats are credited for inspiring movements from Second-wave Feminism to French surrealist films, so how can it be bad that we are exposing young readers to this work, even if it comes in the form of television?

I asked my sister why she was reading The Longest Yard. She said "because I liked the movie." I asked my brother why he was reading a history book about sharks. He said "I like Shark Week." So maybe television isn't ruining reading for the next generation, but giving a new medium for literary inspiration. Connecting readers to books and artists they didn't know before because "she was reading it on iCarly," or "Anne Kendrick said it was good." So if I pick up City of Tiny Lights, to read before the movie comes out next fall, then perhaps television isn't killing the literary word, but helping it. Thoughts?