In opposition to popular disparaging of television as an artistic medium, television can be considered as having its own aesthetics and can be placed in the category of fine arts (as opposed to folk arts). Television art can and should be distinguished from video art and film art in the ways in which it imitates reality; program content and filming technique are two ways in which television art separates itself. Moreover, television has been criticized for the unreal way in which it presents the outside world. Related to this is the relationship between viewer and television, as opposed to the relationship between viewer and film. Television has been called an "intimate" medium because of the size of the screen, the type of shot used, and the fact that televisions can be placed in the home; whereas film overwhelms, making the viewer feel inferior to the screen, television elicits a feeling of superiority. Hence, the way in which television imitates the outside world differently than film demands that it should have its own theories of aesthetics. The development of such theories may allow television to be seriously studied as art, as well as admit examples of popular culture into the realm of aesthetics, both of which may improve the quality of television. (JC)