I live in a house with 3 other members of my family. The television is on a lot. Even if I am not the one in front of the tv, the essence of what's on the screen sometimes seeps into my person, like second-hand smoke. The original layout of my house included a kitchen that had walls. If the tv was on, there was a barrier to some of the content absorption. I have since remodeled my kitchen, the walls came down, as did my buffer from the loud squawk box.
I have a rating system when it comes to second-hand viewing. It goes from 1- being the worst to 4- being the best. The following is the entirety of my ranking system:
Me yelling "Turn that shit off until I am done in the kitchen!"
Me putting in ear buds while in the kitchen and listening to music.
Me keeping one eye on the tv, but when I am finished in the kitchen I leave and don't give the television a second thought. (Plus, as stated in my previous post, I no longer have an attention span.)
Me abandoning whatever it was I doing in the kitchen and giving myself fully to the television.
The following are 5 second-hand viewed shows and their rankings:
Any "commentary news" type of program gets a hard #1- This isn't a political blog so I won't go into the details of which shows/opinions I don't want to hear anymore. The point is, I just don't. Pro Tip- If someone really wants to consume that crap, help out in the kitchen. You can get rid of me faster.
Ghost Hunter/Big Foot/UFO shows get a #2- Unlike political stuff, I don't find this divisive or fear mongering, it is all just a bit silly and very repetitive. All the shows have wide-eyed believers explaining their paranormal experiences, followed by "experts" corroborating the person's story. There is always a lot of grainy footage and bad reenactment actors, but in the end, nothing really gets solved.
Any Gen-Z You-Tube Show teeters from #3-#4, mostly #3. They aren't terrible. Over the years I have gotten to be acquainted with the likes of: Good Mythical Morning, Kurtis Conner and even (the now infamous) Try Guys. As someone who is trying to create content in the new media, I am often amused and inspired by some of their shows.
Breaking Bad gets a solid #3- Much like my post about movies that I never watched- I am fully aware that these are fightin' words. I mean, I get why Breaking Bad was such a revered show. At the heart of it, the show posed some real philosophical questions...How far can someone be pushed until they push back? Is the economic climate in our current society forcing good people to do bad things? Why do I want to wrap Aaron Paul in a Snuggie blanket and spoon with him? Despite all of that, at the heart of this #3 ruling is I don't like watching violent stuff on tv. I am a wuss. I find it gross. I would rather go without watching genius television than to endure the blood and guts scenes.
Cobra Kai #4 (All day long #4)- For anyone reading this who has never watched this show, it is similar to being offered a bag of Doritos, you know you shouldn't eat the Doritos, you eat them anyway and get sores on your tongue and cuts on the roof of your mouth. Despite this, you decide to eat a second bag of Doritos. When there is no more Doritos to consume, you fell bad about yourself and count down the days until more Doritos will come out. Unlike Breaking Bad, there isn't a lot of philosophical pondering in Cobra Kai. We meet up with the whole Karate Kid gang, only they are in their 50s (maybe 60s by now). The plot of the original Karate kid is repeated ad nauseum. And much like Breaking Bad, I also want to spoon Johnny despite his many character flaws.
What about my readers? Are you regularly subjected to second hand viewing? If so, what are the winners/losers you have dealt with. Respond below in the comments.
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