Is there anything better to do than watch TV?
In my head, I’m still going through Netflix’s super extensive library, trying to find that one great movie or series that I haven’t seen yet – and I’m surely going to find it just now (does anyone?). I can also still see myself clicking through the TV channels, a few years earlier, trying to find something to catch my attention. Are my days so awful and tiring, that I need to distract and pacify myself every evening with yet another series, really?
”Who wants to DO more stuff after DOING so many things throughout the day already!”
Being able to turn on the autopilot and blankly stare at mildly interesting events unroll is one of the main three reasons why TV is such a convenient outlet for the end of the day. Who wants to DO more stuff after DOING so many things throughout the day already! Cooking shows or series like Parks and Recreation fit that mood perfectly, as we watch someone go through struggles positively day in and day out, only to return in the next episode, fresh and ready to face the new day. Not complaining, plowing through life’s hurdles with a smile - an ideally oversimplified metaphorical version of how we’d like our days to be, sprinkled with love and humor.
Even though there’s instant gratification in watching a series that dulls my supposedly oh-so-overworked mind, there are other reasons why TV has hold on to the mantle of »king of evenings« for so long. Nostalgia, or, wanting to experience a feeling you had when first watching something, was for me, the second strong cause to sit down and drink a couple of beers while watching Ex-Machina for the 8th time. Or to keep on watching a series that they’re clearly making up as they go (hint: Lost) – we hold on to the characters as if they were a part of us and we try to catch the emotion we felt when they helped us to remember that everything’s gonna be OK.
“For a long time I
believed that watching TV was my lighthouse in the day.”
For a long time I believed that switching off and watching TV in the evening was my lighthouse in the day. But after finding myself completely dulled and foggy from too much content, I’ve made a change. Now, if I decide to see something, I want it to go to the third category – Inspiration. Pearls like Lost Highway (Lynch), Nostalghia (Tarkovsky), Spirited Away (Miyazaki), Europa (Lars von Trier) left a lasting footprint on me, both personally and creatively. So now, like when I saw those first, I try to be present and really watch what’s in front of me, as if I’m watching the next cult film. It’s not that I never watch movies and series, I just decided to get really picky. If I watch something, I commit to actually experiencing it. But you know, with reading, writing, talking to your partner, exercising, board games, doing chores etc. as alternatives, my evening time is way too precious to loose to TV.