Anybody that knows me well knows that when I die, there’ll be a TV plugged in that crypt with all my favorite shows, so when the place is deserted night or day, I’m not picky, my ghost can watch everything all over again. That is how much I love television.
I said that to say this; I don’t just love TV in a mindless, uncontrollable way, but I actually get my lessons from there too. In the moment of suspending belief, it’s easy to just assume that things we watch don’t happen or it’s just a story, but I’ve never seen things that way.
I guess now that I am older with deep, stressful adult experiences, I can finally self-assess. I realise that I’m not as useless as my aunts suggested when I constantly wanted to watch movies, I’m just attracted to compelling narratives, stories that make you feel like you are more than meets eye. Stories that reach into the complexities of human nature and reveal the many layers to human beings. Stories that are so silly your laughter flies free and unhinged. I’ve lived so vicariously through the screen that I know what I’d like to watch when I’d like to watch it. I deal with everything by watching. For instance:
If I want to watch an entire series without one swear word, I’ll watch a different world
If I have a deadline that makes my brain want to explode, I’m watching Parks and rec or the office
When I miss my sister who lives away, anything with Doris Day will do
If I’m over-thinking things, and need to refocus my thoughts, I watch Black Mirror
If I feel like cheering someone on, Grace and Frankie
If I plan to spend the entire day horizontal, The God Father 1, 2 & 3
If I don’t feel like cooking, Hannibal
If I just want to be amazed, Black Mirror
If I feel like watching people fight, Living Single
If I need a lesson in Forgiveness, Brothers and Sisters
If I just want to feel good, there are a hundred here but let’s start with Love Actually
If I need a reminder that nothing’s fair about fighting, Billions
If I’m going to laugh and still get an education, Grapevine TV
If I need a reminder that silliness is requirement for a full life, Ally McBeal, Galavant
When I’m feeling nostalgic- give me old Nollywood with its cantankerous wonder
I guess what I am trying to say, apart from obviously reveal what I do with all my free time, is this: Narratives matter. Not just for how they make us feel, but also how they teach us about the world. There are people who consider fiction as fiction. But fiction is a reflection of reality and it gives us the window to events and experiences that may be too serious if they were real.
I don’t know though, maybe all of this is fluff and I just like TV, after all it is my mind and my time. But it will be interesting to know what small wonder or lesson you discover the next time you watch a show.
