Wednesday, June 17, 2009

"meaningless consumer-driven lives"

As an avid TV watcher and being on break from school (also on break from work of any sort), I find myself most days "vegging out" and watching hour after hour of television. Interestingly enough, vegging has nothing to do with actual vegetables. which I feel is a shame. I love veggies, especially when swimming in ranch dressing or covered in peanut butter. Luckily, I have not come to the stage at which my friend Kala is; that is, watching multiple episodes of Maury per day and memorizing the schedule so she can plan her day accordingly.

In summer watching mode, shows are not prioritized as they are during the school year. For nine months of the year, when all the "good' shows are on, the tivo manages season passes like a TV watcher's personal assistant. Shows may then be watched at leisure and commercials are skipped entirely. During the summer, however, channels are perused again and again, and I find myself watching 48 Hours: Hard Evidence or I become engrossed in an E! THS about the Olsen twins. Again. When I find a show even remotely interesting, which is not very ahrd considering the low summertime standard (past obsessions include, but are not limited to: Dawson's Creek, celebrity poker tournaments, Buffy the vampire slayer and The Price is Right), I normally stay on the same channel and watch through the commercial break. I feel this truly emphasizes the power of boredom, because I would only do this if I were heavily sedated or if the thermostat read over 80 degrees (don't tell my mom, because she'll find a project for me, oh yes she will).

It is during those 30-second segments that I can escape into a tiny, perfect world. If I could live in any commercial, it would be either Garnier Fructis or, of course, Coca Cola. The sheer joy of life depicted in these commercials is almost enough to make me get up off the couch and do something happy. Almost.

No comments:

Post a Comment