Tag Archives: entertainment

Binge watching

Every extended break I end up doing this: I pick a series and binge watch a few seasons over a few days. I watch so little television of any kind regularly, that there is always something to catch up on. My wife totally sunk into The Handmaids Tale a while back and told me I’d love it. So here I am approaching the end of Season 2, her watching it again with me, and saying ‘One more’ after already watching two episodes in a sitting.

Margaret Atwood is a brilliant writer, and the series is very well done. I remember seeing her say in a video that she didn’t put anything into Handmaid’s Tale that wasn’t something that had already happened somewhere in the world. If I was watching this series in 2019, I would have thought less about this fact, but somehow 2020 has made me see the world quite differently.

Today I’m more keenly aware that fascism can rear its ugly head. I’m more keenly aware of how religious beliefs can be argued and leveraged to reduce non-believer’s choices. I am more keenly aware of how information can be misconstrued and manipulated to fool a large percentage of the population.

We live in a world where rulers can still rule for their lifetime; Where religious and cultural genocide happen; Where rights to basic food and healthcare are dependent on geography and luck of being born to parents who can support a child’s needs. This is a not a just and free world for many, and that can lead to unrest. It can lead to upheaval, and it can spark less democratic and more totalitarian regimes. Regimes that, while not necessarily similar to Handmaids Tale, can be quite scary.

On that solemn and dark thought… my wife wants to watch another episode, and I’m quite willing to partake.

TikTok creativity

It’s interesting to watch how TikTok is exploding with new users of all ages, producing creative work.

Here are a few examples of original posts: 1, 2, 3, 4,5.

Then there is an incredible, understanding of permission to share your own version of that work. You’ll see a joke trend, then realize that that wasn’t the first place it was shared.

Then you’ll see someone duet a video, (share a TikTok side-by-side), and often that duet might be more popular than the original. When that happens, the original poster isn’t disappointed, but rather appreciative of the added exposure. Here is a fun example where rather than dueting (new word?) to do what was intended, the person made a parody that was far more successful. And this was the response of the original TikTok-er.

You’ll also see some incredible collaborations on TikTok. What I find interesting is that much of this original work is inspired by a copy culture… a sharing and expanding of creative ideas. Sometimes this is just blatant copying. Sometimes it’s copying with a very creative adaptation, and sometimes it’s just pure parody for a laugh.

I think we can learn a lot about creativity in a place where copying work that came before it is celebrated. The reality is that it is hard to be originally creative, but not as hard to be creative based on someone else’s work.

The Netflix Trap

Despite the fact that I grew up in the era of Seinfeld and Friends being sitcoms that were on the air, I haven’t seen all of the episodes. My daughters have seen every episode in order, and my youngest daughter is on her 3rd round of watching Friends through all 10 seasons, or 236 episodes, on Netflix.

When I watched these shows, they were on TV, with commercials, and we didn’t have a VCR set up if we missed the time slot. By the time the reruns were on, I was already not a fan of waiting through commercials to watch a show.

This weekend I got sucked into a drama on Netflix, and still nursing an injured knee, I found myself in front of the television for hours. I fell deep into the Netflix trap watching the next episode, after the next episode, after the next episode. ‘OK, just 1 more,’ I’d tell myself, then just one more after that…

I do this sometimes on longer breaks like summer and Christmas break but it’s very rare that I sink into a series like this on a regular weekend. The appeal is strong when there are no commercials and the opening/closing credits can easily be skipped. There is no waiting until next week’s time slot on TV, no waiting for commercials either. Just show after show, with each ending designed to hook you into the next one.

Watching television has changed significantly. I can see how easy it is to stay trapped in front of it now in a way that wasn’t possible when I was younger. YouTube and Facebook can be the same for some, with the next video automatically playing after the one you are watching is done. Blink and several hours have gone by.

I had a good dose of this on the weekend, and I’m done for now… At least until the March break. The series I was watching has one more season and I’ll probably watch most of it in a two to three day span. I force myself to wait for an extended break. But when I start, I don’t pretend that I’m not easily sucked into the trap of binge watching, like many others.

Out of the (sports) loop

I love playing sports, and I love going to live sporting events. I don’t follow sports on tv at all. Apparently it’s Super Bowl Sunday today. I heard both the team names but only remember San Francisco. I’m not going to look up the other team, I’ll just let you shake your head wondering how I can be so clueless? 😜

It has its advantages, being sports-fan ignorant: I have more time for other things. It also has its disadvantages: I can be out of the loop when sports conversations come up among friends and colleagues. My wife doesn’t mind, with free reign over the tv at all times.

I’m sure I’ll find out the results, and I’m also sure I’ll see replays of the best commercials, but I will miss out on the collective experience that so many people share.

I sometimes think I live too inside my own head to participate in following sports unless I’m right there in the experience, at the event. I don’t put a value on this as either good or bad, merely an observation about myself.

Is there something that you opt out of that others seem to enjoy? What are your reasons?