I have a lot of feelings about TV shows. I get so involved in the characters’ lives I often have to remind myself that it’s not real: they do not exist and the conflict that is created and subsequently resolved in approximately 22 minutes plus commercials is fictional. I’m not sure what you would call that problem. Clinical obsession, probably. I am so distracted by whatever is playing on the screen in front of me that I find myself neglecting the people who are truly important: real people.
I practically forget I even have roommates when I watch “The Office” because I’m so caught up in the Jim and Pam love story. That’s especially pathetic because I’ve watched every episode of that show at least five times. I hesitate to mention that when Beyonce’s album dropped, a friend of mine was going through a break-up, and I may have ignored a couple calls because Drunk in Love was just too good to be paused. I promise I’m a better friend than that, but when Beyonce calls, you pick up the phone.
I am honestly a little ashamed of how much I care about people who have no clue who I am and how much I neglect the people who actually matter. But I felt better when I logged on to social media after Jimmy Fallon premiered on “The Tonight Show” last Monday and saw that everyone else is pretty much in the same boat as me. We are all so fascinated by celebrity culture that it has become all we think about.
I do love that TV brings people together; it unites in the sense that we will always have something to discuss and criticize. When I can feel a conversation dying, it has become automatic to bring up the latest episode of “Mad Men,” and instantly, it is revived.
You can imagine how ridiculous I felt when I thought, “People should log off Netflix and have real, human interaction.” It is such a simple concept, but it was such a “Eureka!” moment for me. Not to mention the fact that I, more than anyone, need to take that advice. If he who is without sin gets to cast the first stone, I should just go home.
In the fast-approaching future, we will all be graduated and living in every part of the country and the world. This is a very unique time in our lives when our best friends are, if not next door, just across the front lawn. Close your computer and go get coffee with one of them. “Breaking Bad” will be online forever, but you only have a couple short years left here. When all is said and done, very few of us will look back and say, “I wish I had spent more time in my room watching ‘Law & Order’ until my brain turned to Jello.”
At the same time, I hate to sound like everyone’s mom and say, “You need to spend more time outside.” While that is probably good advice, especially since it has been roughly a lifetime since Searcy has seen pleasant weather, no one wants to hear it.
But I am willing to compromise with you: next time you want to binge-watch “The Big Bang Theory,” call a friend and watch it with them. Call me; I love TV.
