Ryan and I have a small TV/VCR combo apparatus that we keep in the closet and pull out only to watch How The Grinch Stole Christmas, which we have on videotape, every year. This often leaves me pretty out of the loop on what Mass Media has to offer.
The benefit of this is, of course, that I am spared a lot of wasted time watching TV. The cost is that I retain the level of TV-watching restraint that I possessed when I was eleven. That means that when I start, it's rather hard to stop. My green, soft brain just sucks up the entertainment like a sponge.
In my group counseling class this semester we watched a clip from The Office. Although I have heard fervent testimony of how funny the show is, the only clip I had ever seen on Hulu was wildly offensive, far too much so to be amusing, and I thought my inability to enjoy The Office was just another way my personal tastes depart from the norm. However, the clip my professor showed in class had me singing another tune. Being essentially unacquainted with the show, after just seven minutes I had laughed myself into an endorphin rush and become eternally invested in the eventual matrimony of Pam and Jim.
I have started obsessively watching the show on NetFlix. Several episodes a day, starting with Season One. Ryan has already seen many of them and has attempted to forcibly screen those episodes which he predicts will offend me beyond my ability to cope. The rest of the episodes are mine to enjoy with addictive abandon. As I said, I possess no restraint.
Yesterday, in addition to several episodes of The Office, I also watched The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was charming and delightful and a film called Crips and Bloods: Made in America, which was informative and thought-provoking and just depressing enough to make me want to work harder.
It was a real media success story kind of a day.
Someone please tell me to do my homework. I possess no restraint.
7 comments:
We own season 5. Come watch it here. You know, to save the money from having to rent it.
Now I'm afraid to mention any particular show for fear it's one of the ones that would wildly offend you. Okay, I'll take my chances... I believe the diversity episode was in the first season. That was the first episode of The Office I ever saw and I was instantly committed to it for life.
I wish I could re-watch them all with you.
KQ(E),
After writing this I realized how ridiculous I am that I can sit peacefully, thoughtfully through a movie entitled "Crips and Bloods" and then lose my brain over one too many sexist/racist jokes. I will admit to a little inconsistency :)
I agree that the diversity episode was really, really funny. I think it was the sexual harassment episode that put me over the edge.
I wish I could watch them with you too. I might even be able to keep it real with you by my side making everything so much funnier.
Peter and I just finished season 5 from netflix. We were also a little late in discovering The Office but now we're hooked.
Just wait until the Pam & Jim wedding. It's extra great.
AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHAMPION!!!! Our early 20s... so close, yet SO far away. ;)
I'm so glad you have become assimilated to The Office. Sometimes I want to punch Michael in the face, too.
Do Your Homework.
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