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Wednesday 20 April 2016

Problematic TV series

Being at uni, I'm supposed to never be at a loss for things to do. I do find however that when I need a short break from studying, I am at a loss of how to occupy myself. Aside from scrolling through the same Facebook updates, or sending an occasional snapchat, it is not like home where I can just saunter downstairs, have a coffee with my mum or watch a quick episode on TV. Everyone at uni is constantly busy, meaning that people are rarely free at the same time as each other.

These are the excuses I give myself anyway for my latest obsession the 'Made in Chelsea' television series (yes I am re-watching it right from the initial episode). An episode here and there provides the perfect distraction in-between reading those critical theory essays and revising the French subjunctive. It was not until I began writing this post however, that I realised just how much of a time-waster reality tv shows are... especially this one! It is taken me just over a week to get through the first two series, and it is slowly dawning on me how much time I'm spending watching people attend dinner parties or charity events, all while having the same repetitive arguments with each other over their love lives.

This all got me thinking, why do we actually find shows such as this entertaining, or even addictive? How many of us tune in every night to watch the latest episode of 'Eastenders' (aka to watch the same people shouting at each other over the same storylines, repeated over and over in a terribly unrealistic interpretation of the average person's daily life)? It seems to me that this unhealthy desire to immerse ourselves in the fictional stories of others only tells us how great our need is to escape from our own lives. It cannot surely be in the sense that we wish our lives were similar to theirs (afterall I doubt anyone really wants an unwanted pregnancy, rushed marriage, a cheating partner followed by an early divorce, not forgetting, of course, a couple of train crashes thrown into the mix) ? The only explanation left then, is that we take pleasure in witnessing the problems of others.

I do not mean this to be as cruel as it sounds, beyond a mere selfish desire to realise that our lives are not as bad as they could be. In viewing other people's problems, we seem to gain some reassurance that our life isn't as dismal as perhaps we think it is, despite the fact that that desperation is pretty dismal in itself. I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of this. Giving in to this method of escapism can only worsen the problem however. Of course, it is fine to relax and watch the occasional episode, but as for the rest of the time, surely it would be more beneficial to engage in some sort of self-ameliorating activity, exercise for example. In this way, we ensure that our lives are meaningful and therefore remove completely the need to reassure ourselves that our lives are not actually as dire as we fear.

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