Someone once said that opinions are like assholes- everyone has one and they all stink. What I have found in life, however, is that this just isn't the case necessarily. Most people actually don't feel that strongly about a lot of things. Large swaths of the population don't even care about topics like politics. This is confusing for me, a person who has repeatedly joked that, given enough time, I could come down strongly for or against curtains, herbal tea, or obscure 16th century poetry. Nothing is too banal for me to have an opinion on, though I have focused interests just like everyone else.
One of my more focused interests is television. People like to talk about how video games are such a new medium, how the possibilities for storytelling depth have only begun to be tapped there. And while I agree, I offer a similar statement about television. It may have originated longer ago than video games but most of what television's history has to offer is pretty shallow. Sure, shows from way back when tackled serious issues occasionally. The term “very special episode” didn't originate in the 90s. But when I watch television that is thirty, forty, fifty+ years old and compare it to the shows of today there is a lack of depth there, of complexity of emotion.
Much of that has to do with the duality of television as a medium. Even today it wants to be two different things. It wants to be the background noise, the comfort food at the end of a long day. It wants to give you something easy to laugh at such as a Big Bang Theory, or a procedural that makes the world look fair, like a Criminal Minds. But then also we have our Mad Mens and our Breaking Bads and our Communities that exist to challenge our expectation of what television is as well as to explore richer plots and themes.
I love this about television. I love the feeling of watching a show and knowing just what to expect while meanwhile the real world around me is being chaotic. And I love a show that isn't afraid to make me feel something when I am in the mood to be challenged. And though I enjoy movies too, I love the feeling of history that television can create within itself when you've spent so much time with set of characters that they feel like family.
Watching TV is something I do very often. These days I am more inclined to juggle several shows at once- something to play in the background while I work, a light comedy for dinner time, and then something serious and thought provoking for my free time. Regardless of what I'm watching, I always have opinions and I'm now going to use this space to occasionally discuss what I'm viewing. Hopefully this will be enjoyable to whoever sees it AND have an added bonus of preventing me from having a rage stroke in real life. Because my opinions are strong. I love what I love and, like many a nerd before me, I hate what I hate. But that's the great thing about television: love one thing or hate another there is at least something for everyone.
TLDR: Tasteful Nerdity is a new feature where I will occasionally discuss what I'm watching on TV at the moment. I might also review movies or books as well.
Read Part 2 here!