Life's Guilty Pleasures

Ah, Sundays are always fantastically relaxing and lazy. I usually end up spending almost the entire day in my pajamas. Not that my Saturdays are all that much more eventful. In fact, many times, they aren't more eventful at all. I really should take more advantage of all DC has to offer to me, but I really don't. However, my free weekends may soon be busy waiting tables. Which won't leave me with time to do things on the weekends, but it will give me the money to do the things I don't have the time to do. What a conundrum. Ah, well, what are ya gonna do?

For lack of any decent segue, let's just jump right in, shall we? I was reading Time magazine yesterday morning, as I like to do. There was a very interesting little article by James Poniewozik about our culture's current obsession with the elite class in our society, despite not having the means to remotely live like them (and for this, I am rather grateful).

As an example, he cites many of the shows on the Bravo TV network, and let's face it, the man has a point. His prime example, of course, is the Real Housewives of (enter city/region here, there's a whole slew of 'em). Now, I must admit, I occasionally get sucked into this show. Don't get me wrong here, I don't actually go out of my way to seek it out, ever. However, if a roommate is watching it, or perhaps I'm flipping through channels, searching for something mind-numbing, I may stop to watch to this show. It's like watching a train wreck. No matter how badly you may want to stop watching, you just can't do it. The drama, the petty fights, the absolute spoiled behavior. It is absolutely unbelievable to me that adults can act in this manner. And man, is it ever entertaining.

But, do these women really deserve a show on television? I mean, I know everyday people who do wonderful things every day, and make these fantastic contributions to society. Yet these women, who usually have no sort of job and rarely lift a finger to volunteer or make the world around them a better place, get reality television show deals, where they can make an ass out of themselves in front of an audience of millions, making I'm sure I don't want to know how much money. And we are the ones that give them at money. Yes, you and me. After all, if we didn't watch, advertisers wouldn't advertise, and there would be no money for the network to hose the show. But we do watch.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not some crazy superhuman who thinks that we should have no source of mindless entertainment, and everything should be taken as a serious reflection on our popular culture, with no time to be entertained. I mean, like I said, I watch this show too, and I find it extremely entertaining. And while I don't seek out any of the Real Housewives series, I certainly do seek out America's Next Top Chef, another of the shows mentioned in the original article. And I love it.

But, let's face it, not at least acknowledging the ridiculousness of the things we find entertaining may lead to a slippery slope of a mind-numbingly dumb society. Ever seen the movie Idiocracy?