My question is Why do we read or watch the stories that we do?
Some observations -
- I figured out why I always wanted to go to New York City! Because I am That Girl! Or anyway I wanted to be from 1966-1971!
- When I was a young married I had a woman I worked with tell me she did not let her daughter play with Barbie or watch any TV with a barbie character because "those girls" always had sex before they were married.
- When Apryl read as a child she said she did it because we moved so much that and the stories, and the people in the stories were always still there, not new,not different and didn't move away. She liked getting "into the story" and being part of their lives.
- I have a great friend; Marion she told me once that she liked to read her "novels" because when the guy rides in on his horse and saves the day - she pictures Zane because he is her hero.
- My Daddy used to watch "All in the Family" every Sunday night, I loved to watch him laugh - I think he totally related and that is why he watched it - because part of his character was "Archie Bunker" and so he could relate!
- Back in the day when I watched "One Tree Hill" Tyler liked the girl Peyton I liked Brooke and Haley!
- The other night I was watching "Heart of Dixie" and the couple I've always rooted for turned into a familiar couple. I guess that is what got me to thinking about this. Are we familiar, do we know or recognize characters on the shows we watch or the stories we read - is that why we watch? Who do we root for? Who do we hate together? Do we repeat that in our own lives?Does Apryl really just want to be Dr. WHO? No she wants to be Sydney Bristow maybe she wants Sean to be Dr Who! Should we learn and try a different tact? So Ayris Yes, you can root for Emily and Micah! Then last night Richard and I were watching TV and he made the comment that all "my shows" have cute boys in them - I wondered what does that mean? What do all of his shows have what are the characters he is attracted to? (Raymond, Captain Kurk, Doug Heffernan, and Sheldon Cooper)
- What are we putting into our minds without thought. What thoughts am I?
- Then there is me - I like TV, never really liked to read so much, I think now that is because it has always been so hard for me to concentrate. Because I like TV and I've been doing it for awhile narrowing down characters is a task sort of in my head let's see; I loved Friday Night Lights, I wanted to look like and have the passion of Sarah Connor in Terminator (but wait thats not TV) so I will make that Nikita or more realistically cuz she's my age anyway Jo Denville!, I want to act like and have the will of Maxine Gray on Judging Amy, I really want the Sunday Family dinners on Blue Bloods, My nickname comes from "The Andy Griffith Show" I think because I wanted to be opie and have a Dad like him and my friends all called my mom Aunt B, I always want to talk to the dead (I have so many on the other side) that I like shows like "Touch by an Angel" and "A Gifted Man", I liked the spunk of Reva on Guiding light, I can't believe how dumb Emily is, and I loved to Hate JR Ewing.
- Ok so that's what I came up with by memory (which as everyone knows I don't have a memory!). Then I googled top 10 shows of the 1960s, 70s and 80s to see what my foundation is of characters from ALLLLLLL the TV I've watched. 1960 I watched them all but the Patty Duke Show. The 1970s - Yep I watched them all! So the 80's get interesting I see that I start pulling back and not watching what everyone else is. This is when the Detective/Mystery enters (Wiseguy and Hart to Hart), family comedies were in the home now in the 80's the comedy changes; it's no longer in the family it's in the Bar(CHEERS) and at War (MASH), the Day time Soap moves to nighttime (Dallas and Beauty & the Beast).
- The 1990s and now I have kids watching TV with me - and I'm watching WHAT???? TV changing even more Evil/Mystery enters = XFiles at the top of my list, the DaytimeSoap moves to nightime with ER a must see, Dawson in 1998 and the culture starts to change with the introduction of the comedies "Friends" and "Seinfield".
- Which brings me to the new century and what do I see? what has happened? "REALITY" has happened and I think it has replaced JR with the "love to Hate" relationship. American Idol, Survivor, So You Think You Can Dance, now it's Big Brother, The Voice and Project Runway plus so many many more than I am not watching or invested in, or even heard of. What about all the generation that is watching, they are and will be basing their foundation on this type of TV / media, what will become of them? Who are their role models or the characteristic traits that they will "want to be" or inherit without even knowing it - honey bobo?
- Now we are in yet a new decade (dang I'm getting up there in age!) who's character do I want to watch now? Well Ziva's cool, Richard's says I'm Dani on Necessary Roughness,
- Even before I started writing this I had come to the conclusion that I needed to really be more watchful of what I am putting in to my mind completely without thought and discern more clearly what I am watching on the TV. We have a couple rules about TV in this house;
- I know exactly (and have blogged about it already) the reason and time that caused us to choose to enforce the rule of no R rated movies. Inside the house or out. Austin was 5.
- We didn't allow MTV in the house. I don't know how parents control that now.
- Nowadays No rated M or pay TV channels.
- No TV's in the bedroom or situated screens away from the doorway!!! in the house. Only nowadays all of us can see anything anywhere, with the internet so readily available and smart phones, so now what are the rules?
- With the invention of the DVR and since We had a TIVO in the house - no live TV.
- SO that leads me to this week before I even started writing this. I recorded a new show that came out this week, let's just say it had to be stopped and removed from the cue. Because of that and the experience Wednesday I think it was with that Alabama based show, I started down the cue I deleted 7 shows. Thousands of hours of TV are stored in my brain. What am I doing with it that I am not even aware of?
I think my Richie is Andy Griffith, Mike Heck, Jethro Gibbs, Mike Baxter and throw in a little Mark Slade from High Chaparral (need a little cowboy in this mix) and of course Magnum PI! Now thats a man!!!!
I had a seminary student once who was a very lean strong wrestler and he told me as I ate my nachos, that his mom taught him "You are what you eat". Today in my analysis I guess I'm saying that especially without being taught any morals, You are what you watch. If you are not exerting yourself in church, scriptures, prayer, service, if you are exerting yourself in media more than positive uplifting sources then what does our brain have integrated in its software, what does it have for reference in any given situation, trial, choice or consequence. I fight depression I can't watch shows that go nowhere, that are rollercoaster story lines that have humor that isn't positive. Otherwise I go there too and that's gotta stop. We must not only be observers of kindness and morality but we must fight for the future and commit to FAMILY above all!!!
This isn't even where I thought I was going with this!!!! First of all I was just wondering what TV character I might be (I'm even more unclear of that now - guess I'm just me!) and what TV character Richard would be (glad I figured that out!)! Looking at this and seeing what I watch I'd have to just say take it back a notch Kel and exert yourself in an other directions - GO ME for deleting shows from the cue!
