Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Tell Me A Story

A friend and blogger bud recently posted about the thief who lives in all of our homes and steals our time -- that thief being the television. I must confess a mild addiction to the damn thing, but in all honesty I enjoy a good, well-told story. And since I don't know any real storytellers of the oral tradition, I read, watch TV, and go to the movies.

Whether many of the stories being told deserve our time and attention, let alone airtime, is another matter completely.

But a thief? You cannot, sir, take anything from me that I will more willingly part withal...except my life... - Hamlet Act II, Scene ii

In my case it's my time and attention, not my life -- even though I'm willingly parting with little slices of my life to sit sedentarily and tan my retinas in the glow of the television's CRT. How many hours? It depends on the time of year and what's on. Summertime is great because I don't have to schedule my life around a half a dozen (or more) shows that I want to see -- although TiVo lets me watch the shows when I want, I still need to carve out the time.

I sometimes deliberately avoid what looks like good quality programming so I won't get roped into yet another good story. At least I know myself. If I see the pilot episode and enjoy it, I'm probably hooked. If I make it a point to miss the pilot, then I can rationalize not ever watching it again.

It's kind of like my mindset about going to the movies. Get me to a movie after its already started, even just five minutes, and you won't get me into the theater. I want the full experience or none at all. And yes, I'm one of those people that watches the credits -- all of them. And no, it's not because I'm looking for my second cousin's name who's a Key Grip.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

HA!
He isn´t kidding.
If you visit the cinema with SavageWit, you´ll be sitting there through the credits - all of the credits - and basically until the lights come up. And God forbid it´s a Star Trek or Star Wars film because then the rules change and you have to wait until the music stops playing before you can head for the door.

(I thought your second cousin´s name was Best Boy).

KaiserMichi

SavageWit said...

Truer words were never spoken.

And my second cousin is actually a Foley Editor.

Anonymous said...

we too sit through credits and my husband is very much see it all or none at all kind of guy.
You are not alone. Glad to know we aren't either.
Schotz