Did you spend the lockdown re-watching episodes of Friends guiltily? You’re not the only one. In a turbulent world where there’s no telling what tomorrow can bring, there is a lot of comfort in wanting to stick to things which are familiar, and television shows are no exception to this. So, you don’t need to beat yourself up about your Gilmore Girls marathon, or about watching Love, Actually for the fifth time.
Image credits: Universal Pictures
We all need to escape into dreams of a happier, more carefree world from time to time, and given the state of the world right now, I’m not blaming myself for watching silly and sweet movies and TV shows. They’re my safety-blanket.
Old shows we KNOW aren’t sad, are our safe places
Image credits: Warner Bros.
People have different approaches to entertainment. Some seek release through the content they watch, some like escaping, and some like to be engaged. As someone with depression and anxiety, I don’t watch shows with detachment and then forget about them. What I watch affects me, and on some level, “messes” with my head. This is why I am not always in a state of mind where I can expose my mind to thorny television shows. While others can watch such shows with aloofness, my brain soaks up that content like a sponge, and makes me worry for the characters, feel for them, and stress about their situation. Explaining this to people who don’t have the conditions I do is difficult, but it is the reason I’m not up for new shows.
Image credits: The WB
Many of us with anxiety probably struggle with investing our emotions in a new set of characters and a new story. The anxiety of the world grappling with a pandemic is bad enough. So, entertainment is something many of us use to escape, laugh, and get lost in. A new show is overwhelming in such a situation. That’s why it’s very comforting to revisit plots which don’t make me nervous about what will happen to the characters. We just don’t want to deal with the uncertainty of a new story.
Not everyone wants to watch gratuitous violence. Some of us seek the comfort of a sweet K-drama
Image credits: Drama House
I, like many, escape into the world of romance, sweetness, and light-heartedness shown in Korean dramas. There is no swearing, raping of women, or unnecessary fighting. Is it “critically-acclaimed” content? No. Are dude-bros going to unabashedly recommend these shows to each other the way they do with crime-thrillers? Never.
But, as with all things related to mental health, the act of choosing a particular show to watch is also a subjective one. So, why must I feel stupid for not wanting to put my mind through the pain of grim, dystopian narratives that could affect my mental health?
There’s no shame in wanting to comfort ourselves with easy-to-watch content
Image credits: The CW
Watching heavy shows like This Is Us, or Oscar-winning cinema which is serious, is not something I or anyone going through a tough time wants to deal with. Our life already has enough problems to make us feel miserable. We don’t need a show to add to the emotional overload. While this doesn’t mean we are fine with the issues in the old shows we re-watch, it does mean that familiarity helps us wind-down after a stressful day of grappling with the unexpected. It takes us back to a different time in our lives when things were simpler, and life wasn’t the way it is right now.
Image credits: Warner Bros.
That’s why most of us still cringe at Ross’ sexism and get irritated at Chandler’s problematic jokes but still watch Friends sometimes. Most of us find Chuck Bass incredibly problematic, but still re-watch Gossip Girl. Most of us know that Keeping Up With The Kardashians is nothing but staged stupidity, yet we watch it simply because for once, it doesn’t require us to stress our brain out more than it already is. These shows might be problematic in numerous ways, and awful in several others, but they’re known devils. So, even though most of us don’t really enjoy these old shows as much as we did back then, we evade the stress of uncertainty by watching them while scrolling through Instagram or eating lunch. Is it mindless? Probably. But, does our mind ALWAYS have to be whirring with intellectual activity?
Image credits: The CW
Everyone who reviews and critiques content would call us degenerates for having such viewing habits, because it is not the canonical, high-brow content we should be watching. But, given that the world in its current shitshow of a state is dramatic enough to negate the need for a manufactured Black Mirror or Handmaid’s Tale, is it so bad to want to escape from that, into a familiar space?
Lead Image credits: Warner Bros.
