Wednesday, December 04, 2019

Raising The White Flag

I got home from work yesterday and found the MIL watching ‘To Die For’. I couldn’t believe it! She was actually watching a quality film and one of my favorites!

It is VERY unusual to see her watching any quality film or TV series. For example, here are the most recent things besides the QVC app (she’s been banned from shopping but still watches) that she’s been watching on our streaming sites…

Movies:
Welcome to Paradise
They Wait
Shark in Venice
King Kong (the recent viewing of the remake was an eyebrow raiser)
The Apple
Killing Spree
The Horror of Party Beach
Weather Wars
American Gigolo
The Uninvited
Leviathan
My Teacher’s Wife
Raging Sharks
Rats
C.H.U.D.

She’s kind of strayed away from series. She was all over ‘Grace & Frankie’. We got her into ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ and ‘Stranger Things’. And from what I’ve seen her watching by herself, quality in a series is of no matter to her.

And if you know me then you know my personal philosophy about watching television… “If you’re going to waste your time watching television, make it quality television.”

Let’s face it… Watching television is wasted time. My wife tells me that all the time. BUT I’m a fan of great storytelling. A fan of comedy. And television has never let me down with either. From ‘Green Acres’ to ‘Big Mouth’… ‘Lost’ to ‘The Boys’… ‘The Twilight Zone’ to ‘Stranger Things’… ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ to ‘Parks and Recreation’… etc. Television has entertained me and has me wanting more. And missing all the great series in the future has me bummed out that I’m not able to live forever.

I wouldn’t consider myself an addict. I’ve gone a day or two without turning on a TV. I’ve been up for three hours now and haven’t watched a single TV show. I haven’t even turned the TV on. I’m not sneaking in an episode of a show on my phone while I’m working like an alcoholic with a bottle in the car.

I adore TV and I always have. That’s not going to change.

Back to the MIL… From her viewing habits, you can tell that she likes the horror genre. I’ve made suggestions and they are pretty much ignored. I feel like it’s a passive aggressive thing. We have to physically sit down with her in order to coax her into something that we KNOW that she’ll enjoy. That’s how we got her into ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ and ‘Stranger Things’. She loved those series.

I’ve tried and tried to get her started on ‘The Walking Dead’, but she resists. When we watched as a family (now down to Jamie and myself) she saw the episode where Negan killed a couple of important characters. She immediately had a dislike for Negan… where she’s supposed to, really… But that tainted it for her or at least I think so.

I suggested that she start from the beginning, but she’d rather watch some crap involving sharks in ridiculous situations. Or some bad horror film… Or QVC.

My wife picks on my sedentary lifestyle, but at least I’m not wasting my time watching crap that offers nothing in return.

I’ve kind of gotten to the point where I don’t care what the MIL watches. It’s apparent to me that she’s content with wasting her remaining days on this Earth in a housecoat watching mind-numbing programs and movies on the TV.

She opted out of our neighborhood viewings of ‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ recently. She did it in a roaring fashion… Jamie told her that the neighbors were coming over to have a day marathon of Buffy with us. She huffed because… As much as she likes the show when she’s watching, she'll passively aggressively huff as if she's child staring down a spoon of foul-tasting medicine that'll make her feel better. And there was also the matter than she’d have to get dressed and hang up the daily attire of the nightgown, bedroom slippers, and housecoat for a few hours. The neighbors were kind enough to host that afternoon so that we could get out from under that wet blanket.

So, it has been noted. She doesn’t want to watch Buffy. She doesn’t want to be social. We’re not going to make her. AND we’re no longer going to involve her in anything else. She says that’s the way she wants it, but it will become a sticking point sometime in the future. I’m through trying to lead a horse to water when she’d rather be in the barn watching crappy television.

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