Lately, Sarcastically Delicious (aka boyfriend) has been monopolizing the television. At first I didn't mind when he randomly put on O'Reilly Factor, Glenn Beck, or even Robot Chicken, I could deal with it in small quantities. When it started becoming a daily thing, I thought I would try reading, while he watched. But then he'd pause the show so he could show me a certain part, or make me listen to people argue about a particular political issue. If I wined about it, then he accused me of not caring about our country. I think that's kind of crossing a line. It's just that after you've been to school for 20 years and your daily life consists of screaming children, you really don't want to come home and listen to someone lecture you for an hour or listen to heated arguments about politics. I care about current events and what is going on in our country. But, come on, there has to be a limit.
And then I had an idea, and came up with a compromise.
Back in January I had asked him to watch American Idol with me. He just flat out said NO. He used to watch it with me in the past, but ever since Daughtry got voted off in season 5, he says he has lost all faith in the show. Ugh.
So yesterday I asked him if we could trade off one hour for American Idol for one hour of O'Reilly/Beck/ Robot Chicken. And he said that was an unfair trade. I asked him how in the world was it an unfair trade and he said it was because it was like I was giving him the choice between eating pizza or dog poo. Of course I retaliated, and asked who made the call on something like that. Of course, he said he did. He's a TV dictator!
So in the end, we have decided to forgo watching TV all together unless it's a show that we both agree upon. Do you realize that I'm two episodes behind on Idol? I've been so busy I can't even catch up on the weekends. I'm missing the opportunity to see Steven Tyler on television twice a week. It's just too much.
What is your opinion? Do you think one hour of American Idol is equivalent to one hour of O'Reilly/ Glenn Beck/ Robot Chicken?
O'Reilly and Beck? Really? That's not the choice of pizza or dog poo so much as mainlining the white man's fear of irrelevancy or mindless entertainment. It's arguable which applies to which.
ReplyDeletePeople of the Beck faith are going to use family, country, and religion as shields and weapons because they are charged subjects that appeal directly to emotion (though I'm sure SD considers himself to be a rational person rather than emotional one). So clearly if you have no interest in O'Reilly or Beck then you must not care about the country. What he really means is "if you don't think like I do then you don't care about the country". I guarantee that if you offered to trade 1 hour of Fox for 1 hour of MSNBC so that you can get both sides of the argument then he'd rather eat actual dog poo.
Politics aside, you ran into smack into the construct of his ideology. The word "conservative" quite literally means resisting change and limiting movement/action. "liberal" means the opposite (not to say that I assume you're a libber, bear with me). Both sides will try to paint the other way of thinking as wrong. And thus, we hear how republicans are conservative with spending and liberals are very liberal with spending. Conservatives are often thought of as the family values party because they value tradition. Liberals are always the one to promote rights for women then blacks then gays because they are less resistant to change and more liberal with affording rights. So the conservative mind tries desperately to hold on to tradition because turning to tradition offers stability and reassurance (change is scary), but it also means roles defined centuries ago. The man controls the house and the thought. He can say "no" and that's the end because he is the head. If you say no it's simply because you are misinformed and need his guidance. If, as a writer, you can put yourself in his mind, then you shouldn't at all have been surprised to find out his idea of fair is one that heavily favors his wants and your idea of fair is equality.
Optional Delusion- you are right, I did run "smack into the construct of his ideology." What's interesting though, is it's MY house. I hate to do the whole it's mine thing, so I can do what I want to, because I'd like to think of my home as open to all my friends and family, and I want them to feel comfortable and feel at home.
ReplyDeleteHow did choosing what TV show to watch get so complicated!
That is awesome. Can I come over to your house and demand to watch something too? ;)
ReplyDeleteI'd say an hour of Robot Chicken for an hour of American Idol is a fair trade... but why would you want to watch O'Reilly or Beck? You should be trading like two hours of Idol for one of those...
ReplyDeleteAfter working all day with kids, I agree - listen to politicians is the very last thing I want to do. I prefer my tv for entertainment - I'll get my politics through the newspapers :) And I love American Idol!
ReplyDeleteI get my news from NPR and The Economist- they're pretty darn balanced. I like your compromise- we hardly watch TV and I don't miss it at all!
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky, because my husband will watch anything to spend time with me...including AI or reruns of Veronica Mars or Gilmore Girls. I love him.
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Lola
Jemi- I'm so glad there's someone else out there that believes TV is for entertainment.
ReplyDeleteStephanie- I have to admit, I haven't watched any TV this week. I have no clue what's going on American Idol, and fortunately I'm not suffering any withdrawal pains.
Lola- You are one lucky lady.