Television: Binge-Watching is an Art, not a Science
Liam Dorsey
When I watch TV nowadays, there is no more half way. With netflix I can watch whole seasons of TV shows in a day and in fact I have. It takes a scary and soul sucking determination but it’s hard not to, when you have all of a show right there to watch with little to no impediments. Shows that before I had to watch over the course of weeks can be seen in days. I think that is very reflective of how a lot of people watch TV too, maybe not to the extent that I do, but tons of people binge watch TV on services like Netflix or Hulu. These streaming sites allow easy access to media and people are more than willing to consume lots of it all at once. And the ease by which we can do this lends itself to watching alone, and I myself am guilty of this.
However I sometimes love to just sit down and watch some TV week by week like more traditional TV. The biggest example of this is watching “The Walking Dead” every Sunday night. The show is a masterpiece of storytelling and acting, often overlooked because of its seemingly gory and mindless appearance. I love it not only for that but because the show is shot specifically for cable TV so they know how to create mind boggling suspense between each episode, building anticipation with each installment of the narrative. The compound it cleverly with a talk show (“The Talking Dead”), which helps create a forum for discussion about the show and allows viewers to feel more connected not only to the actors but the deep messages of the story as well. Likewise there is also a social aspect to it because my friends follow it closely as well, so every week we talk about what happened the night before.
Personally I know I just love the idea of plunging into these narrative head first, partly because I am in general a fan of acting and storytelling. For me, watching TV was the next logical step after I finished all the books in my room. And as someone who loves acting, I love learning how different TV shows tackle acting and who does a better job. Part of tv is a very active type of studying, however I can’t deny the enjoyment I get out of it as well. I watch lots of fantasy and sci-fi so I love the new ideas that the shows create and that in turn makes me think of new and fantastic things.
