Sunday, March 04, 2007
The problem of the pop culture phenomenon
why I don't watch Lost.
Well, I did not watch Lost from the beginning because it was my first year of law school and I did not think I should take on new shows plus I found Alias (also a JJ Abrams show) with its million unresolved questions and torture scenes really frustrating. Plus, there was supposed to be a monster and monsters are scary. But of-course Lost then became this huge show that everyone kept talking about. I could not escape it. (Ha. Its just like how the castaways can't escape the island...ok, not funny, sorry). I read massive amounts about television and pop culture generally. And for some shows I can avoid any plot point reveals, for example I have never seen the Wire, but I know nothing about it but the premise and plan to rent the DVDs over the summer. But for shows like Lost (and the Sopranos and Dancing with the Stars), details of the show are everywhere. Entertainment Weekly featured the first character to die on Lost on its cover right after it happened. I was in a Bar Bri MPRE class today and the instructor made a point about legal ethics by using an episode of the Sopranos, and I was mad because it was hilarious but it was just ruined for me. In short, there seems no point in watching cause I already know what happens.
This problem may be uniquely mine because I really like being surprised. I mean it is not necessary, I have enjoyed the Harry Potter movies. But it is just more enjoyable if I don't know what is going to happen. I would even go so far as to say that I was a little sad when I read Hamlet and already knew he was going to die at the end.
Actually, I have a funny story about that. We read Hamlet my senior year of high school. At some point as we were going through it, I mentioned that Hamlet dies at the end. And my friend yelled at me for ruining the ending for her.
And I was like, but "everyone knows that Hamlet dies at the end it is a Shakesperean tragedy, everyone dies."
"Well, I did not know that"
"oh crap. the play would have been better for you if you did not know" at which point I yelled at her for not having sufficient cultural literacy.
Yes that was obnoxious of me. I have totally changed since then.
Well, I did not watch Lost from the beginning because it was my first year of law school and I did not think I should take on new shows plus I found Alias (also a JJ Abrams show) with its million unresolved questions and torture scenes really frustrating. Plus, there was supposed to be a monster and monsters are scary. But of-course Lost then became this huge show that everyone kept talking about. I could not escape it. (Ha. Its just like how the castaways can't escape the island...ok, not funny, sorry). I read massive amounts about television and pop culture generally. And for some shows I can avoid any plot point reveals, for example I have never seen the Wire, but I know nothing about it but the premise and plan to rent the DVDs over the summer. But for shows like Lost (and the Sopranos and Dancing with the Stars), details of the show are everywhere. Entertainment Weekly featured the first character to die on Lost on its cover right after it happened. I was in a Bar Bri MPRE class today and the instructor made a point about legal ethics by using an episode of the Sopranos, and I was mad because it was hilarious but it was just ruined for me. In short, there seems no point in watching cause I already know what happens.
This problem may be uniquely mine because I really like being surprised. I mean it is not necessary, I have enjoyed the Harry Potter movies. But it is just more enjoyable if I don't know what is going to happen. I would even go so far as to say that I was a little sad when I read Hamlet and already knew he was going to die at the end.
Actually, I have a funny story about that. We read Hamlet my senior year of high school. At some point as we were going through it, I mentioned that Hamlet dies at the end. And my friend yelled at me for ruining the ending for her.
And I was like, but "everyone knows that Hamlet dies at the end it is a Shakesperean tragedy, everyone dies."
"Well, I did not know that"
"oh crap. the play would have been better for you if you did not know" at which point I yelled at her for not having sufficient cultural literacy.
Yes that was obnoxious of me. I have totally changed since then.
# posted by Julia @ 10:54 PM 
Comments:
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julia -
thanks for this! your concerns seem valid, BUT I still urge you to suppress them and spend time with the DVDs this summer. whatever spoilers you've accidentally read only scratch the surface of the show's awesomely mysterious plot (I never saw Alias, but I feel like the mix between deepening mystery and gradual revelation is pretty on point), not to mention general awesomeness. I don't know.
and the 'monster' (if it really is a monster, we don't really know what it is yet) is NOT SCARY, though there are some semi-intense episodes here and there. I think you can handle it
and yeah, 'the wire' is definitely a post-grad present I'm looking forward to, I've been told by almost as many people that I need to watch it as people told me I needed to watch LOST before I started telling people they needed to watch LOST
I saw the last act of 'cruel intentions' on TV the other day!
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thanks for this! your concerns seem valid, BUT I still urge you to suppress them and spend time with the DVDs this summer. whatever spoilers you've accidentally read only scratch the surface of the show's awesomely mysterious plot (I never saw Alias, but I feel like the mix between deepening mystery and gradual revelation is pretty on point), not to mention general awesomeness. I don't know.
and the 'monster' (if it really is a monster, we don't really know what it is yet) is NOT SCARY, though there are some semi-intense episodes here and there. I think you can handle it
and yeah, 'the wire' is definitely a post-grad present I'm looking forward to, I've been told by almost as many people that I need to watch it as people told me I needed to watch LOST before I started telling people they needed to watch LOST
I saw the last act of 'cruel intentions' on TV the other day!
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