November 16, 2007

i really didn’t want to write a post about the writers strike…

Posted by Astra under ranting, ridonk | Tags: , , , , , , |
1 Comment 

Because I don’t want to be one of those people who care about pop culture. Really, I don’t!

But here, to you, my loyal (if non-existent) audience, I reveal my darkest secrets… I, in fact, have a television addiction. And my shows have been pissing me off so overwhelmingly lately that I just have to come up with some way to rationalize why… the only reason I can think of is the writers strike. I mean, I support the strike - I support almost any strike, I think everyone deserves to get paid for their work and just because it inconveniences me doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

That said….

WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FUCKING TV SHOWS?!?!?!

I work hard! I don’t ask much of the world! But I come home and want to watch a tv show at night! AND THEY ALL MAKE BAD CHOICES. Wtf is up with that?

Here’s the rundown, spoilers aplenty, so far… in order of how badly it pissed me off:

CSI - Sara left after surviving the serial killer thing and agreeing to marry Grissom. It was so dumb too. She left him a fucking note. You skip town and say goodbye to the love of your life with a note?! RAWR. And there was no real motivation, just some stupid non-canon reference to when her father died, and a picture of her in a cab… there’s no good reason for her to leave and not come back, when she could just take some time off, a vacation, or just fucking quit her job. It was dumb and totally out of character.

Criminal Minds - Garcia shot, the last three seconds of the episode. Remind you of anything?? The exact same pattern as the way they got rid of Elle at the end of the first season, no explanation, nothing, just gets shot in the last second of the episode. Fucking idiotic. By a character we don’t know too.

House - Ok this is ridiculous. I admit the show has done nothing wrong and I’m just being stupid. But. He fired Dr. Terzi one episode after he hired her!!!! She quit the CIA to come work for him, he kept the asshole doctor, and fired the incredibly hot (did I mention incredibly hot) Dr. Terzi!!!! NOOooooo!

I know I know. It’s ridiculous. I do have better things to do than obsess over pop-culture but you know, I do love my tv shows. Except when they piss me off, as above. Sara Sidle was my favorite character and I may never be able to watch CSI again now that she’s gone. Fuckers.

My Advice: Let Bill Clinton go in and mediate the damn strike so American life can get back to normal and nobody has to watch the horror that is Quarterlife, or any of the other crap people are coming up with to fill the void created by the absence of good writers. (I’m not going to link it because I won’t advertise bad entertainment…)

 

October 18, 2007

you wouldn’t like me

Posted by Astra under {没有} | Tags: , , , |
[2] Comments 

New haircut.  New weather.  Autumn brings on a lot of changes, obviously.

I’m still pretty overwhelmed by life (that’s what this is supposed to help with) - but I’m trying to focus on the positive, because that’s what’s going to get me through all this.

So I know this is ridiculous (maybe) and my mother has been all over me about making “depressing sweeping generalizations” that would befit some depressive Russian alcoholic writer (don’t I sound like a lovely person?) ~ but I was watching one of my favorite shows last night and the last line was “are there any happy families?”

The first thing I said, of course, was a resounding no- that’s not surprising given I did not have a happy family and I can’t really imagine what it’s like to be in one.  But when my mom made some comment I found myself having to defend what I’d said, and it was easier than I thought.  What I came up with was: there are families that love each other, but there are no happy families.

My best friend would say, “existentially, nobody is really happy.”  (I can hear his words as I type that!) - and that might be true but it’s not what I’m talking about.

People weren’t meant to really love each other, except for maybe one other person.  A family is a group, with multiple people, all but 2 of which did not choose to be in that group or in that relationship.  So basically, family involves being stuck with two people (or more) that you didn’t choose, and probably wouldn’t have chosen had you been given the opportunity.

But we learn to love each other, the bonds of the group grow strong (some stronger than others), and that’s what makes a family.  The only truly happy family would be one where each member of the group had chosen to be there; since this is impossible you can only really say that  there are families who love each other, families who stick together for longer than others, etc - you can’t say they are happy because they are only making do with what was given them.

I come from a strange example of family; my experience of home is not one that I particularly idealize as it was fairly unpleasant at times (I have fought to make this a legitimate statement among my relatives) - but I do believe in family.  And I believe in choosing a partner, marrying, and all of that.  Or not marrying, and just being in love - that’s good too.   But that’s a contract entered into by 2 consenting adults who have the right to withdraw from it at any time, not so with children.

Family, as it exists in this world, is a social construct - it’s an instrument of maintaining social order, without it there would be very little foundation on which to build larger, more encompassing systems (read: government).  But it’s not about happiness, it’s about protection, order, reproduction, and social function.

So no, there are no happy families, only happy couples, and families who love each other.

And I don’t know about you, but I’d settle for having both.

 


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