Watching TV - there must be a trick that I'm missing

[mothwing]

How do you guys watch TV?

This is a serious question. Ever since I got sick I rediscovered watching TV in an attempt to brighten my mood. Turns out it's not as effortless as I thought it was, because pretending that things never happened to keep my mood from plummeting isn't effortless, relaxed entertainment.

It used to be easy before I got sick - turn on TV, forget I am a gay woman and that I actually care about people, go.

Now, not only can I not forget I'm a gay woman, I'm also no longer able to appreciate cynicism because again, it hurts my mood. And I like being in a good mood. I only started watching TV again because it requires comparatively less effort than reading and since my expectations of TV are so low that I'm not as easily disappointed or hurt by issues relating to LGBT people/gender/race, bad characters, bad writing, historical inaccuracies, you name it.

Still, even given my really low expectations, it's getting harder and harder to watch TV without needing to make a conscious effort to pretend that what you just saw did not happen and force your mind to black out whatever comedy or sitcom just drove home that people like me deserve to die/be raped/be tortured/be in pain because that's funny.

Is there a trick to this that I'm missing? If you watch TV, I'd like to know what your methods are, and I'd also be really grateful for recommendations for funny series.

Comments

[bronnyelsp.livejournal.com]

I can't believe I'm recommending it, but based on what you've said, Gray's Anatomy. I love it. It is a multiethnic cast, though, apart from the multiple African American characters, members of other ethnicities tend to feel a bit tokenistic in the main cast, while being very well-represented in cameos as patients/other members of staff who are only needed/encountered on one particular case. The male/female split is decent, and because they're all surgeons or surgeons in training, men and women alike are ambitious, driven, egocentric and competitive.

It's a little less cool on LGTBQQIness. Patients (and in one story, the fathers of a patient) who are not straight/not cis show up and are treated as just another patient (well, it is Seattle, after all), but it takes until series 4 for there to be a main gay character. At that point, a lesbian couple forms, one half of which is Latina. They don't last but the Latina character stays around and stays lesbian -- I won't say much more for fear of major spoilers.

I really enjoy the writing, I find it clever and there are a lot of zingers/one-liners that make me laugh.

On the other hand, it is a ridiculous soap opera, with bed-hopping, an improbable medical scenario in almost every episode and extremely rare cases several times a season, characters themselves succumbing to accident/injury/illness and having to have surgery in the hospital, and generally ridiculous amounts of angst. But I enjoy it.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Crocky and I do watch that show and we used to love it, too. I have a fierce crush on Cristina and Bailey. Still, it seems as there is something in TV that makes series return to the status quo that has a force not unlike gravity.


Spoilers for season six below, tread carefully.


--- SPOILERS ---

Six seaons in, and who's in charge of the hospital? A white man. Who's an alcoholic? The only black man left on the show, the other having conveniently disappeared (though I know the reason for the decision, he's been replaced by two white people). Bailey is reduced to either fussing over the white kids she nursed into doctors or fussing over her budding romance, the bisexual in the show (she slept with Mark to test the waters, remember? I loved that! Bisexuals on telly! Who'd have thought!), Cristina is in a relationship that is horribly unhealthy. Again. Most women - yes, even Cristina, to a certain degree - seem to be a LOT more invested in their relationships than the male characters, who makes plot-relevant decisions is gender- and racially biased, etc., etc.

--- END SPOILERS ---

This series, race- and gender-wise, is like watching someone throw a ball. It rises and rises and then curves and crashes right back to the ground. Or so I fear. I really hope that it goes back to sensible at some point.

Still, it has so many great characters and does make me laugh. I like watching it, but what they've done to Bailey and Cristina has really thrown me. :(

[bronnyelsp.livejournal.com]

I dunno.

--SEASON SIX SPOILERS TO DATE--

Bailey is divorcing her husband against her father's strident objections because she wouldn't give up her career to do exactly what hubby wanted. Yeah, she's entering a new relationship, but on her own (characteristically noisy) terms, and her career continues apace. I don't know if I see Cristina and Owen's relationship as "horribly unhealthy" -- he's got issues she doesn't know how to deal with, but they both (finally) seem aware of that, and they've got Teddy looking in to intervene on occasion. Cristina has told Owen in no uncertain terms he won't "change" her like Burke did and in the last episode, asked if she wanted kids, retorted, "Have you met me? No." So, she's clearly still Cristina.

Callie and Arizona are having real, grown-up relationship problems that are (gasp!) not related to them being a same-sex couple -- the problem is one of them wants kids and the other doesn't! And Callie has stuck up for her new relationship to her father (threatening her with hellfire and priests) with the awesome line, "Jesus is my saviour, Daddy! Not you!"

Who are the two white characters replacing Burke? Confused about that -- there's been a lot of characters in and out since he left, especially in light of the Mercy West influx (ulp -- all white, aren't they?!).

--END SPOILERS--

I agree with you about the Chief thing. It was cool, a few seasons ago, when the Chief was actually thinking of a choosing a new Chief and they were all duking it out, Burke and Addison among the rest. But yeah, they've gone for the white guy. And the black male authority figure is an alcoholic (although, to be fair, so is Meredith's white father). So that particular coup is a step downwards racially.

But on the whole, I think it's pretty good.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

SOILERS ABOUND.

I liked it when Bailey's relationship was working - why can't there ever be a relationship in which the husband takes care of the offspring and doesn't mind terribly that his wife has a career...? I liked that she would rather divorce than compromise who she is, but I hate what her new courting does to her. Somehow, showing her more and more in exclusively nurturing and fussy roles makes her more 3D, but also, because it's become so exclusive, makes her dangerously less the badass Bailey that we know from season 1. But maybe I just miss season 1 Bailey.

Owen and Cristina - ever since the "fuck her into submission"-thing I've been wondering. Good thing that she realised it, but I can't help but wonder why they think it's such a good idea for Owen to be in a relationship at all right now, given his state.

I really like Callie and Arizona and the troubles they face, they're perfect as they are and hopefully will continue with the awesomeness for many episodes to come. <3

The characters replacing Burke in my eyes are Owen, replacing him as Cristina's love interest, and his ex-best-friend-the-heart-surgeon, I can't remember her name, who he brings in as a replacement for Burke-the-heartsurgeon. While I think the relationships of the three are complex and interesting by themselves (I think I ship the three of them a bit) I was sad to see that they are adding even more white people to both the cast and the main plot.

As for the abounding alcoholism - true, there is more than one alcoholic in the show, and I liked that they showed that it was not only a non-doctor-exclusive as well as a problem that's not limited to one race. Maybe I'm being oversensitive, but there seems to be a general trend that keeps moving white people back into the powerful positions and POC back to supporting roles. My heart broke when the chief started working under Derek. :(

END SPOILERS.

Yes, it absolutely is, in spite of the things that rub me the wrong way, there are SO many things that are awesome and right in this show that I wouldn't want to miss it as a source of entertainment. Still, some things do... bug me.

[bronnyelsp.livejournal.com]

why can't there ever be a relationship in which the husband takes care of the offspring and doesn't mind terribly that his wife has a career...?

WORD. I read what I thought was a very encouraging stat this afternoon: houseshusbands in the UK have increased tenfold in the last [can't remember number of years]. Then it became a depressing stats. The number of househusbands is now 6%. That means it WAS 0.6%. ZERO POINT SIX PERCENT. Sweet Jesus on a tricycle.

Owen and Cristina - ever since the "fuck her into submission"-thing I've been wondering. Good thing that she realised it, but I can't help but wonder why they think it's such a good idea for Owen to be in a relationship at all right now, given his state.

On the one hand, I thought it was awesome she called him on that, and in those terms. On the other... yeah... I get you.

The characters replacing Burke in my eyes are Owen, replacing him as Cristina's love interest, and his ex-best-friend-the-heart-surgeon, I can't remember her name, who he brings in as a replacement for Burke-the-heartsurgeon.

OIC. Yes, that makes sense I guess -- they are white people abounding atm.

My heart broke when the chief started working under Derek.

Yes. To be fair, it was supposed to be heart-breaking, but again, yes. The White Man is in charge. >:(