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

[dstroyrofworlds.livejournal.com]

Not being depressed anymore?
TV remains to be stupid and nasty but when the depression is over and one has gained a better grip on their own life, TV is not powerful enough anymore to spoil moods.

[mothwing.livejournal.com]

Great tip, that. :P I guess that also goes for all petty annoyances - a healthy enough disposition makes it more likely to stay unfazed - while it won't ruin my mood, I'll probably still be annoyed by it.
Still, I'm looking forward to being healthy enough not to care. Thanks for reminding me of that. :)