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

[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. >:(