1) The Office (best show of my life)
2) Scrubs (which is in its final season. Boo hoo)
3) The Simpsons
4) Pushing Daisies
5) What Not To Wear
Unfortunately Arrested Development and Sex and the City are over, as is the wholesomeness of The Cosby Show. Sigh. So there we have it. (I guess I can count them on one hand…) That’s only five shows. Out of hundreds. Or thousands, I guess. That’s a little ridiculous. First of all I have to say that I generally HATE reality TV. I’ve had it up to here! (Imagine my hand above my head…some of these phrases really need that visual component.) Wait, I'll take a pic to help you...
So you probably all know this already (unless you’re a huge TV junkie) and are wondering what on earth would possess me to blog about this stupid subject? Well, first of all, since I’ve been in Germany I have watched almost no TV. I didn’t realize how much crap I used to watch until I got here. How much time I wasted with that stupid mindless drivel. But my real beef is with German television. First of all THE NUDITY. I mean, honestly. You flip through the channels here at 2 in the afternoon and you’ll probably come across 5 or 6 shows dealing with at least one naked person. Like, there was this report on the lives of strippers and stuff. Oh, and need I mention they showed the girls stripping? No blurry bars over those “special areas”, no strategically placed objects in front of the unmentionables, just bare naked women. And then there’s this one channel called Family something and they always do these one-time reality shows on different peoples’/families’ lives and their problems. Well, one day it was about this chick who hated herself because her …ahem…. bosoms… were too big and she never left the house blah blah blah. WELL LET ME JUST INFORM YOU THAT SHE UNDRESSED FOR THE CAMERA MANY MANY TIMES. Does anyone else find it strange that she has the worst body image I’ve ever seen, refused to buy clothes because it made her feel even worse, and wouldn’t go out at night with her boyfriend because of her embarrassment but she let camera men document her naked depression (no pun intended) TO AIR ON NATIONAL TELEVISION? I’m sorry, did I miss something here? People in Europe don’t need porn. It’s just television out here. And think of the ever-increasing number of two-income households. Your kids can come home from school and turn on the television to shows like that because there’s no one to supervise. It’s not like blocking those sketchy channels on cable or something. These are just regular channels. They show everything from the weather report to stripper documentaries. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY. Is nothing private, even sacred, anymore?
What really pushed me over the edge and convinced me to write this blog, though, is what I saw yesterday. I was watching…um, Men in Black II (Will Smith’s German voice is not bad, I must say). Commercials in Germany only come on once every half hour, but they are SUPER long breaks. So it actually pays to find a “back-up channel”. In my search for said (I have no idea if that's the right spelling for the particular word I'm looking for...dad?) channel I flipped across this one DOCUMENTING A 16 OR 17 YEAR OLD GIRL’S ENDEAVOUR TO LOSE HER VIRGINITY. I couldn’t quite believe it. One of her best friends was helping her!!!! As in, going to clubs and stuff to find some moron dumb enough to sleep with this girl – which I’m, guessing wouldn’t be all that difficult. (I wouldn’t know. I was obviously just a tad disgusted and went back to my comparatively intelligent alien movie.) I could not believe my freaking ears. And this girl still lived at home, which means that her parents must know about it seeing as how THERE’RE CAMERAS FOLLOWING HER AROUND EVERYWHERE.
What is wrong with people? Am I the only person who has a problem with this?
Movies have ratings. You can get a pretty good idea about what you’re getting into just from reading the back of the movie case. If you so choose you can even skip certain scenes with the touch of a button. Now perhaps I’m being entirely hypocritical with my self-righteous ranting because some of my favourite movies show what I have just finished condemning. But there’s something about it being on TELEVISION that really bothers me here. Plus it’s the lives of real people. That means that some REAL-LIFE 17 year old girl is actually so embarrassed about her virginity that she intends to do something (STUPID and DANGEROUS) about it…again ON NATIONAL TELEVISION. This isn’t acting. (And my next question is WHO ACTUALLY ENJOYS WATCHING THAT?) Plus an 11 year old child is not allowed to rent R-rated films like Pulp Fiction, Grindhouse, or Reservoir Dogs (can you tell I’m a Tarantino fan?). However, who’s to stop him or her from turning on their own television set if the parents aren't around?
Again, maybe I’m pulling a major “do as I say, not as I do”, but I felt that it had to be said.
To end on a brighter note…you wanna hear my next funny cultural difference between Canada and Germany? Well, you know how in the grocery stores at home we have 6 or 7 shelves of chocolate bars? In Germany there are MAYBE two shelves of chocolate bars, 2 shelves of gum, and then 3 shelves of mini-bar-sized alcoholic beverages. Just in case your schnaps urge finally overtakes you at the checkout. Funny, hey? I mean, wouldn’t it be a little embarrassing to be seen quickly grabbing 5 or 6 mini Jägermeisters at the checkout? Then again those might just be my innocent Mennonite sensibilities talking…
3 comments:
mmmm.... jagermeister. (sorry, but it's like the only thing I drink anymore...)
And I totally know what you mean - when I was in Europe for the summer when I was 15, 2 movies had just come out (in France anyway, I think it takes a little longer to get all the dubbing or subtitles etc.) - the Matrix and Eyes Wide Shut. EVERYONE I talked to thought that the Matrix was SO incredibly VIOLENT and what a HORRIBLE movie. Eyes Wide Shut, however, was fantastic. Everyone raved about it. Now, I have never seen EWS, but from what I've heard, it's basically porn. Crazy, eh? Here in North America we can shoot people, chop them up, show blood spraying all over the screen but heaven forbid we show a naked body... I'm not saying it's right, I'm saying we're both messed up!
Totally agree with you on the NOT GREAT television choices we've got nowadays. The more channels you have, the more CRAP there is to pick from and the LESS I find that I want to watch. The only show I follow anymore is Prison Break, because let's face it - even though the main character's real name is Wentworth (what were his parents thinking??????), he is HOT. And even though the storyline is INCREDIBLY convoluted at this point (being the 4th season), it's still well written and I like the action. I'm sick TO DEATH of CSI and all other investigation-related shows (other than NCIS, which has quirky characters I like). Basically, other than that, we watch Discovery channel occasionally and movies. And how could I forget TREEHOUSE and PLAYHOUSE DISNEY! :-P
you are NOT the only one witha problem with this. it makes me crazy. C!R!A!Z!Y! i have written many many letters about the inappropriateness of certain advertisements, commercials,...etc. it may not make a difference but IT SURE FEELS GOOD TO GET IT OFF MY CHEST!
xo again...LOVE your posts julia.
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