What is it about books, movies, and tv shows that pulls us toward watching it till the end? Is it the story line? Or the perfect looking actors?
Personally, it is the story and the fact that the mode of entertainment is a way for me to take a short break from my neverending list of things that I need to get done. It’s a way to get away from my own life even for what may be 20 mere minutes. But in those 20 minutes, my brain is rejuvenated and refreshed and is ready to do the next task that being a full time college student asks of me.
It is also a way for me to kill time. Homework to do but it isn’t due for another week? Celebrate by watching a movie or binge watching a show. On vacation mode but its too cold to get out? Watch some random video on the internet or scroll down through people’s lives on social media.
There is also the case when I just cannot concentrate on the task at hand because my favorite tv character is on the edge of a cliff; either literally or figuratively. Although I realize that the main character will not die and I shouldn’t worry about the fate of an imaginary being, I still will not be able to focus on the task at hand. Finally, I cave into my curiosity and resume watching the particular show.
But why, you ask, am I writing about this?
Well, for some time now, I do not get entertained easily. The shows that I used to watch purely for the storyline now become background noise in this house I call home. I will get bored and resort to a tv show only to realize about 15-20 minutes in that this is even more boring than my everyday “normal” life. Fiction doesn’t do the trick either; at the end of the day, it isn’t real and doesn’t really help me.
The characters, however, that I have grown to like are still close to my heart. I am interested in how their story goes, and these stories are my only source of entertainment, besides social interaction of course.
Now, after writing this piece, it has dawned on me that there are better ways for me to kill time, something my mum has been trying to drill into my brain for years now while I was too immersed in fiction to listen and understand what she was saying. It’s amazing how time away from people you know can open up your world to new opportunities of self-understanding and self-betterment.