Consuming media is a delicate balance. Not only do you have to balance your time between media consumption and other responsibilities (work/rest/etc), but you also need to balance your time between different types of media, and then different titles within each media. We can't reasonably be expected to keep up with everything, but we're kind of responsible for keeping up with some things in order to have some shared experience with the population at large.
Plus, it's just fun and relaxing.
So, here's what I've been spending my media time on:
I rarely watch TV shows simply to watch them. Generally, I only watch stuff while I'm doing other things, usually at meal time. So, the question is usually: is this a short meal, or a long meal? Am I alone, or am I watching something with Laura? I try to juggle a few different shows that I can watch depending on the situation.
Until recently, I had been watching One-Punch Man while eating by myself, but there's only one season of the show so far, so that didn't take long to finish. It was a very fun and funny show, though, and I'm looking forward to more when it arrives. It's kind of a deconstruction of the super hero genre, and I was frequently reminded of Samurai Flamenco. Much funnier, though.
The other meal-time show I've been watching for a while now is The West Wing. I've only got two episodes left of the series, though, so I'll be on the hunt for something new soon. The West Wing has given me a lot to think about, and has generally been a charming, touching show. Lots of insight into politics, and I'm looking forward to researching the show more after the fact to see how accurately some of the day-to-day activities in the White House were depicted. I'm sure I'll be working on a full review of the series in a matter of days.
When Laura is around, we've been working our way through Rose of Versailles, a classic anime that follows Marie Antoinette's life in France. Or, specifically, it follows the adventures of Oscar Jarjayes, a fictional woman who was raised as a man and becomes the head of Marie Antoinette's royal guards. With the exception of Oscar, though, most of the other characters in the show are based on real people. This show is particularly interesting to me as someone coming out of researching the French Revolution. It's pretty fun seeing important people from that time portrayed as beautiful anime characters.
Other things I've been watching now and then: Steven Universe, when new episodes come out. Agents of SHIELD, when I have nothing else to watch. Also, I expect I'll be following the new Venture Bros very soon. I'm also looking forward to new Game of Thrones and Man in the High Tower later this year.
Maybe once we're done with Rose of Versailles, Laura and I will start watching Gravity Falls. Not sure what I'll be replacing The West Wing with. I'm open to suggestions.
Kandice and I have been working our way through Breaking Bad during our meal times. I watched it more or less as it came out, but she missed all of that, so it's fun to watch her reaction. And it's such a well-crafted show that it rewards rewatching.
ReplyDeleteI remember that there was a documentary special episode of the West Wing that had a bunch of ex-presidents and former White House staff talking about it. Dunno if you got to see that one, I think it was somewhere in the normal flow on Netflix.
Yep, I really enjoyed that episode. Funny thing is, it sounds like The West Wing influenced the White House in many ways, as many in the current administration seem to be fans of the show.
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