by Kate Rohr
I like “The Vampire Diaries.”
No, let me be honest: I love “The Vampire Diaries.” For those of you who don’t know, “The Vampire Diaries” is a TV show, and yes, it’s about vampires. And I physically cannot stop watching it. My nearly every thought revolves around watching more. I sneak down to the basement late at night after the rest of my family has gone to sleep to watch more episodes without being interrupted. I hide the issue of Entertainment Weekly with “The Vampire Diaries” cover inside a New Yorker so I can read it without judgment during my breaks at work. At this point, I’m not far from the craziness of those people on “My Strange Addiction.”
My immediate impulse upon telling people of my love is to defend it, to say ‘no, really, the only reason I watch it is because there are two really hot guys on it!’ But that’s only partially the truth. I don’t just watch it for the fine-looking men; I am deeply invested in the story lines, and I gasp and scream when the story lines get crazy.
I shouldn’t have to defend one of my favorite TV shows, and neither should you. I completely admit that I am often one of those people who groans whenever someone mentions “Jersey Shore.” And in the past, yes, I was totally judging you when you mentioned that you watched “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” last night. And I know that when I jump on my friend to talk about that amazing episode of “Downton Abbey” on Sunday, ‘nerd’ flashes in front of you like it’s on a billboard in Times Square.
Look, I’m not asking anyone to accept every TV show as good or even worthy of watching. Jersey Shore and I are just never going to have that kind of relationship. But if you love watching some incredibly stupid people do incredibly stupid things, go for it! And while that last sentence would usually reek of sarcasm, I honestly mean it now!
Let’s just do away with this whole notion of a guilty pleasure – why should you feel guilty? Because your favorite show is not an sophisticated artistic expression of the human soul? Because it seems like everyone on the same TV show is pregnant at the same time? Because you’re watching a period drama where people speak funny and because your parents enjoy it just as much as you do?
Well, that embarrassment is just stupid.
We all just want to enjoy our TV in peace, so let’s make that possible. I know that the world would be a much better place if everyone would stop judging each other, period, but that’s a much larger issue. Let’s just take it one step at a time. And, as most of us do on any given week night when a mound of homework sits beside us, let’s take care of TV first.
Final Say: TV is one of the greatest joys in a high school student’s life, whether it be good or bad, and we should all stop judging each other about our choices.
