"Get yourself together!" shrieked my sister after one look at me spread out on the couch watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians on a Monday evening. She was not entirely right. I had just finished completing three cohesive illustrations for my new article and decided to end the day with some shameless reality show. So, I wasn't a complete mess. What really got to me was her face-she was more surprised than Taylor Swift when Kanye West stole her VMA acceptance speech moment.
The thing is, I can spend hours explaining how many brain cells I would kill if I watched Jersey Shore. With unlimited sass and the usual New Yorker pretentious vibe, I'm the least likely person you would catch actually resembling a potato and casually watching Khloe Kardashian call her sister a "psycho." I've never been a big fan of TV and often (not so secretly) judged my sister when she watched The OC, Disney Channel Shows, and really bad romantic comedies. I'm talking about you, Katherine Heigl.
I have refused to watch High School Musical and cannot even fathom the appeal of The Desperate Housewives. To me, those movies and shows had the kind of bad acting and lack of plot that would only turn me into a cynical Woody Allen in Annie Hall. I couldn't understand why no one I knew hadn't seen The King's Speech. The cinematography and phenomenal performance of Colin Firth was overwhelming and inspiring.
Then, something happened around the time I turned twenty-three: I got cable. So, anytime I wasn't writing, drawing, or doing yoga, I would spend watching a new random show or catching an episode of Kendra On Top. The thing is, there is no plot involved in any reality TV show so it became a pastime for lighthearted laughs.
Sure, the Kardashians' problems seem pretty severe with the dramatic music playing during the preview, but to me, the simple quality of it just made me laugh. So, here I am, twenty-three years old and shamelessly enjoying bad TV. I still am obsessed with the high-quality and debonair effect of Mad Men and the sharp comedy of "30 Rock," but sometimes a girl just needs to laugh at Kylie Jenner's newly plump lips.
What I'm saying is: don't be ashamed of watching bad TV ( as long as you make sure you still have a life). Like my sister, many of your friends may judge you or find it ironic that a smart and career-oriented person would make time for something like that, but you should be proud you're not addicted to it.
Because that means it's just like a overpriced chocolate ice cream cone the morning after your hangover: the best guilty pleasure. And that, my friends, is more than okay.
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