Now where are we? Oh right, snuggled up on a couch, watching Ralph Kramden threatening to send Alice to the moon...
Here are further reasons why getting old DVDs from the local library is a great past-time.
4. real lifestyle This reason is the most serious of them all. There are a number of other series from that era (mid-'50s to mid-'70s) that don't cut it for me. Either they are too racy, at least by the time they get into the '70s, or they're too lame, as in sterile and stereotypical. You can pick your own examples.
I have been amazed at the real life issues that have come up in each of these sitcoms I've mentioned. Money matters, employment challenges, inter-personal misunderstandings, health setbacks, or tensions in the home and the workplace, are often covered.
Sounds like a dose of real life to me, unlike the so-called reality shows of today.
The two extremes I hate about the other types of sitcoms are: 1. there's nothing more important than sex; and 2. life is wonderful, easy, and problem-free. Nothing could be further from the truth in either case, these days more than ever.
I think these oldies but goodies nail it, namely, playing out life in a balanced, realistic yet humourous manner.
5. inexpensive entertainment I don't know how important inexpensive (or even free) entertainment is to you, but it is to me. I don't do many movies in any given year, but considering I am almost an hour from a theatre, it can be an expensive evening. There's the ticket(s), popcorn and drink (not for me, but maybe for the kids, if they're with me). Then maybe a coffee and snack afterwards. I will likely have to pick up the tab for any kid that comes along with. And did anyone consider the extra gas?
On the other hand, the advantage of staying home with a good comedy is multi-fold:
a. there's a savings in time: no hours taken up with driving there, watching, eating out, then driving home;
b. there's a savings in energy: all that effort in getting dressed up, even casually (we do that still) is replaced by dressing down. After all, a movie night routine isn't complete unless one is in one's "jammers" (funny talk for pyjamas);
c. there's a savings in money: I already mentioned the cost of snacks, gas, and wear and tear on your real fine "409";
d and there's a savings in food: if you go out to a movie, you can can have popcorn or...popcorn. At home, you can still have popcorn, but you can have so much more, if you so desire. I don't "so desire," so this savings is lost on me.
6. free therapy Maybe "therapy" sounds too heavy a reason for watching a DVD at night, but it is true. Call it what you like, but it is a nice change of pace, a break from the norm, something different, or a place to take your mind off the usual routine.
They don't call it "amusement" for nothing: To "muse" means to think or ponder; put the negative prefix ("a") in front of it, and it means "to not think or ponder"--hence, amusement, amusing, or even amusement park. So if someone finds you "amusing," that actually may not be a compliment.
Consider movie watching a place to put your thinking on hold, to have a mind fast, if you will.
Obviously, too much of anything is still too much, and that even includes pizza—although I am not sure how you can ever have too much pizza.
Being consumed with too many movies over too many nights with too many mindless plots, gratuitous sex or violence is just, well, too much. Nothing--I repeat, nothing—good comes from that.
Here's to a night out (by staying in), stimulating entertainment (yet it's free), and a break from the routine (without going anywhere).
Happy brain fast.
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