As September lazily turns from a humid summer into a cool fall, television follows suit as the tide turns from reruns to the premieres of all the shows we missed during the summer. I don't know about you guys, but TV watching for me has turned from catching the latest episode of my favorite series every week to holing up in my room hermit-style every once in a while and watching an entire season of a series start to finish on my computer. This may or may not include cuddling with chips, cupcakes and a variety of other munchie foods while in bed. Technology at it's finest, no? I have pretty mainstream taste: everything from the standard chick fare like Gossip Girl (for the clothes and Chuck Bass, strictly) to standard boy fare like Entourage (hoping they don't screw up the movie..) and everything in between. I've noticed over the past few seasons, the number of shows I've been addicted to has upped in numbers...and it's for one lovely little reason: the return of good old fashioned heart to television.
Don't roll your eyes at me now...if you're reading this and don't value all matters dealing with the heart, then you, my darling, have wandered onto the wrong blog. I'm talking about warm fuzzies, gooey sentimentalism, or "tender" moments as my sister calls them, all making their way back into prime-time popular shows. Much of this can be attributed to the comeback of the sitcom. After Friends ended and Seinfeld went off air, there was a loll where similar shows were coming on, and failing fast. It's not that Friends lacked heart, and as a big fan of the show I wouldn't of changed a thing, but it was more about quick laughs and romance than anything else. And Seinfeld was a show famously about nothing. The typical mid-90's sitcom situation of a group of single people living in a city has made way for different types of plots; families, and the search for love, not just fun on the singles scene.
My favorite of the bunch, and a favorite of critics and fans alike it seems is Modern Family. Hysterically funny, just the right mount of awkward and heartwarming at the appropriate times, it's sweet while still being hilarious and of course, modern. It also helps that Manny is my soul mate. Yes, the 11 year old son of Jay and Gloria not only write poems for girls he likes, reads Hemingway and wears meticulously coordinated outfits, but also turns his nose down on all activities that should be age-appropriate for a fifth grader. A hopeless romantic who hasn't even reached middle school? No wonder why I love this show! A close second is the character of Phil, who is endearingly dorky at its best. Because the show is just that good, I will overlook the fact that for the new season they've replaced the adorable Asian baby Lily with an obviously mixed-race child who is neither cute, nor funny. I mean come on, we can all tell she's half white. For a show that's so against tradition in a lot of ways, it's slightly insulting for the creators to think no one would notice.
Even when a show is about a group of singles living in the city, the warm undertones are what make me happy to see what they're up to. I've come to love How I Met Your Mother; a show where we follow Ted and his group of friends as we retells the story to his kids of how he met their mother. I mean, there's family love and tenderness written right into the title! It allows all the conquests he embarks seem not just for sport, but part of a grand journey where, if they had not occurred, he wouldn't ultimately meet his true love. It's a singles show for the romantics out there, and one where we follow along with our own tumultuous love lives knowing every fight, heartbreak and stupid mistake happens for a reason. (Even if you're not as on board the sappy bandwagon as I am, HIMYM is worth watching for Neil Patrick Harris alone in all his sociopath, lady-killing, musical glory.)
The kinder, gentler, but no less funny sitcom is prevailing and love addicts like yours truly are binging on all the gooey television moments we can get. Mind you, this is prime time, and all the edgy stuff is still available on cable (I'm just getting hooked on Damages). But the dominance of heartwarming ideals in mainstream television makes for a nice sentiment: that collectively, it's what audiences are seeking out. And what a lovey feeling it is to know we all may be all the same page after all....well, according to Nelson's ratings at least. Sit back, watch, love and enjoy!
x
Showing posts with label HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Falling for Fake Love...OMFG
I've mentioned my parents in multiple blog posts: the loving, hard-working, endlessly devoted team who raised me is also responsible for ruining any chance I have at a realistic expectation of love thanks to their traditional and seemingly extinct yet perfect union. But alas, I can't place all the blame on my lovely parents. Sure, they set the standard, but it has been reinforced over and over again by popular culture. Thanks to television shows, music and the biggest culprit: romantic comedies, I've fallen for "fake love", a level of love that doesn't seem to exist anywhere but in the media, and inconveniently in my head. Kill me now.
My boyfriend asked me one day what romance was. "We spend time together...isn't that enough?" He questioned, sounding genuinely perplexed. I cried. What do you mean the man I love didn't want to create a world of star-gazing and flowers and huge romantic gestures every second of the day? It seemed cold, cruel and utterly impossible to be in a relationship that didn't include passions on top of passions.
I spent yesterday evening writing all the while having How I Met Your Mother on in the background. Every time I poked my head out from my laptop screen, Ted was in the middle of some insanely romantic plan to win a girl over. From surprising a girl he wanted to date with a string quartet in her apartment to taking a girl on an elaborate two minute date since that was all the time she had available for a date, this is the kind of impossible romantic drivel being pounded into my head every time I tune into mass media. It's getting to a point that unless I marry Romeo Montague, no man will ever satisfy me in the romance department. That's the problem with wanting fake love; it's only possible in the movies.
I love Coldplay. Yes, I realize they've douched out since becoming one of the biggest bands in the world, but when my best friend and I were first discovering them when we were in middle school, they were a charming, new and earnest band who sang simple songs about love. I was hooked. From the time I was in my early teens until my early twenties, I listened to Coldplay nonstop. That's a good decade of my life spent being brainwashed by such heartbreaking tender lyrics such as "Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do,' and "Lights will guide you home, and ignite your soul, and I will try and fix you." not to mention "You are a rock, upon which I stand," I mean really. I never stood a chance.
It's not that I'm looking for fireworks and flowers every time I go on a date (well not anymore at least..) but the romantic in me, the one who remembers every love line, lyric and gesture from every book, show and movie she's seen, always gets her hopes just the teeniest bit raised whenever there's a possibility for one to happen. And so far I've been met with nothing but disappointment. This is not to read as some commentary on the caliber of my boyfriend (Although romantic, he is not. We have a joke. On a scale of romance it goes: old boot > my boyfriend > smelly old boot. His defense? "Well at least I'm better than a smelly old boot!" Cute.) but rather a commentary on how much pop culture has infiltrated our lives. Realistic love, or more specifically the ways in which love and admiration are expressed in the everyday world, just don't seem to be as meaningful unless matched with larger than life actions.
It's been something of a realization for me that everyone loves in their own way. Not everyone cares for huge lovey-dovey gestures, but that shouldn't read as them being any less...well, loving. I know I'll aways be some one whose heart swells when the male protagonist in the movie wins the girl back with some crazy elaborate scheme (JT and the flash dance mob in Friends with Benefits, Heath dancing along the stairs and singing in Ten Things I Hate About You, Freddy Prince Jr. in every movie he's ever been in, etc.) but it's because I wear my heart on my sleeve, and always will. (Literally...those heart tattoos aren't going anywhere.) But what it takes for a non-romantic to be with me, or anyone else, is simply love. Expressed in the way they want, so long as it's expressed. Traditional hopeless romantics may shake their heads, but we live in modern times, and this modern girl is adapting her ways.
Fake love be damned. I'll settle for real love any day. That old boot may be on to something....x
My boyfriend asked me one day what romance was. "We spend time together...isn't that enough?" He questioned, sounding genuinely perplexed. I cried. What do you mean the man I love didn't want to create a world of star-gazing and flowers and huge romantic gestures every second of the day? It seemed cold, cruel and utterly impossible to be in a relationship that didn't include passions on top of passions.
I spent yesterday evening writing all the while having How I Met Your Mother on in the background. Every time I poked my head out from my laptop screen, Ted was in the middle of some insanely romantic plan to win a girl over. From surprising a girl he wanted to date with a string quartet in her apartment to taking a girl on an elaborate two minute date since that was all the time she had available for a date, this is the kind of impossible romantic drivel being pounded into my head every time I tune into mass media. It's getting to a point that unless I marry Romeo Montague, no man will ever satisfy me in the romance department. That's the problem with wanting fake love; it's only possible in the movies.
I love Coldplay. Yes, I realize they've douched out since becoming one of the biggest bands in the world, but when my best friend and I were first discovering them when we were in middle school, they were a charming, new and earnest band who sang simple songs about love. I was hooked. From the time I was in my early teens until my early twenties, I listened to Coldplay nonstop. That's a good decade of my life spent being brainwashed by such heartbreaking tender lyrics such as "Look at the stars, look how they shine for you, and everything you do,' and "Lights will guide you home, and ignite your soul, and I will try and fix you." not to mention "You are a rock, upon which I stand," I mean really. I never stood a chance.
It's not that I'm looking for fireworks and flowers every time I go on a date (well not anymore at least..) but the romantic in me, the one who remembers every love line, lyric and gesture from every book, show and movie she's seen, always gets her hopes just the teeniest bit raised whenever there's a possibility for one to happen. And so far I've been met with nothing but disappointment. This is not to read as some commentary on the caliber of my boyfriend (Although romantic, he is not. We have a joke. On a scale of romance it goes: old boot > my boyfriend > smelly old boot. His defense? "Well at least I'm better than a smelly old boot!" Cute.) but rather a commentary on how much pop culture has infiltrated our lives. Realistic love, or more specifically the ways in which love and admiration are expressed in the everyday world, just don't seem to be as meaningful unless matched with larger than life actions.
It's been something of a realization for me that everyone loves in their own way. Not everyone cares for huge lovey-dovey gestures, but that shouldn't read as them being any less...well, loving. I know I'll aways be some one whose heart swells when the male protagonist in the movie wins the girl back with some crazy elaborate scheme (JT and the flash dance mob in Friends with Benefits, Heath dancing along the stairs and singing in Ten Things I Hate About You, Freddy Prince Jr. in every movie he's ever been in, etc.) but it's because I wear my heart on my sleeve, and always will. (Literally...those heart tattoos aren't going anywhere.) But what it takes for a non-romantic to be with me, or anyone else, is simply love. Expressed in the way they want, so long as it's expressed. Traditional hopeless romantics may shake their heads, but we live in modern times, and this modern girl is adapting her ways.
Fake love be damned. I'll settle for real love any day. That old boot may be on to something....x
Sunday, May 15, 2011
OMFG -- On the hook
There's a particularly insightful episode of How I Met Your Mother (NPH can do no wrong in my eyes...even though the show is seriously sucking as of late) where the gang talks about being on "the hook" as far as unsuccessful relationships go. The hook being when some one you're interested in gives you false hope as to some magical and perfect future together when really they're just using you to make themselves feel better. Ego boosts, adoring company, some one to do their chores...that kind of deal.
I think we've all either been on, or have had some one on our hook. Humans are selfish creatures by nature (there are rare exceptions...but let's face it, if it feels good we're usually going to do it) and relationships are the one realm where selfishness comes to surface since you're being mirrored by another person. Yes, employing the hook technique is cruel and usually ends up making you look like an ass to people you're actually interested in, but perhaps what keeps people getting hooked continuously is that hope of one day.
A promise of a future where one day everything will be perfect between you two and one day where you can be with them properly because timing, careers, and all other life factors will let them be. Now allow me to burst the bubble: that idealistic one day? Not going to happen. This false hope applies not only to simply hooked -type deals, but also many dysfunctional relationships in general. Bluntly put, if your significant other says they can't be with you right now but perhaps later in their life things will somehow work out, it's because they're not willing to accommodate you now. [Let's read between the lines here: you're not worth it to them.] Ah, a harsh realization for many, but the sooner you or the other person realizes one of you isn't worth it, the sooner things will make sense. These conclusions are especially prone to occur to us twenty-somethings since it's the decade where many of us have so many things on the go-go-go: careers need to be established, traveling seems mandatory and we make many decisions that directly affect the rest of our lives. However, to some, when they find the right person, all that other stuff can be adjusted, and some times even end in happily ever after. A rarity in this day and age even a romantic like myself can admit to, but possible nonetheless.
We're living in the here and now darling bloggees, and if it isn't working in the here and now, it's likely not going to work in the future either. Even if you think it will -- why waste your time torturing yourself about all the maybe situations that could arise? I say, leave it alone, try your best to forget it, and get back out there. Chances are there's some one who thinks you're worth it not one day, but right now. The possibilities in this world of dating and relationships in our twenties are endless, and perhaps it just takes opening our eyes to all the opportunities to understand that it's not the value others place on us that counts, it's the value we place on ourselves.
x
I think we've all either been on, or have had some one on our hook. Humans are selfish creatures by nature (there are rare exceptions...but let's face it, if it feels good we're usually going to do it) and relationships are the one realm where selfishness comes to surface since you're being mirrored by another person. Yes, employing the hook technique is cruel and usually ends up making you look like an ass to people you're actually interested in, but perhaps what keeps people getting hooked continuously is that hope of one day.
A promise of a future where one day everything will be perfect between you two and one day where you can be with them properly because timing, careers, and all other life factors will let them be. Now allow me to burst the bubble: that idealistic one day? Not going to happen. This false hope applies not only to simply hooked -type deals, but also many dysfunctional relationships in general. Bluntly put, if your significant other says they can't be with you right now but perhaps later in their life things will somehow work out, it's because they're not willing to accommodate you now. [Let's read between the lines here: you're not worth it to them.] Ah, a harsh realization for many, but the sooner you or the other person realizes one of you isn't worth it, the sooner things will make sense. These conclusions are especially prone to occur to us twenty-somethings since it's the decade where many of us have so many things on the go-go-go: careers need to be established, traveling seems mandatory and we make many decisions that directly affect the rest of our lives. However, to some, when they find the right person, all that other stuff can be adjusted, and some times even end in happily ever after. A rarity in this day and age even a romantic like myself can admit to, but possible nonetheless.
We're living in the here and now darling bloggees, and if it isn't working in the here and now, it's likely not going to work in the future either. Even if you think it will -- why waste your time torturing yourself about all the maybe situations that could arise? I say, leave it alone, try your best to forget it, and get back out there. Chances are there's some one who thinks you're worth it not one day, but right now. The possibilities in this world of dating and relationships in our twenties are endless, and perhaps it just takes opening our eyes to all the opportunities to understand that it's not the value others place on us that counts, it's the value we place on ourselves.
x
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