In Entertainment Weekly, in a post titled “You Are What You Watch,” writer Gretchen Hansen related an anecdote: She’d been sitting on a train next to a man watching a slasher film, who said he loved that film, that it was “the best.” But what she imagined she heard him say was “you’re next, blondie.”
Even though she realized she had an overactive imagination, she also wondered if maybe she was onto something. She challenged readers to “tell me you’ve never made snap judgment about someone based on their favorite movies or television show.”
I love sci-fi stuff, from Quantum Leap to the X-files, and of course the Buffy/vampire oeuvre. I love Heroes and Lost and 24. But does this mean I’m a geek (ok, maybe I am), or occult obsessed (um, no) or that I aspire to be a member of CTU (not really–that whole “setting up a perimeter” thing gives me heartburn, and even CTU’s desk jockeys are terrorist targets)? And what about the truly dreadful “I Love New York 2”? Does watching something so vapid and insulting mean that I’m a dreadful person?
Can we just watch something, or does it have to have some sort of greater meaning about our spiritual or moral makeup? Are we what we watch, no matter how random and unplanned? Or are we what we intend and plan to watch? Or doesn’t it have an impact at all?
And on a larger level, does what’s popular in the culture reveal something about what our society is becoming? Let us know what you think–and what your entertainment tastes say about you–in the comments box below.