Remember that scene from Gladiator with Russell Crow? Yeah, I cut out the gratuitous violence because, well, I'm not entertained...not anymore. Problem is, I absolutely love(d) this movie. I've had two different conversations with people in the past week that involve the fact that we don't have a TV. Actually, we do now, but no antenna, no cable, no dish, nothing but static unless a DVD is in and we don't even really watch those much. Thing is, even movies that are "great" don't really entertain me anymore. Pitch Perfect? Meh, Ok. Latest Batman movie with Bane? No really, that movie was awesome, but when I was finished, I didn't really care that I just watched 3 hours of waiting for greatness to happen. Identity Thief? Funny, but not really, more painful and infuriating. Skyfall? Liked it, but am more intrigued with the original texts written by Fleming in the 50's. (Much less spy gadgetry in them and quite dated, but fun to read.) It's weird. I'm just not entertained anymore.
Both conversations I've had regarding that I don't have a TV involved the bombardment of "What do you do?!?!" Well, ask my wife? She'll probably tell you that I either read, play that little game on my phone, or just won't shut up. That's the self-deprecating answer, which she would never give. Truth is, yeah, I'm reading, or playing some sort of free puzzle-game on my phone, or I'm conversating with her or little bit, or playing trains, or letting my hair get "fixed." There's numerous face-to-face engagements I'm trying to do with my family or we enjoy the lower tech options of playing outside, riding bikes, building legos, doing my nerdy hobby.... I'm not so dry that I only read non-fiction either. Much of my books are filled with gratuitous violent battles, but I no longer need to see blood splattered across an actor writhing in pain in the dirt. My imagination is much more mundane and I don't become desensitized to the crap on TV. It's crap. The only vice I had regarding the TV was professional wresting, and I got friggin' bored watching it, and relied upon a 5 minute read on-line to figure out what happened last night.
Entertained? No longer. I like movies, or at least still like the idea of them. IAt least the idea of those that are geared more towards the munchkin and not adults. I'm not even sure how what passes an entertainment does now. I'm also not sure the point of this blog entry either other than to attempt to get back into writing every now and then. Maybe I'm just getting old. Not sure, but I'd rather not have the TV on just to have background noise.
