peeve? vexation? rant? screed?
Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2005,

I love reading blogs, and I read as many as I have time for. I always love reading online diaries. I learn so much about people. But one thing I've learned that particularly amazed me is this: there are intelligent, witty, talented people out there in the world that manage to derive enjoyment from (so-called) reality television programs. I'm not saying that they actually believe what they are seeing is real, but the point is, they seem to get something out of watching. They find the entertainment value.

So what is with me? This shit has been going on for nearly ten years, and I've hated every minute of it. One retarded concept after another, becoming smash hits. I used to blame it on the mouth-breathers, but I've seen too many otherwise intelligent people sucked in now. I Just. Don't. Get. It.

One of my biggest problems, I guess, is what W used to call "The Frasier Syndrome". I consider watching a character writhing in discomfort to be a form of torture. This is even worse torture when I'm fond of a character, and find him sympathetic. Since I loved the character of Frasier Crane, there was usually a point in each episode where I had to change the channel, because I (quite literally) could not bear to watch. Hence the name.

Since so much of the 'suspense' and 'drama' of these sorts of shows consists of putting people into physically or emotionally uncomfortable situations (and then playing up the discomfort of the audience with the music, editing, and commercial break placement), that pretty much leaves me out of it.

My incredible hatred of this krep was born full-grown and complete I've never watched any of these shows on my own, refused to have them on in my home, even for guests, and physically removed myself from social situations where the viewing or discussion of them was the topic at hand. So I get very frustrated when I argue about it, because I don't even have an adequate vocabulary for kvetching!

This is pretty much the only place I can even bitch about my antipathy, anyway. If I slam the Satan-spawned concept of "reality" television to anyone, it seems like they have at least one show they will get all defensive about. Even some of my very best friends believe in shows like "American Idol", "America's Top Model" and "Survivor" and they brook no derogatory remarks about their shows. Even as they feel free to slam every other show in the genre. But all of these shows distill down into a single concept for me, and I reject that concept. Out of hand.

I have no idea why I feel so strongly about this; I am rarely this firm about condemning anything, and usually go out of my way to find some good in all. Most of the time, if I'm not into something, it isn't even on my radar.
Occasionally something gets elevated to "petty annoyance" status.

But I don't treat this issue like mere bad TV. For some reason, it sits in the same section of brain as child pr0n
and predatory lending and GWB.

I guess that's what unreasoning hatred is.