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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think there is nothing actually wrong with watching TV.......

144 replies

Miaowing · 19/08/2019 11:41

.... and for wondering why people get so snobbish and holier than thou about it.

DH and I are in our 50s and childfree by choice. We do stuff but we also watch a LOT of TV. Mainly box sets, movies and sport.

I read a lot - he doesn't but he never has. He's not a book person.

There is nothing IMHO wrong with watching TV yet on here it seems to be a badge of honour not to own one or to be so high and mighty that its beneath you.

In real life I do't know anyone like that - which does make me wonder how there are so many on here.

OP posts:
Wehttam · 19/08/2019 16:02

Try detoxing from it, after a few weeks when you actually go to watch it you just think, what the hell is this stuff. I find the idea of everyone sitting around the box very creepy, it’s almost an addiction and people are very defensive over it too.

SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver · 19/08/2019 16:05

Watching TV or not watching TV is a personal choice not a judgement of character.

exactly

If I have an hour free, I'd rather go training than watching tv, but that's a personal choice.

My own issue about tv is that when you look back, you haven't achieved anything, it's just a complete waste of time.

I have got tvs at home, but my kids tv time is very restricted and the adults don't really bother. It's nice to watch something in the train from time to time though.

Yaflamingalah · 19/08/2019 16:08

I work in HE with many very intelligent people and we all like to watch good tv and then discuss it the next day! We also like to discuss books and current affairs. I agree with a PP that it is the quality of tv. To me reality and daytime television is a blight on society

haverhill · 19/08/2019 16:10

This is reminding me of the Victoria Wood sketch:
“We do have a telly of course, but only for the wildlife documentaries. Isn’t David Attenborough marvellous? Did you know he makes his own safari jackets?”
Grin

adaline · 19/08/2019 16:18

I have 4 kids, so just changing the bedsheet of 5 beds + the guest room once a week must take me a good half an hour a week.

Right, but having four children is a choice that's going to limit your free time. The more children you have, the more work you're going to have to keep on top of everything.

My house is perfectly clean and tidy but it doesn't take me four hours a day to clean it. Half an hour a day and tidying as you go is plenty to keep it looking neat. But then I haven't got lots of children to mess it up again!

My own issue about tv is that when you look back, you haven't achieved anything, it's just a complete waste of time.

It depends what you watch, doesn't it? You can learn plenty watching documentaries, for example, or the news. Or is that not a waste of time because it's more "highbrow"?

Passthecherrycoke · 19/08/2019 16:24

I don’t watch much TV but what I do watch I love. Documentaries especially David Attenborough on the bbc, current affairs like question time, comedy, drama... I love BBC and Netflix, especially murder documentaries like the staircase or how the see us. Just finished watching the great hack. Netflix and amazon prime are the best things that have happened in tv in decades.

ITV is quite trashy, ch4 a good mix of the interesting and unusual and good trash (first dates, obsessive compulsive cleaners, supernanny etc)

Hundreds of years ago certain people thought books were the devil

I think demonising TV is really quite old fashioned- it’s quite an 1980s thing for fun sponges to spend their time on

SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver · 19/08/2019 16:24

of course it's a choice! But I am not super-woman, I have never managed to keep a tidy house, do the laundry, the admin and all the chores in half an hour a day. 🤷

I am still in the mind that tv is a godsend when you are in hospital, or just to enjoy watching something for a couple of hours a week but a waste of time everyday.

SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver · 19/08/2019 16:26

Hundreds of years ago certain people thought books were the devil

some people still do today Grin

Some people still look down and laugh at houses with books, thinking people who read are "boring" and books are messy. Who cares.

Passthecherrycoke · 19/08/2019 16:31

@SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver but you’re quite a rare person who has 4 children, spends 12 hours a day at work/
Commenting and needs to do 4 hours chores a day Shock your day is representative, even if it’s your normal

Passthecherrycoke · 19/08/2019 16:31

*your day is NOT representative

Passthecherrycoke · 19/08/2019 16:32

And that’s commuting not commenting 🤣 DYAC

LiveInAHidingPlace · 19/08/2019 16:34

I don't understand people who just sit in front of the tv watching whatever crap is on. I would die of boredom.

I just watch a few things on netflix a couple of times a week but more than that and I get bored.

MyDcAreMarvel · 19/08/2019 16:36

I don’t judge people who watch a lot of tv , I do secretly judge people who don’t read, unless there is a reason for it.

CSIblonde · 19/08/2019 16:37

Agree. I read anything & everything but I also love history programmes, crime documentaries & a really good horror film. A box set of Hannibal or Dexter is bliss. And my guilty pleasure is the bitch fest that is Real Housewives of New York (its not for the oufits or the decor porn, I've never had a group of female friends so the psychology of the group dynamics etc fascinates me).

PuppyMonkey · 19/08/2019 16:37

Well, I bloody love telly and will watch any old shit, so stuff the lot of you.Grin

Evilmorty · 19/08/2019 16:40

I’ve got a tv in both my reception rooms, we don’t watch much live tv, it’s mostly for films, Netflix dramas or documentaries. We also read a lot but I run my music through it too, so it’s used for that.

Nothing wrong with it, although I don’t have one in any of the bedrooms, 2 is more than enough!

Evilmorty · 19/08/2019 16:46

Also don’t agree that when you look back on it that you haven’t achieved anything. Horrible Histories works as a medium for kids to learn, it’s great for that. We also watched a show on tie dying techniques so that when we sat down to do it after, we had ideas and my kids had learned what shibori is and how to do it. My son is learning ukelele through YouTube tutorials. It’s not dead time.

CatherineVelindre · 19/08/2019 16:57

I love television.
I devour crime shows (UK and USA and Scandi Noir, and German, French, Icelandic - anything really), costume dramas and sit coms.
My comfort viewing is old repeats of Miss Marple and Poirot - I can practically recite the scripts.
I am a Strictly Come Dancing addict and watch It takes Two religiously.

Judge me all you like, television snobs. Watching repeats of Dad's Army and CSI is not inherently wrong. It's just a matter of taste.

The hours I have spent watching unlikely detectives solve hideous crimes haven't killed off any of my brain cells so far either. I have also managed an arts degree from Oxbridge, multiple professional qualifications and am currently engaged in doctoral research.

This year my life has been enhanced by One Day at a Time (excellent multi-generational US comedy with lots to say about feminism, LGBT issues etc -and it's funny) Der Pass (German- Austrian version of the Bridge) and Anne with An E - revamped remake of Anne of Green Gables. I've laughed and been scared and cried. I've also had some brilliant discussions about the issues raised with my family - tv is great for opening chats with teens.

TV is awesome.

SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver · 19/08/2019 16:57

Passthecherrycoke
I am in the South East, most people have a commute just as crap as mine unfortunately!

Having 3 or 4 kids is not exceptional either - but kids or not, the point was that many people around me don't seem to spend that much time watching tv either.

It's the people, with kids usually, asking for new things to watch because they have watched tens of series and all the newly released movies that puzzle me. That's a lot of hours in front of the tv!

MarshaBradyo · 19/08/2019 17:01

I watch a series at a time - New Amsterdam atm it’s so good - but never watch anything before late at night and not just random stuff.

I went through a stage of not having time which was ok too

Evilmorty · 19/08/2019 17:03

I watch all the newly released films too, I have an unlimited cinema card. It’s not mindless, they do film studies at universities you know Grin

BogglesGoggles · 19/08/2019 17:07

I watch a lot of TV. Mostly period dramas etc. I am under no impression that it is anything other than a waste of my time. Everything else I do for entertainment is beneficial in some way. TV isn’t unless you are watching high quality documentaries/artsy films/are into acting and watching good quality acting.

BogglesGoggles · 19/08/2019 17:09

I forgot MN, that goes into same category at tv Blush. But apart from that everything else has a benefit.

PancakeAndKeith · 19/08/2019 17:24

I agree op.

Why is reading seen as better than watching tv? Both involve you sitting very still and not talking to anyone.

It depends what you are watching or reading. Crappy chick lit is not better than a good documentary.

Sparklesocks · 19/08/2019 17:27

SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver why do you have to ‘achieve’ something though? Why can’t down time be just that? People work hard, pay bills, raise kids, keep a clean house etc - why does their relaxing time need to be worthy or have a measurable outcome? There’s still merit in allowing yourself to unwind in your free time, in fact it’s essential. Not saying you should spend your days doing nothing of course, but I don’t think everything needs to be an achievement.