Entertainment of Substance: Part 1

After listening to music in various forms and styles, watching a variety of television and movies, and reading a few (admittedly not too many) books, I've found myself especially drawn to a few particular things in each form of media...

Its substance and purpose.

Contrary to what many (including my band mates) might think, it was not the barely comprehensible technobabble and the blossoming, but flawed and fatal interspecies romances of Star Trek: The Next Generation that got me hooked. Neither was is the setting; space, future, starship, strange new worlds, etc. It wasn't the state of the art production quality, camera shakes, and attention to detail.

Which, quick side note, if the officers of Starfleet are ever trained in weaponry, you'd think they'd know how to hold a rifle/gun... Maybe hire a military consultant. Or, I don't know... Watch Lethal Weapon, from what I know, Martin Riggs holds his Beretta 92fs (or whatever it is) the right way. Don't hold your plasma rifle like a 10 year old girl.

It's the overall theme of striving to better oneself and the rest of humanity that sticks with me now.

Look at Firefly (which I will reference in nearly every blog because it is the best show to ever be on television) - To the average viewer, it could look like a rip off of Star Trek. I would argue that they have no idea, and should pay more attention.

With Firefly, there's this overall feeling of hope, as dreary and bleak as everything looks, as bad as things were today and promise to be tomorrow, if you're still alive at the end of it, you're still in it. 

There's this idea of fighting for what you believe. EVEN IF YOU KNOW YOU'LL LOSE THE FIGHT. And if you lose, don't throw away your convictions because the people with power say you're wrong. 

There is a preacher on Firefly, and I applaud Joss Whedon for portraying Christians as he did. People of great conviction, with baggage and personal struggles that go against their convictions.

 He was a man of peace. But he wasn't a pansy. (Very Christ-like). He would occasionally take up arms to help defend his crew, his family, his friends, etc.

Joss Whedon seemed to have an understanding as to what makes a man of God tick, even though he, himself, is an Atheist. He created a complex character that we barely got to explore before Fox ripped the carpet out from under us. If you follow the rest of the 'verse, you'll see his whole tale of redemption.

I'm not saying EVERY Christian should be just like this fictitious one... Duh... But it's something to think about.

The overall themes of freedom, family, trust, forgiveness, etc. are what endear the show to me.

Also, the Mandarin/English hybrid language was pretty cool.

Suffice it to say, I don't watch crap television. I don't actually watch television at all. I wait for it to go online because I'm too cheap to pay to be on someone else's entertainment schedule.

If it's reality TV, you can keep it. Duck Dynasty included.

The Bachelor? No.

Bridezilla? No.

Super Nanny? No.

Jersey Shore? No. If I want to watch a bunch of people get wasted, fist bump, and have sex with each other, I'll go set up camp in our neighbor's apartment.

I'll watch something that challenges me, makes me think, makes me laugh, makes me cry (Star Trek and Firefly).

If 16 and Pregnant or Keeping Up with the Kardashians is your flavor of entertainment, whatever. You can enjoy it if you want. 

But try watching something with substance, something with real meaning behind it. It's worth it.