A bubble bath? Cuppa? A run? Drawing? A good book? A night of dancing? (had to throw something in there for you extroverts out there)
Me? I'm a comfort TV watcher.
I don't actually watch much TV, though there are plenty of shows I enjoy. Most weeks I'm lucky to fit in a single episode of anything at all--there just isn't that much unscheduled time, and I've got other things to spend it on when it comes. So, I've started watching all the stuff the cool kids watch, and finished almost none of it.
It has taken me as long as three years to watch a single season of a show, especially if I want to watch it *with* someone, because then *both* of us have to be available. It gets to the point where even watching TV, which should be passive escapism, starts to feel like an item on my to-do list, another thing I'm behind on.
So, when I get a chance, I'll go back and pick something I've already watched over and over. Something I know by heart. Buffy. The Quiet Man. The Monkees. Scooby Doo. Old Musicals.
There are a lot of advantages to re-watching something I already love.
- I can follow it, even if I zone out. If I miss something, I can remember it.
- I notice new things about an old love.
- I get that ratty bathrobe kind of feeling of stepping into something that fits me right and makes me feel cuddled and calm.
- Sometimes I forget something, and it surprises me again, or hits me differently than it did the other times, because now I'm a mom, or have had my heart broken, or just see things differently now
- If I don't get to finish it, I'm less frustrated. I knew what was coming anyway.
- If I sucker the husband or the daughters in, I get to share something that's special to me with someone who is special to me.
- If I get to watch it with someone else who remembers it, too, we can go tripping down nostalgia lane together.
How about you? Any other re-watchers out there? What draws you back to things you've already seen?
Great post! It would have to be "I Love Lucy." My husband gave me the entire series on DVD several years ago and it continues to be one of the greatest Christmas gifts I ever received. I love to have it playing often, even though I almost never sit down to watch it. There's something very comforting about it.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. Everything you just said is how I feel and think about re-watching old loves. Just the other day I re-watched Gremlins on Netflix with my sons and they were loving it. They were yelling at the screen "oh no," "watch out," and "why the gremlins so mean."
ReplyDeleteWhen I get in a re-watch my mood I usually head to Crunchyroll for anime. If not, then it's YT or Viki for Asian dramas. Or Netflix for Charmed, Roswell, Buffy, Angel, etc. (Sigh, if only Netflix still streamed the last three).