Sitting in bed after having been looking at my computer screen for the past several hours, I could not help but feel a slight sense of embarrassment. Tina Fey’s newest comedy, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, had just been released on Netflix on March 6th. The premise of the show is about a woman who is rescued after having been abducted by an apocalyptic cult for fifteen years,and her subsequent adjustment to 21st century culture. While the plot sounds heavy, the writers did an incredible job putting a comedic spin on it, and it took all I had not to finish the entire thirteen episode series in one sitting.
However, as much as I enjoyed watching- and my roommates can testify that I laughed out loud more often than I sat quietly- a sense of regret washed over me between episodes. This feeling of regret was not new- it is a feeling I am often overcome with whenever I watch an episode of television, even if it is not a full out “binge- watch.”
The reason this guilt whenever I watch TV is because I know there is something more productive I can be doing with my time. Even if I do not have any schoolwork, there are always articles I can read, issues I can research, and events I can attend. During one twenty-two minute episode of any given sitcom, I could have read three news articles or a chapter of my book. During one forty-five minute episode of a drama, I could have called my grandmother or visited a friend.
Despite my awareness of the multiple ways I can better spend my time, I am still drawn to the screen. I would not say that I am addicted to the television (in my case, computer) screen- I can, and often do, go weeks without watching a single episode. However, I continue to watch because there is a value in television much greater than being entertained for the length of an episode. For starters, television shows are great conversation topics. It is a means that can connect and give a common interest to those who would otherwise have nothing to talk about. Take two people from completely different backgrounds and interests and bring up the most recent episode of Scandal or the Parks and Recreation finale. If both individuals watched it, they will likely have what to discuss for hours.
Beyond TV being a source of entertainment and connection, it is also a form of art through which we can analyze society. Perhaps I should look at my screen and feel good about it in the same way as I do when I analyze a piece of art in a museum.
While this might sound crazy, let me explain through a jump back in history.
When we think about art, we often think about classic paintings and sculptures from the period of the High Renaissance in Europe. This was the time of such household names as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Today their works are displayed in art museums and galleries throughout the world. Their paintings described as masterpieces. However, before this period, art was not looked at with the esteemed respect it acquired during the High Renaissance. Artwork was not discussed, closely analyzed, and interpreted in the same way before this period. Painting and drawing were generally looked at as a craft or skill, not as an intellectual outlet. Artists were viewed as craftsmen commissioned to decorate, not geniuses that created masterpieces with meaning and deeper messages.
While it is not true of every genre (ahem, reality or game shows), television is our own 21st Century form of art. While the same techniques and brushstrokes cannot be seen, and the canvases are certainly different, perhaps today we are living in a period much like the period leading up to the High Renaissance of the 1490’s.
Or perhaps we are in a High Renaissance of our own.
Television is more than a form of entertainment, it is a lens with which to look at and analyze society. Writers and producers are influenced by the world around them, and translate modern day culture and issues into their shows, much like the artists of the early 16th Century. It is our job as the audience members, to recognize their genius and realize that when we watch we are not purely enjoying entertainment, but reaping the benefits of an intellectual effort.
When I sit feeling guilty about my TV habit, in a way I am like those individuals who did not realize the intellectual aspect of artist’s work, but only their craftsmanship. I am like a person who looked at Michelangelo’s Statue of David and did not realize that it represented the defense of civil liberties in Florence. I am like a person who looked at the Mona Lisa and did not wonder what she was smiling slyly about.
I am definitely not saying that every television show is a masterpiece, or that every writer or producer is a modern-day da Vinci. But, there is no need for me to feel guilty about watching a show, especially if it is as perceptive and well done as Fey’s Kimmy Schmidt.
If I picked up on the slight critiques of our society, the references to sexual violence, and the incorporation of modern events in the plot, then I have done my job of being a proper audience member, perhaps equal to my analyzing a painting at the MET. And for that, I can feel like it was time well spent. In a way, when I am sitting in my bed with the screen on my lap, I am part of a Renaissance. And to me, that sounds like a pretty worthwhile reason to spend time watching TV.