Binge watching: A blessing or a curse?
As I researched this column, ironically, I had the TV on in the background. I rented the first season of “Fargo” from the UST library and ravenously binged it. And I’m glad that I picked “Fargo.” There was only one season available at the library, meaning my commitment to it would last ten episodes, 45 minutes each, coming out to 8 hours total. After a long week, I did not mind spending part of my Saturday on the couch.
But “Fargo” is one of the shorter shows that I’ve watched. Freshman year of college I followed Don Draper through every cocktail and extramarital affair that he could muster in “Mad Men.” Sophomore year this habit only snowballed as I dipped my feet into shows like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” “Community,” “Breaking Bad,” “True Detective,” etc.
It’s easy to get sucked into TV; discovering quality entertainment nowadays is not a hard thing to do. Because there are so many things fighting to grab our attention, the standards rise. Hence TV shows that are just average, or even just start out average, quickly fall by the wayside. And this is great for us because we are bombarded by a lot of good TV, but it also makes it hard for us to put down the remote. Shows have to be grip us within the first five minute or we can just change the channel to something else.
The big problem comes with boredom. If you’re channel surfing on the couch and nothing good is on TV, you might be more inclined to find amusement elsewhere. Problem is, nowadays, there is always something good on TV, whether you find it on cable, on demand, Netflix, HBO GO, Hulu or a plethora of other *cough* erm websites *cough*.
And with so many good TV shows, it’s not as if people finish a show and go, “Wow! That was great! I guess I’m done with TV now!” You want to maintain the level of engagement of the first program, and what better way to maintain that sweet screen high than to start another show.
I generally found two categories of articles during my research for this piece: “CHECK OUT THIS SUPER COOL LISTICLE OF 25 SHOWS YOU SHOULD BINGE WATCH OVER CHRISTMAS BREAK” and its less popular cousin, “Feelings of loneliness and depression linked to binge watching.”
A lot of the time binge watching is something you do when you’re riding solo on the couch on Friday night with nothing but your friend Papa John and the lovable twosome Ben & Jerry.
And that’s okay. People don’t need to be in constant interaction, but I think that boredom is relieved too often with TV, something that has only become more addicting and easy to access. It’s an activity that doesn’t require much engagement from the viewer, which makes it easy to go on a season-long bender. Sitting around and doing nothing doesn’t mean sitting idly on the couch anymore — whether you want to laugh, cry or gasp in horror, Hollywood has got you covered.
Yoon Hi Sung and Eun Yeon Kang at the University of Texas at Austin conducted a survey on how often 18- to 29-year-olds watched TV, how often they had feelings of loneliness, depression and self-regulation deficiency and how often they binge watched TV. After surveying 316 young adults, they found that the more lonely and depressed the study participants were, the more likely they were to binge watch TV, using this activity distance themselves from negative feelings.
Many news outlets are quoting this study because this is one of the few done on the phenomenon. Before the study, most of the anti-binge watching articles I had read were wagging fingers telling readers not to sit down in front of the TV for hours because of the importance of other things. The researchers were able to conclude that binge watching could no longer be viewed as a harmless albeit addictive behavior.
“Physical fatigue and problems such as obesity and other health problems are related to binge-watching, and they are a cause for concern. When binge-watching becomes rampant, viewers may start to neglect their work and their relationships with others,” Sung said.
This is also an interesting point to apply to college life. On one hand, our schedules are crazy. But yesterday I watched three movies to veg out after a week of crushing deadlines and 2-a.m. bedtimes. Could I have been doing something more productive and social? Definitely. Did I feel that I deserved to treat myself? Yes. But isn’t that how binge watching can start?
We use our schedules as an excuse to sit down in front of the TV, but the fact that TV is entertaining and never-ending is both a blessing and a curse. It can be a method of catharsis, but getting stuck in it can be troublesome. It’s important to do what makes you happy, but when that thing has you continuously couch-bound, it’s important to seek happiness outside of a TV.
Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu.
To Tinder and beyond
By Jeffrey Langan, Columnist | Sunday, November 29, 2015 8:25 PM
You’d think the more ways there are to do something, the easier it would be. You pick what works for you and continue onward. Sometimes, however, the multitude of options can inhibit.
We are living in the digital age, and I assume you either bemoan or are intrigued by online dating. I’m 22, and I’m probably far away from finding “the one,” but I bring that up not because I want to talk about myself but because dating nowadays is different from how it was years ago.
Maybe the dates themselves haven’t changed; people still go out to movies or grab coffee together. But the awkward moments beforehand – when you’re interested in someone and you’re caught in that tug-of-war between going forward with your interests and figuring things out more slowly – have.
I, personally, think online dating is dumb. Perhaps my attitude is a bit curmudgeonly. I’ve read stories of significant others who have met each other through the swath of online dating websites and apps available. People are always on the computer anyway, so what better place to find a date?
The problem lies in the surplus. People don’t like to own up to whatever baggage they might have. The fact of the matter is that online dating profiles are just as rigorously manicured as social media sites. We want as many people to be intrigued by our profiles as possible, so we create shallow versions of ourselves. Makeup looks perfect today? More people need to see that. You prefer to spend time indoors, but here’s a really cool picture of you in a canoe in foreign waters.
The trouble is that this practice is massive. Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired, and we want to make sure that we inspire that desire in other people. Who doesn’t love attention, even if we can’t reciprocate it all? The problem is that everyone wants that. So as we “stalk” people on social media, swipe on Tinder and scroll through dating profiles, we need to find a way to eliminate candidates. There are obvious red flags, but how do we look beyond that?
Answer: We get pretty shallow. When showing interest no longer requires the sweaty-palmed act of going up and talking to someone, but rather clicking a button online, it is all too easy to reject someone. And with a roster of cute boys/girls at the ready, second chances might not come so easy. First dates are supposed to be a little awkward. But maybe you really aren’t feeling it. A quick glance at all the other potential significant others might lead you to stop calling/texting your date.
A lyric that comes to mind from Childish Gambino’s song “3005” states, “And they’re saying it’s because of the Internet, try once and it’s on to the next chick.”
We are so used to getting instant gratification that having to work more than a little bit makes us give up rather than put in the extra effort. What happens if a current love interest is proving to be a challenging pursuit? The challenge of a new pursuit attracts us. After all, love is about the journey, not the destination.
As artificial as the connections might seem, the whole concept of there being more fish in the sea comes to life in a potentially damaging way as people drop their rod in the water but don’t take the time to wait.
The potential of online dating is like potential anywhere else. It’s a double-edged sword, where a wealth of options stand before you. There are so many things that you could do, but it also represents so much that you haven’t done yet. This does not mean that you should try to date as many people as possible. You certainly can if that’s your prerogative, but it requires the most effort – effort that is not even encouraged by the dating sites themselves. When people go to websites because they want to make an effort to get to know someone, they end up doing the polar opposite.
Dating requires time and effort, and the inundation of fleeting connections provides a bait and switch method, which the array of online dating sites encourages. To paraphrase comedian John Mulaney, it is 100 percent easier not to do things than to actually do them. But the easy way out is rarely the interesting one.
Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu.
Failure is definitely an option
By Jeffrey Langan, Columnist | Sunday, November 15, 2015 8:56 PM
I think people ought to be rewarded for their work. Frustrations and misfires can lead to people feeling very discouraged about their capabilities, and overcoming them and greeting success is something that we should celebrate.
But there is something to be said about how to celebrate success. Earlier this year I saw the movie Whiplash, where a ruthless orchestra conductor tells one of his students that there are no two words more harmful in the English language than “Good job.” Hearing those words makes us think, “Yeah I did do pretty well,” and though some might strive for more, the conductor complains that the praise causes people to settle. To see that they met the bar and think, Well I guess that’s good enough.
Though the character in the movie is very unlikable, I like the intent. The “everyone gets a trophy culture” annoys me because it praises people for the wrong things. I have lost track of the number of times I have read quotes from sports players, actors, business professionals and people in all other walks of life that say something along the lines of “Don’t be afraid to fail, make it a learning experience.” The trophy inhibits this.
It doesn’t have to, but the perception of it does. Hard work can be it’s own reward, and the work itself is subjective depending on who attempted it. But the trophy is a glittering designation of “You did better.” Which is not only the wrong message to be sending out, but it can also hurt both the “winners” and “losers.” The winners are affirmed not only that what they did was great, but that it was better than everyone else. The trophy tells them that not only were their efforts qualified as a “good job,” but that they are on top. But you’re never on top, there’s always more to see, more to do, more to accomplish. And other participants are recognized for their efforts, but told that they placed “behind him but before her.”
We need to reward nonmaterial efforts in nonmaterial ways. You can still give out a first place designation, but a blue ribbon cheapens it, despite the gold lettering embossed on it.
We need to offer more praise for efforts than specific end results. Which is tricky, because it’s often the end products that are available for presentation. But the trophies misrepresent the failure in a big way.
Certain trophies are deserved. Ones that come at the end of journeys soaked in sweat and tears, and maybe even blood too. But if you got fifth place in the third grade spelling bee, you don’t need the bust of the letter A painted in gold. It is OK to fail because failures can be praised too. But not with the material pomp and circumstance.
Failure is when you start out on the right path and you mess up. The fifth runner up in the spelling bee still tried. Their effort and ability to problem solve got them to that point. It’s not worthy of a trophy, but it’s something. It’s cause for further encouragement. A failure is not a sign that you’ve stuck yourself in a place that you can’t navigate out of, a failure is a step toward success.
Though it might not be the most eloquent nugget, I really like the following quote from the animated show Adventure Time: “Sometimes sucking is the first step to being sort of good at something.” We need to show people that failures are part of the path to success, and that they are an important step to being good at anything. The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.
If children are praised for the methods that had them on the right path, rather than being given a trophy that gives them a misguided sense of success, we can look forward to a future with lots of screw ups and misfires. But without a golden bust to reward them for being “just all right,” with the proper critiques, those screw ups will surge onward instead of just settling.
Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu.
Social media: Is it worth it?
By Jeffrey Langan, Columnist | Monday, October 26, 2015 10:33 PM
It is not very often that I go on social media and am glad that I did. It’s not as if I haven’t benefited from it. There are a host of pictures of my friends and me that I look back to from time to time, and it allows me to hear of most of the events that I attend outside of school.
But despite my issues with social media, I check Facebook multiple times a day. It’s a boredom thing. Waiting in line? Pull out the phone. Sitting down to eat? Pull out the phone.
A lot of the things I see on Facebook now are shared articles, photos of significant others spending time together and pictures from someone’s vacation. I have unfollowed quite a few people on Facebook, and that’s mainly because I never knew them well, or I didn’t find what they had to say interesting. I have a Twitter but realized a long time ago that it is just a hotbed of, to paraphrase a Justin Timberlake song, everybody looking for the “flyest thing to say.”
So it can be a mindless time-suck. What’s the problem with that? Well, as is probably already known to those who have a presence on social media, people tend to post their “highlight reel.” I attended a wedding this summer and in some photos that were posted on Facebook I am dressed up and laughing and dancing with friends. Someone eating ice cream at home alone in their pajamas might look at the photos and go, “Wow I wish I had something to do.”
What they don’t know is that a few nights before the wedding I was binge watching True Blood in my underwear and trying to navigate my way through writer’s block. I had put in a full day’s work at my job and was too exhausted to even think about leaving my apartment. A quick trip to Facebook led me to say, “Wow I wish I had something to do.”
And these little moments of jealousy might seem, well, little, but studies show that social media has a bigger impact on us than we think.
It is great to aspire for more, to see someone doing something online and think to yourself, “That looks awesome! I want to do that.” The important distinction, however, is to remain loyal to that sentiment. If you’re going to try to make a change in your life, do it because you want the change for yourself. Not because you are trying to be someone else.
As people post blogs and put out photos on Instagram, the implicit message of, “You too can live your best life, and mirroring mine is a good place to start,” is sent out.
There is a definite bright side to social media, but shadows it casts can be more damaging to our society than we think. A study published in 2013 to the Public Library of Science states that Facebook use “predicts declines in subjective well-being in young adults.” As much fun as social media can be, some report feeling depressed because of it. And that’s mainly because social media has in some ways become a boredom thing. If you’re having a fantastic time with friends and are absorbed in the moment, then you might hear a “We should get a photo and put it on Facebook!” A photo is taken, and hopefully people move on with the moment.
It is the times when you sit around that it hurts. You’re looking for something to do. You’re bored, so you go on Facebook and get a glimpse of what other people are up to. And it’s OK to be jealous or to wish maybe that you had something like what you see. But the important thing is to act on that.
There are far healthier ways to get motivation, but perhaps none so ubiquitous nowadays as social media. Seeing people having a good time when you’re not having a good time can be a real mood killer. The atmosphere of social competition that it seemingly creates at times can have an adverse effect on mental health. Which is why I say, why not create a world for yourself in which boredom does not plague you? What you see on social media is only a snapshot, but why not try to make your whole life more like what you perceive to be happening in one moment of someone else’s.
Don’t mirror what you see other people doing. In your boredom, be inspired by what you see your peers doing, what they have achieved and what they have learned just by not being on the website that you find yourself on. And after you’ve taken a walk or read a bit of a book – or done anything really – don’t post about it on Facebook. If there’s anything social media can teach us, it’s that there are many people out in the world who have visited many places, learned many things and accomplished a whole lot. But I’d say that there is room for more. So, why be a mirror when you can have your own adventure?
Put down your phone and set off.
Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu.
Peeple: I’ll give it a thumbs down
By Jeffrey Langan, Columnist | Sunday, October 18, 2015 8:18 PM
From elevator pitches to movie descriptions to tinder profiles, we all love having our information in neat little boxes. It makes the world easier to navigate when we can scan for keywords that activate our interests. It makes it easier for us to gauge our expectations when we look around and explore.
But when it comes to describing ourselves, those tight little boxes aren’t a quick, easy read. Suddenly they’re constricting. How do we sum ourselves up in a way that is witty, honest, appealing and makes people want to get to know us?
How would you feel if a casual acquaintance had the ability to write your social media posts? And not your PR representative or some agent for whatever services you offer; just ordinary people around you. And imagine if it wasn’t social media but just a page. All about you. Written by others.
This is the premise of the app Peeple, created by two best friends to serve some purpose that escapes me. I happened upon it in an article online, and my initial frown of, “Is that seriously a thing?” only grew into a grimace. Peeple’s function is similar to that of Yelp, except instead of rating businesses, you get to rate people – specifically on a personal, professional and dating spectrum.
And to be honest, I can kind of get behind part of the basic concept. I am a big proponent of the saying, “A good man can brag about himself, but a great man has others brag for him.” In some ways, Peeple fits that bill. But the rest of the app’s flaws gape open in such a way that any minor appreciation means next to nothing.
Sure, social media can be a lot of, “Look at me! I like having fun,” which at this point is one of the most banal and uninteresting things one can say in an online environment that is inherently social. You use social media to connect with friends, and here’s a picture to prove that you are doing just that. Plus, we can all use some honesty. People aren’t particularly inclined to own up to their so-called “baggage” openly. But whatever baggage people perceive in others should NOT be called out publicly.
Maybe you’ve had a bad day for whatever reason and have been forced into a social interaction that you want no part of. The person is clearly engaging with you and your attempts at polite laughter fall through. It becomes obvious to both you and your companion that you don’t care for the conversation. Now imagine if that person left a nasty remark on your Peeple page. Something along the lines of, “Seems approachable but is standoffish during conversation!”
We all have moments in our lives that we are not proud of, and it is incredibly stupid and unwarranted to even have the idea that those moments would follow us around in any way besides in the minds of those who were immediately involved.
There are people who I don’t know very well but avoid because of things that my friends have told me about them. Now imagine that immature practice applied on a massive scale. I know that Peeple would not be strictly hateful and damaging comments, but it would be harmful gossip that was permanently available.
I know that I already overthink many of my social interactions. If there’s a hint of awkwardness in a conversation, my brain goes into overdrive trying to think of a way to ease the tension that only I might see. But even if the conversation doesn’t end well, I rest easy knowing it probably wasn’t that big of a deal, and that next time things will be easier.
The importance of self-discovery and improvement might be aided by Peeple, but it can also be very damaging. Suddenly you might be known as “that guy that did that thing” or maybe you’re showered with praise and you let it go to your head.
Even though we are our own biggest critics, that doesn’t mean that hearing it from someone else is going to make things any better.
Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu.
Shout shows are awful
By Jeffrey Langan, Columnist | Sunday, September 27, 2015 8:56 PM
I cannot stand watching short form debates on TV. These playfully named “shout shows” are a great way to bring in viewers but a horribly irresponsible method of handling on air arguments. Two or more more people representing different positions come together, hopefully boasting research, academic study and life experience to help educate the opposition on their point of view.
Sounds like grounds for an informative and maybe even entertaining look at an issue that affects society! Hopes of this get tossed out the window quickly. The cameras are locked in on the faces of the pundits, whose frustration fills up the screen as what might have been better suited for a conversation over dinner turns into a catfight.
Rather than witnessing an argument from afar, the viewer is pulled into the intimacy of the argument, highlighted by the tight camera angles and feels the tension of the conversation without even being present. In short, even if they aren’t incredibly interested, watching the conversation-turned-confrontation play out onscreen delivers the same adrenaline rush one would feel while watching two friends fighting. Like a trainwreck, the viewers can’t turn away.
With a short time allotted for a given segment, viewers watch as the “debate” becomes the same renowned experts dropping any sort of polite professionalism as they struggle to persuade the viewer over the ruckus what the “debate” is.
And yes, it is entertaining. When you watch a debate air with a position or bias in mind, the short-form argument is turned into a verbal boxing match, and when you have someone to root for, that makes it all the more exciting. The match is relatively short and the participants have to come out with big swings and uppercuts. They can’t afford to dance around the ring for a few minutes because they don’t have that kind of time.
But it does a great amount of damage to both sides of the argument. Moderation does not play well on TV, a Dude-like response of “Well, that’s just, like, your opinion, man,” will not draw in the ratings and certainly won’t bring interest. The loudest voice in the room might be the least secure, but it sure is fun to listen to, even if it’s just so that the viewer can yell back at the TV in frustration.
However, when you bring in multiple loud voices, it often leads viewers to root for their own side and see the same incivility in the opponent and attribute it to the pundit simply being ‘annoying’ and ‘full of himself.’
A study conducted by scholar Diana C. Mutz and published in the American Political Science Review examined the effects of the so-called “shout shows” on the general public. What they found was that “uncivil exchanges of political views featuring tight close-up shots generated the strongest emotional reactions from viewers and the most attention.” In addition, the viewer’s ability to recall the arguments made was “enhanced by incivility and close up camera perspectives.”
At the same time, “the uncivil expression of views reinforced viewers’ tendency to de-legitimize oppositional views.” So even though the shout shows brought in viewers, the purpose of the argument, to share perspective and make people think critically, is lost.
This is why shout shows need to go. There is already enough in the news.
This sets an extremely poisonous example as to how conversations and arguments should play out. Confidence and the ability to raise your voice over the opposition turns the discussion into a Might makes Right situation.
Because the shout shows draw such crowds, I think that they present a challenge for the general public. When people watch the compacted and sometimes vicious nature of on air arguments, they will be less likely to engage in arguments themselves. Who wants to discuss their developing thoughts on the grey areas in life when when someone on TV is already telling you what to think.
Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu.
What college taught us
By Jeffrey Langan, Opinions Editor | Wednesday, May 18, 2016 8:16 PM
Reflection pieces can be easy to start and difficult to finish, or difficult on both ends.
So I thought I’d get a little help. This week I was assigned to write a piece to the tune of “College taught me…” I initially just reached out to my fellow seniors, but then I spread out to anyone who has ever been a part of college. Everyone that responded to my query confirmed that they were a much different person coming into college than they are now, and this was exactly what I wanted to tap into and explore.
But how do you explore a topic like college? There are a million different ways to go through college, which is another big reason I decided to ask people about their experiences. Here’s what I found.
College starts out scary. Even if the social environment is booming and exciting, it’s nerve wracking.
A lot of college relies on you. For much of our lives we are told what is best for us by the people who are older than us. And they’re still there, but in college we have way more freedom to work with. And we’re asked that question that we love to ponder but might dread actually answering, “What do you want to do?”
Some of us have known since we were kids. And that doesn’t even mean that we still won’t change our minds. I remember showing up to an education class on the first day of sophomore year and being nervous because I already had English, communications, and psychology up in the air for possible majors. I wanted to explore, but I wanted to feel a sense of direction.
The biggest message that I got from everyone that I reached out to and who reached out to me was the importance of feeling comfortable being uncomfortable. It can even happen in the classroom: You declare a major in an area that you are interested in and want to excel at, but you become aware that you are nowhere near the smartest person in the room. And sometimes that’s fine, but sometimes when hours of effort yields subpar grades, you start to feel lost.
Feeling lost sucks. Especially when the days turn to weeks and sometimes even to months. Even if stability feels monotonous, losing purpose in any area of life can take the spring out of your step, literally or metaphorically. But when that happens, it’s important to keep a few things in mind.
“I learned that mental and physical health are more important than school.”
“I learned that college ISN’T actually the best four years of your life.”
Those are two quotes from Facebook responses that I received after asking my soon-to-be graduating class what college taught them. Whether it’s ambition or not taking care of yourself in general, it’s important to make sure that we don’t run ourselves into the ground. Balancing classes, jobs, volunteering, internships, intramurals, social life, etc. can be overwhelming. Even if it does provide you with a sense of purpose that does not mean that it should run your life. Take a break.
And for those who really loved college, I would encourage you to not dismiss the second quote as bitter. The idea of greeting the real world comes with the image of a cubicle and a nervous laugh of: “I don’t know how to adult.” When we go from taking class with our friends, eating with our friends, living with our friends and spending weekends with them, the thought of leaving that behind is just as scary as starting college was to begin with.
Even if the biggest lesson you learned in college was how to get through college, there are so many aspects to the college experience that it seems impossible you didn’t learn something important, whether it was the best of times or the worst of times for you. Feeling lost is difficult, especially when you are expected to (with some help of course) put yourself back on the horse.
Jeffrey Langan can be reached at lang5466@stthomas.edu
