For some it’s listening to popular tween music, even though you’re an adult. (Hey, Miley Cyrus’s Party in the USA is really catchy!) For others, it’s preferring movies like The Hangover (it did win a Golden Globe last night!) to those that are gaining Oscar buzz (Hurt Locker what, what?) For others, it’s burying your nose in a rag mag instead of Time or Newsweek. (Hey, we all need to be up-to-date on really important things like Kate’s new hair extensions!) And dare I say it about my favorite genre of books...but for many, it’s choosing to read a Chick Lit or a Women’s Fiction novel on the Barnes & Noble bestseller list (like Nicholas Sparks’s Dear John) instead of a political book like Game Change (although it does sound like a really juicy read!).
Well for me, I’m proud to admit to the world that I’m guilty of all of the above, plus some!
My name is Lisa Steinke and I have a profound love of everything and anything mind-numbing and non-brain challenging. And I LOVE to yap about it.
(Say in unison: Hello, Lisa!)
My soapbox probably has the most wear and tear from the times I’ve stepped up on it to profess my undying love for one of my favorite trivial recreations, watching reality TV. You should’ve seen me when I discovered The Jersey Shore. You would’ve thought I’d found the holy grail of dramatic fluff. I had no idea that watching people called Snickers and The Situation blab about tanning could be so rewarding!
And tonight, like every Monday night, I’ll cozy up by the fire not to watch the news or read the paper but to absorb every second of the fantastic frivolity that is The Bachelor. The ridiculous rose ceremonies! The catty catfights! The plastic surgery! It’s all so delicious. And I’ve often enjoyed watching shows like this with someone in my life (who shall remain nameless) UNTIL RECENTLY when he declared that he would no longer be joining me on the couch to watch The Bachelor—even in the privacy of my living room (something about maintaining “man cred”).
My trash-TV loving heart sank. Would I be left to banter about Bachelor Jake’s high-waisted dad jeans with some random tweeps on Twitter? Was my nameless friend also going to stop sitting on pins and needles with me as we waited for Heidi to tell us who was in and who was out? Could I also forget his sideline commentary about Posh Spice’s dire need for a cookie? I looked at my nameless friend and lectured, “You can come out of the reality TV watching closet. You no longer need to be afraid to admit you love the fluff.” Then I reminded him that shows like 60 Minutes or the Nightly News only bring you down. And who wants that when you can have a front row seat to women vying for a rose and crying about wanting Jake’s babies after only knowing him for five minutes. (And need I remind them that dad jeans are so not sexy!)
It’s sad really. People like my friend. Maybe even people like you. Who think you have to hide your secret love because you worry about being mocked or judged. What’s wrong with admitting that you’re much more interested in what’s happening on riveting shows like The Ace Of Cakes than hearing about what Larry King has to say?
Nothing!
We all work so hard that a little (or for people like me, a lot) of escape is understandable. So, at the end of a long day, whether you choose to conform your bootie to the couch cushion to watch guidos grease up or twenty-five botox injected singles fighting for one man…instead of watching CNN… Or you choose to curl up with your favorite Kinsella, Giffin, or Weiner Chick Lit classic instead of something more serious like a biography or a historical novel, make no apologies! Because it’s time to step out of your closets and be proud of what you love! Escape is escape no matter how you choose to do it.
xoxo -- Lisa
What's your guilty book/movie/show escape? C'mon, tell me...this is a no-judgement blog...
Lisa Steinke, along with her best friend Liz Fenton, co-authored the chick lit novel I’ll Have Who She’s Having and co-created the popular Chick Lit blog, Chick Lit is Not Dead.
