Growing With Art

Monday is my TV day, for whatever reason.

There's only one show I watch every week, NBC's Chuck. Occasionally, I'll follow that up with some CW action in the form of Gossip Girl.

Now, neither of these are astounding shows. The former is a somewhat convoluted, somewhat aimless mish mash of genres that relies on the immeasurable charisma of its actors. The latter is complete early-20s melodrama that people watch because it's a new-school soap opera, with prettier people and somewhat better actors.

So, I know these shows aren't the best, so why do I watch them?

Find out after the jump.




The truth is, I'm not entirely sure, other than force of habit, I suppose. But there's also the fact that I started watching these shows at their onsets, essentially from the pilot on, though with both it took me until later to add them to my regular viewing schedule. I liked the pilots of both shows right off. Chuck was funny and nerdy and still had some sweet action and there was definite chemistry between the two leads right off. Gossip Girl was less trashy than it would become, and far more scathing; there was a self-awareness to each character's awful actions that gave it a (maybe false) sense of depth.

My point is, I think that becoming indoctrinated to these shows early has caused two things. First, a sense of kinship or a bond with the show, where it changes as I change. Second, a tendency to forgive its grievous shortcomings because of that kinship.

We grow attached to the art we grow with. Look at the Harry Potter series as an example, both the books and the movies. For many, Harry grew up with them in an almost literal sense. As they aged, he aged with them, and as their concerns changed, so did Harry's. The kids who read were wide-eyed with wonder at the existence of Sorcerer's Stone's magical world were old and less naive by the time Deathly Hallows rolled around, and the book and movie reflected that change. It was a symbiotic relationship.

It's a thing only possible with serial art forms. Television has the most consistent shot at this type of partnership, closely followed by comic books, then trailed by movie series' and book series'. If a work hits us at the right time, the passage of time necessary to creating the next piece of art in the series ensures that the author of the work-- and thus the work itself-- will grow much like our own lives are. And that bond is pretty unbreakable.

With that in mind, I'm going to sit down and watch Chuck. It won't be great, but it'll be mine.