Socializing is weird. I’m starting to notice that most of my conversations, in groups, turn toward the latest episodes of this that or the other series provided by the plethora of streaming services available today. It causes me to wonder if we’re uncomfortable talking about ourselves so much that we hide behind the characters in our shows. Even then, I don’t think most conversations go that deep into the shows being discussed. It’s more so about saying you watched something than it is about unpacking the show and what you enjoyed about it. 

I’m not the only one noticing this phenomenon. I read this quote to back up my belief:

“This style of bourgeois signaling [by sharing all of the articles, movies, and books you read] makes me think of the Portlandia skit in which the conversation over dinner circles around asking one another “did you read” [this longform article from this esteemed publication] without ever actually discussing the contents of the articles. What ultimately matters is being the sort of person who reads longform articles and talks about them at dinner, not actually reading them.”

Calling out other people’s conversations about their media consumption is a bit hypocritical of me. I notice these conversations about television shows (or longform articles) and contribute as much as anyone else. Hell, I have a newsletter that’s pretty much all about what I’ve read and watched in the last month (just like many others out there). The quote above is, to me, a lot like when the older fish asks the younger fish, “How’s the water?” and the younger fish responds, “What’s water?” I’m swimming in the currents of culture like everyone else and am not often aware of its effects on me.

I have a question that I’ve asked some friends that feels appropriate to share here: What are we doing that we wouldn’t be doing if everybody else wasn’t doing it? Would we be watching nearly as much Netflix? Would that article on the latest diet fad seem so appealing? I don’t know. But I think it’s helpful to ask myself.

Source: Petersen, Anne Helen. “The Wages of Productivity.” The Collected Ahp, 12 Jan. 1970, annehelen.substack.com/p/the-wages-of-productivity.