Streaming of TV and Movies: Why I Decided to Cut Back

I call myself a pop culture junkie because I’m into a lot of pop culture things, especially in the entertainment industry. An example is how I love watching movies and TV shows via streaming sites. At one point I think I was watching so many shows and movies that I was losing sleep from being a couch potato. There were just too many things on my “To Watch” list and there wasn’t enough time. It didn’t help that I was watching too many shows that had too much action/violence and depressing topics. It was taking a toll on me and I just could not take it anymore. I needed to cut back and have more positive thoughts in my mind.  

Image by DanFa from Pixabay

Taking a step back and looking at the list of shows that I’ve been watching, I realized that I was watching way too much of crime shows. People getting murdered, abused and being victims of various types of crime and experiencing an assortment of trauma is not exactly the kind of thing that promotes positive thinking so that was out of the question. Ditto with shows featuring secret agents and other similar shows.  

I was watching a bunch of superhero shows too. While they did involve heroes saving the day and all that, they did involve a lot of dark themes that I felt was not good for me either.  

You know what I realized after weeding a lot of shows off? There are very few shows that have a feel-good theme. Everything just seems so depressing these days. At this point the only superhero, crime or drama show that I watch tends to be the type that puts in a lot of humor and/or light-heartedness into their show and those shows that I enjoy I can count with one hand (and one of them recently got cancelled). But frankly, it’s been a good thing. I don’t lose sleep from too much TV anymore and I LOVE IT. Couch potato mode is off right now for me.

Image by xxolgaxx from Pixabay

In a way I guess this is me doing a Marie Kondo on the type of media that I take on. If I feel it will spark joy for me, I will watch it or read it but if it will only make me feel bad then I’d rather not do it, no matter how popular any of these books or shows or movies may be with everyone else. I think that there is far too much bad news already in the real world that causes too much anxiety for me to add on to it with depressingly dark-themed entertainment fare.  It feels good to let go of something that was contributing to my feeling so down lately.

It’s nice having more time to do other things than just binge-watching shows to catch up on what everyone else have been talking about. With me ignoring the whole FOMO thing and taking time for my other interests, I suddenly feel like there is not enough time. I can’t help but feel like there are so many other things that I loved that were sacrificed for TV/movies. That I really need to do the other things that I love again and rediscover who I really am apart from my obsession with binge watching.  

Watching too many things on my tablet or on TV has been such a waste of my time. What do I have to show for what I gave my time to? Nothing. Totally unproductive use of my time that won’t matter in the long run. I’d really like to change that and make time for the other things that I’ve ignored for so long like yoga, art, writing and my little experiments in the kitchen. I’ve always wanted to plant some fruits and veggies at home but never found the time. Maybe now I can finally do that. It might actually be a more relaxing and fulfilling alternative compared to what I used to waste my time on.  

As I read somewhere before: “Life is short. Do the things.” I leave you all with my wish that you may lead a fulfilling and productive existence and find happiness in discovering yourself through your daily life (and things). Let’s all take it literally people, let’s LIVE! 

Netflix Rom Com Review: Isn't It Romantic?

I’ve always loved watching movies, but lately I watch them from streaming services like Netflix more than I do in the cinema. Most of the time my movie reviews would be from films I’ve caught via streaming, like this romantic comedy called Isn’t It Romantic, starring Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, Priyanka Chopra and Adam Devine.

In the movie, Rebel Wilson plays Natalie, who hits her head and is suddenly caught up in an alternate world where everything is full of clichés from romantic comedies.  She suddenly lives in an apartment she obviously cannot afford, falls in love with a very handsome man played by Liam Hemsworth and even her close friend (Adam Devine) finds love with the gorgeous Priyanka Chopra. 

I how the movie peels off each cliché from rom-coms one by one as Natalie starts adapting to her new environment. I was laughing most at the part where she is about to sleep with Blake (Hemsworth) and it keeps skipping to the morning-after scene because her rom-com universe is PG, as proven also by how it bleeps all of her curse words whenever she says them.  

The movie isn’t anything life-changing, but it was entertaining and funny to watch. It reminded me of 80s Pinoy feel-good movies that also had musical numbers like the one this movie had at the end. Like most rom coms, this one had a predictable ending (which I will not spoil for those people who intend to watch the film on Netflix) but as a parody of the genre, I think that it was to be expected. Still, I must be honest and say this is not a movie that I would be happy to watch again. Once is enough. 

Despite my feelings for the movie, I did appreciate the cinematography and the whole setup of the film. The difference between Natalie’s real world and her romantic comedy world was like day and night. The colors, the vibe of both worlds was very diverse, and it made the dream world style of Natalie’s romantic comedy life stand out. I also found the whole gay best friend character a little too much. I know it was supposed to be one of those clichés, but I thought he was portrayed a little too exaggerated for me.  Natalie said it herself in their first scene together, he was an offensive version of a gay guy. I did not like that.  

Rebel Wilson is naturally funny, often self-deprecating, but also very lovable in the movie. Liam Hemsworth, on the other hand, while he did look good in the movie and you could tell that he was having fun with the role, he just isn’t as charming or as funny as his older brother Chris (sorry, after seeing him be funny in the Marvel movies, it’s hard not to appreciate his comedic chops).  I didn’t really like Adam Devine in this movie. I felt that he didn’t have that much to do with his role, he just stayed in the background for the most part. I did, however, like seeing Priyanka Chopra in a comedic role. I think I’ve seen too much of her being broody on Quantico and being a villain in Baywatch that I forgot that she could still have a fun side to her.  

My favorite part of the movie was the whole musical scene/showdown between Priyanka and Rebel to the tune of I Wanna Dance with Somebody. I’ve always loved that song and it was an entertaining scene. It reminded me a bit of the Thriller number on 13 Going on 30. It just had that vibe. 

Would I recommend this movie to anyone? Yes, probably to people who have the time to spare and who aren’t expecting much from the movie other than some laughs, some music and a little romance. Otherwise, you can just skip this one and watch something else.  

My Online Dating Experience

As a single person, I’ve often received comments about when I will ever get married. Either that or people would want to set me up with someone (something that I don’t really like). Living in the province where I am stuck in my home-work-home existence, dating just isn’t possible unless I were willing to succumb to the inevitable: joining online dating sites. I've mentioned this on a previous post, but this time I want to share some of my recent experiences with online dating apps. 

There are a couple of people who I know personally who have tried and successfully found someone via online dating apps and I am very happy for them. As someone who abhors the idea of being set up or going on a blind date, this is something that is a bit scary for me. I have tried this in the past, to the point where I was chatting with this English/Turkish guy who is in town for modeling gigs (and looked a bit like Adam Levine, I kid you not) but as soon as the topic got into actually meeting up, I realized that I couldn’t so that didn’t end well. The only other time that I was in an online dating app was when I found out that Michael Vartan was on Tinder. Again, another fail on my part since I didn’t find him (even if I subscribed so that I could view people who were in the LA area where he’s based).  

Image by athree23 from Pixabay

Now that I’m in my 40s the clamor from “well meaning” friends and relatives for me to meet someone to marry (or at the very least, have a child with) is at an all-time high. I decided that it wouldn’t hurt to give the online dating thing another try so I signed up for Bumble and Facebook Dating then logged in again to Tinder and OK Cupid . 

Honestly, my interest with Facebook Dating was only so that I could see what it was about. I decided not to put a photo of me – it was just my name, age and location that was on there. I thought it was a little bit creepy that most of the options being presented to me looked like creepy guys who could pass for goons in Filipino action movies. I would have signed off from the feature completely if not for the fact that I also signed up for the Secret Crush feature, where you could name your Facebook friend that you have a crush on. If he happens to be on FB Dating and lists you as his crush too, that would be a match. There are two guys that I have a crush on who are on my friends list. So far, no matches for me in that area. Either they are not on Facebook Dating (which, from the looks of things they are probably not) or they do not have a crush on me (which I would rather not think about right now). I’m giving myself until the end of the year for this one – unless I get more of creepy likes from people who, for some weird reason, think I am their match even if my photo is a cartoon of the cast of The Game of Thrones. 

There have been no matches for me on Bumble either. But I do like the setup of the app. I like how they don’t put in an unlimited number of options for you in one go. They also have a feature where they can validate if you are a real person and not someone out to do some cat fishing in the app. The profile setup is also very helpful in weeding out which person you would want to swipe right to (even if I haven’t done that yet). 

I had a match on Tinder. I got the notification of a Fil-Am studying medicine matching with me, but I decided not to reply to his message right away. He then disappeared from my end of the app. Oh well. It’s not that bad considering that most of the guys I’ve seen on Tinder seem to only want to hook up (the shirtless and low-waist photos are a giveaway). There’s one guy on there that I think is my type, but I was too chicken to swipe right since it seems he is only here for a while (ergo he might only be looking for a hookup too) so I did the next best thing: I subscribed to his YouTube channel. Knowing me I will find some kind of thing I don’t like about the guy and unsubscribe in a few weeks.  

Lastly, I have been on OK Cupid again because that is where a friend of mine found his current girlfriend/partner. BUT, like Tinder there are so many guys out there who are only into hookups. Some are even married and confidently say that they are there because they are not into monogamy (something you can put in your profile apparently). I’ve received about 50+ likes and messages from the app but since I haven’t subscribed to it, I don’t get to see the messages or who these people are. I’ve only liked a couple of guys in there, one of whom is someone I knew (and I just wanted to say, aha!) and another who is the only guy so far on that onslaught of options who I can say is my type. Sadly, that guy I picked out has been online and hasn’t been a match, so I guess I’m not his type.  

I was talking to a friend of mine who was also single, and I vented out my frustrations about not finding a match on the dating apps. I was worried that I set my standards too high, but this person reminded me that I needed to have those standards to find the kind of person that I would actually want to be with. One thing I realized now that I’ve looked back on my “journey” is that I probably won’t find the right person for me on these apps. If I haven’t found him in the last couple of months that I’ve signed up, I probably won’t find that person in those apps at all.

The whole thing got me to thinking if I was only doing this because this was something people expected of me. I kept having all these excuses and apprehensions whenever there was a guy I was thinking of swiping right to. I ended up not swiping right at all. Then all these thoughts of maybe not being a relationship person or being a commitment-phobe comes flooding in.

As I've said in my earlier post on online dating, maybe I’m just not the type to be involved with someone. I don’t know for sure. I’m fine on my own. Yes, it would be nice to have someone but I really don’t know if I am capable of being in a relationship after being single and independent for so long. 

I remember telling a friend that if I were to be with someone, I wanted it to be something that happened naturally. If it’s going to happen then it’s going to happen. Maybe I should just leave it at that and let go of these apps.

As the Florida Georgia Line song goes, “If it’s meant to be, it will be, baby just let it be.”

Signing off the apps now.