In most of my PLA blog posts, I at least try a little bit to sound intellectual and have valuable insights to share about whatever topic we are discussing in class, or I try to be genuine and express whatever existential crisis I’m going through that week. Yet this doesn’t really give me a chance to express how trashy I am. I am a sucker for reality television (True Confession: I watched every episode of Here Comes Honey Boo when it was airing on TLC). I like to think of myself as a erudite, accomplished college student, but I’m also the kid who watched way too much Dog the Bounty Hunter and Big Brother in high school. I have a weakness for sensationalist pop culture. So let me share with you my two most recent kind-of-trashy obsessions…
First, over Winter Break, I watched all of A&E’s Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath. To put it bluntly, I am utterly fascinated by the Church of Scientology. In 8th grade, I did a world religion report on it, and for my Rhetoric and Civic Life class last fall, I made an 8-minute video about the controversy surrounding the Church. In her show, Leah Remini talks about her own public break from Scientology and all the inner workings of the church, alongside former “face of Scientology” Mike Rinder. The two of them travel across the country interviewing families who had their lives broken up by Scientology. I won’t get into the depths of Scientology’s abuses, because I kind of think I might be on a Scientology watchlist after posting my RCL video on Youtube… Anyway, after watching the whole series, I came back to school, went to the library to find a book to read, and stumbled upon Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright; within a week, I had read all 448 pages and started having dreams that I was being tailed by Scientology operatives. Nonetheless, I can’t explain my fascination with Scientology, a religion where the head of the church hangs out with Tom Cruise on the regular.
My other new thing is a podcast called Missing Richard Simmons, which I downloaded and started to listen to on the flight to Seattle. You know Richard Simmons, the exercise guru that goes on TV and yells about fitness? Yeah, he’s been missing for 3 years. Not officially, of course – both his publicist and the LAPD say that he’s fine. But many of his close friends and regulars to his exercise class “Slimmons” haven’t heard from him since February 2014. So Richard’s friend Dan Taberski took it upon himself to create a 6-episode investigative podcast to uncover where he is. Theories for Richard’s disappearance include: recovering from a knee-injury, grieving the death of his dog, and being held hostage by his housekeeper/friend/alleged-witch Theresa. There has been some pushback surrounding this podcast by critics who think that Taberski is invading Richard’s privacy. People are allowed to disappear and stop talking to people; there’s nothing illegal about that. But to the people that knew Richard, he would never do that. He was incredibly friendly, caring, and empathetic who genuinely valued his friends and their lives. So for him to disappear suddenly doesn’t seem natural. I’ve been listening to this podcast since Seattle and have told way too many people about it. 10/10 would recommend – the final episode comes out on Wednesday.
In short, if you have any trashy reality TV shows or sensationalist guilty-pleasures, hit me up.
The first step is admitting you have a problem, right? Well, Hi, my Name is Candice Nicole Crutchfield and I am a recovering Glee addict. Yes, it’s true — from to the first episode of singing and dancing in 2009 to the final (and rather unimpressive) episode in 2015, I was glued to my television screen pretending I suddenly had talent and dancing around my living room like I was living a high school musical fantasy. I’m not even kidding, I still own every Glee album do date, piano sheet music, and if I looked hard enough, I could probably find my collection of t-shirts. Ugh, I can’t believe I’m sharing this with the internet world but I legitimately bought Glee concert tickets but ended up not being able to go. I was disappointed but instead, I just went to see the Glee movie at my local theater. Tragic.
Looking back on it now, I’m nowhere near as obsessed. Yes, I still follow a large portion of the cast on social media, but all of the posters, fan letters, and obsessive merchandise have been phased out. Not going to lie though, if there was ever a Glee marathon on TV, I’d probably go out of my way to watch it….
Well here we are, now we know a little bit more abut Candice. My high school self could’ve easily appeared on my strange addictions. As far as current guilty pleasures and trashy TV shows go, I low key watch old episodes of Keeping up with the Kardashians and Real Housewives of Atlanta because I live for other people’s drama. LOL, thank you for writing this — it was a pleasure to read and I actually feel a lot better about my weird TV habits.
I am in agreement with Sumit. I was scrolling through and once I came upon your post, I just knew I had to scroll no further. And I was right because your post was both amusing and insightful! Goals. But really, I also second what Cecilia said about how it’s great to own up to your guilty pleasures. Mine, for one, is reading those really teen angst novels. But I only get them on my Kindle so noone can actually see me read them :p Those “trashy” pastimes are really great for unwinding and passing the time, though, so everything plays its own part in our lives. In terms of TV, usually I watch shows like Criminal Minds, Scandal, TWD, or The Office, but I might have to give that Scientology one a go, maybe learn something new. Thanks for sharing, Ryan!
Nat
Oh, also – I saw a GIF of Honey Boo Boo saying she had chicken nugget powers and I related to that on such a spiritual level. However, I couldn’t find the clip on youtube, and I don’t know if it’s from Toddlers and Tiaras or Honey Boo Boo’s show. If you know, please let tell me, I need to see it!! P.S. I just read that she had named her pet chicken Nugget, and PETA asked her to rename it “Not a nugget” and I’m cry.
Ryan,
I love this! As much as we don’t always admit it, I’m pretty sure we all have a sort of guilty pleasure that we wouldn’t exactly bring up in class with President Barron. For me, I cannot miss an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, even though I know it is a completely inaccurate portrayal of how doctors act in real life. I’m glad you brought this topic up. And just so you know, you do not sound trashy at all; this was a very insightful post!
Jane
Ryan,
I want to say that I really appreciate this post because you talk about the fear that students have, or any individuals, for that matter, about seeming unintelligent, or unintellectual, if they watch reality TV or any other “trashy” television shows; however, I think all humans have a guilty pleasure, and whether it’s reading a book like Gone Girl or Fifty Shades of Grey, or watching Honey Boo Boo, we all have weaknesses we can’t resist. I think it’s powerful to be able to admit to it, and to own it.
This TITLE got me! I agree 100 emoji and think we all should have group trashy nights (you know what I mean). I love podcasts, so I will try Missing Richard Simmons!
Thank you for your insightful, reflective post.
Sumit