When we usually pick up the remote and crash lovingly into our crash course couch, we are usually depleted of will, spirit, and starvation. We have just come back from a gut-wrenching day of listening to our boss yell his lungs out, a gut-wrenching three hours of la homëwork, a gut-wrenching terror of bingo, or a literally gut-wrenching session of potty training.
Wherever you are, I feel your pain.

And most importantly, when we flip on our 27” flat screen we are in the mood to be entertained. Brutally, mindlessly entertained. The whole of the topic ranges from Elmo bopping to disgusting stripper gigs, but our goals are still one and the same. We are tired. We are mad. We desire blinding dopamine.

At what level of morality, friends? Because in such a mechanical abyss the end of the day gives, we know not the term named ‘chivalry.’

And isn’t that just the saddest fling. That thinking earns shows-that-humiliate skyrocketing views, and the cheapest emotional perks our fastest shortcut. Just how many have adored The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’s mean tweets readings by celebs, that one video “Pool Epic Fails,” and, on BuzzFeed, 22 Important Reminders Someone Is Having A Worse Day Than You. The Ellen Show has an abundance of scaring-celeb-sessions, which have each racked up an impressive visage—has Anne Hathaway’s disaster “flash moment” not become imprinted terribly in bright infamy?

Oh, because watching Schlinder’s List and Les Miserables is a precious pastime, but right now you are in for funny and fast.
And we haven’t even gotten to the darker bits of it all. Teen flicks (and especially adult ones) dubbed “Most Watched” or “Most Seen” all-too-often do not have morally boosting, ambiguously brilliant masterpieces by this day and age. Apologies, but too often is this the case. Like on YouTube, for example, the vids with a few unauthorized, steamy seconds of CENSORED are, face it, a lot more likely to have more views. Epic failures and eye-pleasing, generic little flybys are very much loved.

A particular phenomenon that I’ve also discovered is the media pointing this stuff out is often snuffed out. Press everywhere is often a bit afraid of showcasing this realization to the world, mostly to the cost of their stance. Which can make sense: many media organizations have livelihoods and paychecks riding on their successes. So who has actually heard “Everyone’s At ’Em” by Lily Allen on the radio? “Stupid Girls” by P!nk?
(Both highly recommended if you liked this article)

“Okaaaaaay, Ala Nova. But if you seem to know about this so much, can’t you tell us why this stuff just happens?”

Why, well, dear friend, is because of the above kickstarter to this column. And also because I am one of you all as well. There have been times I am just so freakishly tired and grumpy and unhappy and want a few frizzy endorphins before bed. There are times we don’t want to experience the deep stuff. There are times that we realize the fantastic realm of literature would kind of suck without all of the filler ranges of funny and stupid.

Because why do we indeed latch onto these kinds of ‘embarasser’ shows and books? We kind of want to know other people are suffering out there too. We want to be able to turn on a TV and point our finger and laugh at someone’s else’s mistakes for once: we’ve been so completely sucked down into our suckish lives we want to feel like we’re not the only unlucky ones as well. It’s a powerful thing, as 174 million views can be powerful proof.

So am I saying the genuinely uplifting and empowering classics of the ages are going to fade with time NOOOOOO THAT IS NOT THE CASE. At all. How much of that controversial trash has been disapproved and rained on with disappointed comments? There is still hope out there for humanity, people. All of the uplifting and empowering will always have its place. Even if it’s not at 1:49 am in the morning, when we’re spiritually aroused and as upside-down as the moon.