Category: Art

When it takes a year of patience and waiting, to watch a show you love, you really get tested on two things: self control & loyalty.

Self control- with everything available, online, it can be hard not to ask questions, or dig for information.

loyalty- a year is a long time. losing interest wouldn’t be that tough.

This Sunday is the Golden Globes. {Yay!} i mention this because, roughly five or six years ago, I was one of the many who criticize the globes for giving the majority of “wins” to premium channel series… I would be the one rooting strongly for an ABC or NBC favorite, when suddenly HBO’s Six Feet Under (for example) would be announced… Their weird little techno theme song would fill the air and I would throw my fist against my knee in frustration. {confession: i get wayyy too involved.} Having only ever seen Sex and the City {Which, incidentally had lots of sex, and lots of city} I was convinced that the reason these shows were winning is because they had few rules and could show all of the immorality they wanted. Then, one evening we were perusing through the high def- cable channels and wondering what was so special about them anyway- {note inserted to point out that we are not as critical and negative as this post is making us-me- sound} when Peter Krause appeared on my TV. He was having dinner with what appeared to be his family. Instantly, the critic in me was captivated by every ounce of essence this show had. I need to point out here that I wasn’t even captivated by the shows I did watch, so for me to know nothing about these characters or what was actually going on- and be so “tuned in”- was a big deal. Turns out that, when the credits rolled about 6 minutes later, the show was none other than my Golden Globes nemisis- Six Feet Under…

About a week later I was diagnosed with the early stages of an aggressive form of breast cancer. I was put on a weird medication that made me a little lethargic and super depressed, (or maybe the diagnosis- which you may remember turned out to be a giant load of BS- was the cause of the depression… who knows, anyway-) I couldn’t get that show out of mind, and so, i started getting the seasons from the library.

Roll your eyes, if you want, but that show {from beginning to end} walked me through the darkest days of my life. Beautiful, poignant and yes- sometimes pretty offensive {Just like life, folks, sorry to say} it inspired me to take a lot of inventory in regards to my life. It was far more than entertainment, it was engaging and relevant. And yes, it did have sex- but that never really interested me so I grew to love the chapter skip options that much more.

The United States of Tara reminded me of those dark days, this week. If you aren’t familiar with the plot- it’s basically about a woman who has Dissociative Identity Disorder. It is brilliantly written and acted {thank you John Corbin and Toni Collette} but honestly, it is remarkably relevant to my own life. I am so grateful that my husband curled up beside me, on that gold couch, to watch this one (as he chose NOT to do with SFU, the stinker) because there have been many moments that felt like my own personal therapist coming at me from the tv.