TV choices
As I've mentioned before on this blog, during law school, I watch a lot of tv. Recently, not as much. But, usually, when I do turn on the tv, I can't turn it off. When I turn the tv on to surf, this is usually the order of the channels : VH1, E!, Comedy Central, the L word (on demand) (so, showtime), and if necessary, MTV. I've realized after living in close quarters with people that usually they have a few channels that they would call their staples. When I lived with Doug, he would always watch the National Geographic channel or the discovery channel or other science things. When Kirk comes over (to use me for my cable...) he always watches the history channel, the military channel or VH1 classic rock.
Our tv choices reflect what we like, what we want to know about, what is easy for us to absorb or what entertains us.
So, last night, my friend Kim called me to tell me about this show on BET called College Hill. It's a lot like the real world, except it takes place on HBCU campuses (HBCU = Historically Black Colleges and Universities). I think that I may have blogged about this but in case not, at the beginning of the summer, I had no idea what an HBCU was. I knew there were all-black colleges, Howard being the most famous. But an acronym? I had no idea. I felt racist and ignorant.
Kim called me to tell me about College Hill and to let me know that it shows what an HBCU is like to attend (although she gave me the disclaimer that like any reality tv show, its exaggerated and over-drama-filled). I thought it was so thoughtful that she called me and I was excited to watch. But, I had to ask her...wait, what channel is BET?
Now, don't get me wrong. I hardly know any channels. I know that MTV is 24, I know that I watch Jeopardy on 12. I think VH1 is around 44 and E! is like 56. But all the other channels, I know "around" where they are. True, like what cell phones does for friends' numbers, cable television does for channels: you never have to remember anything anymore. I remember there was a time in my life when I had the whole tv guide (that paper book that comes out weekly) memorized. My mom would show my (pathetic) knowledge off to her friends. Still, I had no idea where to even look for BET. Kim told me it was channel 77 and hung up the phone. Maybe she didn't notice, but my ignorance irked me (is this subconscious racism or was I subconsciously taking advantage of my privileged status b/c "white" channels are all over the tv...we don't have to turn to 77 if we don't want to...). I felt uncomfortable.
Anyway, I watched College Hill and like all bad-yet-so-good television, I'm addicted. As I said, it's like the Real World. Except there is a much more addicting characteristic because you get to see these people's real lives. They aren't in some random city, they are at their college. So, you get to see one character trying to balance his life on the show with basketball practice; one person in the band (or dancing?); one person always with a book on her bed... Oh wait, and everyone in the house is black except for one guy who is white (and who loves ninja turtles stuff). The girls say, though, despite him being Caucasian, he has a lot of flavor.
I guess this is season three of College Hill (...which again makes me feel awkward b/c I only heard about it last night...). But, I definitely know that it will turn into a bad (yet satisfying) habit.
Our tv choices reflect what we like, what we want to know about, what is easy for us to absorb or what entertains us.
So, last night, my friend Kim called me to tell me about this show on BET called College Hill. It's a lot like the real world, except it takes place on HBCU campuses (HBCU = Historically Black Colleges and Universities). I think that I may have blogged about this but in case not, at the beginning of the summer, I had no idea what an HBCU was. I knew there were all-black colleges, Howard being the most famous. But an acronym? I had no idea. I felt racist and ignorant.
Kim called me to tell me about College Hill and to let me know that it shows what an HBCU is like to attend (although she gave me the disclaimer that like any reality tv show, its exaggerated and over-drama-filled). I thought it was so thoughtful that she called me and I was excited to watch. But, I had to ask her...wait, what channel is BET?
Now, don't get me wrong. I hardly know any channels. I know that MTV is 24, I know that I watch Jeopardy on 12. I think VH1 is around 44 and E! is like 56. But all the other channels, I know "around" where they are. True, like what cell phones does for friends' numbers, cable television does for channels: you never have to remember anything anymore. I remember there was a time in my life when I had the whole tv guide (that paper book that comes out weekly) memorized. My mom would show my (pathetic) knowledge off to her friends. Still, I had no idea where to even look for BET. Kim told me it was channel 77 and hung up the phone. Maybe she didn't notice, but my ignorance irked me (is this subconscious racism or was I subconsciously taking advantage of my privileged status b/c "white" channels are all over the tv...we don't have to turn to 77 if we don't want to...). I felt uncomfortable.
Anyway, I watched College Hill and like all bad-yet-so-good television, I'm addicted. As I said, it's like the Real World. Except there is a much more addicting characteristic because you get to see these people's real lives. They aren't in some random city, they are at their college. So, you get to see one character trying to balance his life on the show with basketball practice; one person in the band (or dancing?); one person always with a book on her bed... Oh wait, and everyone in the house is black except for one guy who is white (and who loves ninja turtles stuff). The girls say, though, despite him being Caucasian, he has a lot of flavor.
I guess this is season three of College Hill (...which again makes me feel awkward b/c I only heard about it last night...). But, I definitely know that it will turn into a bad (yet satisfying) habit.
posted by mjs at
8:56 PM
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