It turns out that Scarlett Johansson is very attractive. Until last week I was aware of the people saying complimentary things about her but I had never really seen her before, let alone been given the opportunity to make up my own mind. In short, I was told she was beautiful and I took that at face value. This post isn't really about that though; I just thought I would share my new found knowledge with you. Today I'm going to write about 'guilty pleasures' and what they mean to me.
I'm going to call last week (and to some extent, this week) a 'gap' between classes and exams. My classes have more or less finished for third year, with all that's left for me to do before summer is the exams - one can only laugh at the irony of the size of the word 'all'. I did whatever work I needed to do last week and then decided to take the heat off myself a little. I finished a book (which you'll know all about if you read my last post), watched a lot of Frasier and even found time to sit down and watch a film. I've hadn't watched a film for a while, partly because of my other commitments and partly because, when I do find the time, I can never decide what to watch. That's where my Mum comes in. She tends not to judge a film before she's watched it and so watches pretty much anything that sounds good to her - I wish I had that ability to commit sometimes!
So last week I came down for lunch after typing away all morning to find that she was about to start watching a film. I should mention that my Mum's type of film is the rom-com, family type film. I have a nasty habit with such films to sit working out how it's going to end - often this is too easy a task. Anyway, the film that she had selected for her afternoon viewing was 'We Bought a Zoo'. Not put off by the name and the fact that Matt Damon was in it, I persevered, safe in the knowledge that I could bail at any time. I stayed for the duration and ended up quite enjoying it.
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| Johansson and Damon in 'We Bought a Zoo' - don't watch it if you care what other people think about you. |
I won't insult you by telling you what it was about - for more information see title of film. I did that thing where I predict what's going to happen which irked my Mum somewhat but I settled down and, although I made a few snide remarks, I found myself fairly content to be spending my time watching this film. It helped very much that Scarlett Johansson was on the screen every couple of minutes I suppose, but it had it's funny moments as well. This genre of film (which I've not really given any time to since high school or even before that) is what most would perceive as my 'guilty pleasure'. Why don't I feel guilty then?
The 'guilt' that derives from a 'guilty pleasure' is the fact that other people will pour scorn on something that you like. At a different level this means that you truly care what other people think about you. Most 20 year-old (soon to be 21 year-old) guys wouldn't even put themselves in a position that they would have to watch a film like 'We Bought a Zoo' because of the grief that they would get from their friends if they were 'found out'. I'm publishing it my my blog which is read my all of my closest friends and then some - I'm not bothered about it.
I think we should embrace being able to like an eclectic mix of things, whether that be films, music, clothes or games - it is, after all, a part of who we are. I've grown up with an older sister and, therefore, I know a lot of the words to Steps songs and most of the S Club 7 back-catalogue. I've also seen Maid in Manhattan, Miss Congeniality and Grease more times that I can remember. I don't dislike any of that stuff. I think people place too much emphasis on what others will think about their likes and dislikes without giving a thought to the notion that, in a particular moment, you like something and it makes you feel happy/good/satisfied.
Going back to what I wrote about last time. The reason why we worry about what other people think about us is because a lot of the time we are labouring under the misunderstanding that how we feel comes from outside-in. When we realise that our feelings about what other people think about us, as well as our feelings about these so called 'guilty pleasures', come from the inside of us, I think that the 'guilty pleasure' could be made a thing of the past.
I would be very interested to hear about what your 'guilty pleasures' are and why you think that you should feel guilty about getting pleasure from them.
Thanks for reading,
Martin
