When faced with the knowledge that I would have to stay inside for the next however long, I thought about all the television shows I could finally watch or what movie marathons I would have. So why have I then decided to revert back to a 16-year-old girl and started watching LOST again?
If it isn’t LOST, then it’s Pushing Daisies or Misfits or RuPaul’s Drag Race … do you get my point? I’ve seen all these shows, and I’ve seen them multiple times, and yet, I decided to go back and watch them again, I suppose, for some kind of lie. If I think back to the first time I watched LOST, my entire life was still in front of me, and I had an idea of what was going on. Not like now, when I keep having to give myself tentative dates on when I can go back to my own apartment.
What’s interesting about it is that I’m not alone. I constantly see people going back to Mad Men or movie franchises that bring them a sense of comfort. They’re there, and they are ready to relive the magic of something that once brought them joy, and for me, it’s remembering that Jack Shephard and Kate Austen ended up together in the show when I screamed about how “Jate is fate” online for years. I’ve never felt so justified.
(If you are also like me and rewatching LOST, you should also check out Storm Podcast, as they’re … doing the same thing.)
The thing is, we just want something to feel normal, and at least for me, I’m back with my mom for the time being until I can safely get back to my home and my own bed. While this isn’t the house I grew up in, it is like I’m back in high school all over again and subjected to what my mother wants to watch a lot of the time, so when I can get the television, I want it to be filled with shows that once brought me such happiness. The reason I’ve chosen these shows that make me frustrated more often than not is beyond me, but here we are.
I think, in my own warped way, I just want that emotional connection to something, and I don’t want to search for it. I want to think about the shows I loved and know and go from there. I already have a relationship to it, and I don’t have to watch and try and navigate who I’ll love. I know that my love of Charlie Pace will result in my tears, and I know that I can’t watch “The Constant” without being emotionally unavailable for a few days.
So if you’re like me and you’re looking at your roster and realizing they are all things you’ve watched already, that’s okay. I’m going to happily watch these shows or Spider-Man: Homecoming for the twentieth time because I deserve to just shut off everything and go back to what I know, and you do, too.
What are the comfort shows you’re indulging in right now?
(image: ABC)
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