As part of my endless and possibly futile quest to be a less pathetic version of myself, I’ve embarked on a campaign to stop watching TV and movies. For me it’s low hanging fruit - some people really love movies, but I honestly can’t remember the last time I watched something that I truly enjoyed. It’s just something to fill dead time when I’m too tired to think. It BOTHERS me that I’ve spent so many hours mindlessly watching shows that I didn’t even like. I feel like I’m wasting my life every time I watch TV.
I’ve tried reading and podcasts with limited success. They’re good to a point, but the type of content I like is usually either pretty heavy or requires some thought (philosophy, human rights, law, etc. are my areas of interest), and I’m increasingly having trouble with my attention span too.
I already cancelled Netflix a long time ago, but I just never found a good replacement for it. Usually I find myself doomscrolling or watching the same few movies I already own or playing chess on my phone. I decided when I started that I’d let myself finish watching the shows I already followed, but just wouldn’t expose myself to any new ones. Now one of the last two shows that I had been following has been cancelled (which is understandable, the last season was AWFUL) and the other won’t have a new season for a while because of the strike (go strikers), so I’d really like to make TV and movies a non-factor in my life.
So I’m looking for advice here. What other activities are less of a waste of valuable time but not mentally tasking? Has anyone had success improving their attention span? I’d love to become a bookworm but goddamn is it ever hard to keep my ass on a chair long enough to get through more than two chapters. I don’t even know why my attention span is so bad - I actually used to tear through book and had no issue concentrating until about 5-10 years ago.
Any ideas?
Part of it is how you engage with the media. I worked in film for a while and when I watch a well-made TV show, I’m constantly analyzing the shot composition, editing, and sound.
What lens is this shot on? Where is the camera placed? How is it moving? What does that say about this character or moment?
When does a scene choose to use it’s closest shot on a character? Why that moment and not another?
How is the story or scene structured and do I think that works? What order are they revealing information to us and why?
When the scene pivots, what are they doing with craft to underline that. How is the balance of power between the characters changing and how is that being visualized?
Whose scene is it? Is that choice surprising? When they chose to show a character reacting rather than the one speaking, why?
Are the actors making surprising choices in their performance? Are they playing big moments small or small moments big? What ticks are they giving the character? What are they trying to say about who this person is with all that.
Visual media, like any other craft, is filled with hundreds of intentional choices every frame. Taking it in doesn’t have to be a passive experience on the viewers part. We don’t listen consider reading a book passive, and watching a film or television series doesn’t have to be pace either.
Just like books, not all television has the same depth to it’s choices, but as you actively take in various pieces of media, you’ll start to get a feel for the level of intentionality sleeping was made with. Like Andor has a lot more intentionality in it’s craft than The Book of Boba Fett.
I’m not saying that it’s good to watch hours of TV every day, but the time that you do spend watching television need not be time that you’re brain isn’t exercising itself.