Covid and My Viewing Habits

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Edited By: Kiana Manian

From 2013 to 2016, in the glorious era of young-adult dystopian novels and movies in popular culture, our teenage years were consumed by the thrill of surviving zombie apocalypses, alien invasions, overturning fascist regimes, etc. Be it the Divergent series, Maze Runner, The 5th Wave, Transformers, Hunger Games, there was no troubled teenage character burdened with the responsibility of saving the Earth that I did not obsess over. I was convinced I would save the world. If you think about it, enrolling in liberal arts was a natural outcome. 

From having fantasies of living in a dystopian sci-fi-themed reality to going back to watching good-old rom-coms and cartoons from my childhood. In fact, if my watchlist could take a Buzzfeed quiz, I would be one of those twenty-year-olds who are already done with life and want to be in bed by 9:00.

So, here is a ‘Karen’-istic list of very specific things that I cannot tolerate watching in this post-covid(?) era:

No More Zombie Movies– If there is one thing that I cannot tolerate watching anymore, it’s the movies with zombie apocalypses. Words like ‘virus’, ‘ground zero’, ‘red zones’, ‘vaccines’, ‘quarantine’, and ‘isolation’ no longer bring with them the scientific curiosity I once felt. It hits too close to home to be fantastical anymore. 

Strangers in close vicinity of each other- There is something that just feels so inherently scary about seeing two people who have just met breathing into each other’s faces. Whether it’s a meet-cute in a romantic comedy or a face-off between two enemies(or both). All I can think about is: “what if one of them has covid? Or, wait did you just touch her face, right after pressing the elevator button?” In those scenic moments where the two characters talk facing each other closely and their breaths are visible in the cold, all I can focus on is “bro covid hojaega.” 

The Five-second rule- The age-old rule for eating dropped food if it’s only been on the ground for five seconds is not applicable anymore. For E.g. the cheesecake episode from ‘Friends’ where Rachel and Chandler eat a cheesecake from the floor seems like something people will study in history classes soon as an example of habits and behaviors of humans before the pandemic.

Unrealistic standards- Another such ick are shows that are set in contemporary times and play recently released songs but then pretend like everything is normal. They have people partying, hugging, and meeting each other without any masks. No longer do I need to focus on the intricacies of the plot to find things unrealistic and illogical, the basic premise already makes no sense. 

With so many self-imposed restrictions, one is left with limited options for good entertainment. For now, I find comfort in the familiar. Nostalgic TV shows and movies or completely fantastical tales which have no roots in the world of quarantine and isolation. The range goes from as nostalgic as DDLJ or Hannah Montana to as over the top as Mirzapur or Killing Eve. Maybe with more time, the farther we get from this time and the memories fade, it will get easier to find these things interesting again. With offline classes and things going back to a bit more normalcy, some of these have already started getting normalized again. Maybe I will find the beauty in mingled breaths, hand touches, and crowds soon again. But until then, if you find someone watching ‘the Notebook’ or ‘Ten Things I Hate About You’ in the RH2 TV lounge and crying their eyes out, don’t question it. Things take time.