Friday, September 21, 2007

The Vortex...

Back in New York, I don't own a television. It's strange how one of the first possessions I would buy in New York, would be one that I have effectively eliminated from my life nowadays. I've done this because I am easily drawn into watching television, any television really, and have a hard time focusing on my work.

Being here in Asheville has provided me with the chance to catch up on the world of television. Up until now, I've been pretty conscientious about not watching too much television. However, my head started hurting today and I got sucked into watching these really bad teen dramas on The N. Apparently after Azalea's programing on Noggin is over, it magically transforms into Dawson Creek-esque dramas about young people and their troubles.

I was raised watching soap operas. My mom would have them on while she was watching us or they would be on when I came home from school. I was also one of the ones that was caught up in the boom of prime-time soaps. Insert Dallas, Knots Landing, Dynasty, Melrose Place, and the countless others that sprung up but couldn't survive. Does anyone else remember Central Park West? Or Pacific Palisades? Or Savannah? Or Model's Inc.? Probably not. But I am now gifted in aptly predicting the slow song in accompaniment to the montage, can foresee plot-line twists, sniff out hidden drug habits, detect secret homosexuality, sense on-coming kissing in the shower or rain scene, and uncover relationships that will transform from sweet innocent romance into domestic abuse and the eventual redemption and inevitable failure of said redemption.

Come to think of it, perhaps I should go into soap scripts. The best are the ones that don't get too complicated and are easy to relate to. The worst are when they get too convoluted and grasp for straws or ratings.

Yes, I've been sucked into the vortex of bad television. But it'll only be for today, because I've got to get cracking on the oracle card backgrounds.

5 comments:

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

another cool aspect of you! sometimes we don't have a choice do we? until we grow. I imagine you would be very good at screenplays. you coud make that youd day job if you needed extra money at any time. HA!

I am getting abook from Amazon about classic tales which go from the past right into screeenplay wirting, today. I'll let you know if I like it. Apparently this author believes that the topics which are major human stories reappear over and over.

Andrew Thornton said...

I think I'm my most happiest when I'm making things. When I'm watching these programs, I'm usually so engrossed that I don't make anything.

Perhaps I could. But that's one of those professions that you have to have lots of social connections to bust into and I really have no long term aspiration to make that my main focus in life.

Maybe I'll just make a blog with installments with characters? Ha ha ha. If only I had the time. I could just write about my own high school experience. That was pretty intense. It made being editor of the newspaper an interesting job. It was a good week when we weren't broadcast all over the news as regular. *Insert abandoned babies at the Thai food restaurant, home abortions gone wrong in the foreign language building, gang shoot outs, undercover cops and the crack-down on drugs, five car accident-related deaths, one hit and run, 3 suicides, two sex tapes (that I know about), and... let's see... I'm skipping over the teacher student sex scandals... the many that there were and the censoring of the newspaper, and the drop outs and teen love dramas. (All of this actually happened.)

I agree that a lot of human drama is a based on universal archetypes which transcend nationalities, time periods, and social circumstances. I'm interested to hear what you think.

Andrew Thornton said...

Oh and people getting stabbed in the head! How could I forget that? It took a high-powered pressure washer to get that stain out of the cement in front of the gym.

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

Holy cazongas!!! I think your school experience was a lot more realistic than MINE! i was living on a fluffy little cloud of obvliousness.

Interesting that you did the newspaper. and were the HEAD of it!!! I was a massive reader but never got involved with our yearbook or our writing things, I only drew for them. Well I wrote one poem, which even I don't understand. I was acting and eating, and that's it.

Andrew Thornton said...

I don't think that my experience was a typical one. Our school seemed prone to being... in the infamous limelight.

I was the editor-in-chief for three years. A record, I think. We won lots of awards and did quite a bit with what we had. I'm very proud of my participation with it. When I think back on high school, I think to my time in the newspaper room most of all. It allowed me to work for some of the local papers as well. I worked for the Orlando Sentinel, Sanford Herald, and the Orlando Weekly yonder year ago.

I did some theater and was in a specialized acting troupe. Fun times, but not my calling. It did provoke a "strong liking" for dance that would play a part later in my life.