In cartoon form. Via Metafilter.
I actually like all 7 of the supposedly annoying people. I'm annoyed by the grim-faced woman — the character in the 7 cartoons who finds the other person annoying.
This woman is undervaluing friendship. If you don't want a social experience watching TV, you have the option of watching alone. This isn't the 1950s, when there was only one TV in the house and getting along and being fair to each other had to be a priority.
In the 5th cartoon, the annoying person is the "S.O." — presumably someone this woman loves sexually — and he tries to entice her to pause the show and have sex. Her response is: "Are you insane?" Maybe he's insane to be with her.
March 15, 2014
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11 comments:
Yeah, this cartoon definitely has a last-century feel. Not only does it fail to account for multiple TVs in every house, it also seems to be set in a world with no pause button. Really, whenever my wife or I have something to say while watching TV, we just pause the show to say it.
My wife is an amalgam of some of these. She insists on watching her favorite shows [BBC mysteries and dramas], then wanders in and out of the room. Each time she returns she wants to know what she missed. She also likes to start conversations during slow points in the shows, only to break them off abruptly when crucial plot points arrive. Incredibly annoying, but I love her anyway. Besides, I'm not without annoying habits myself.
Is "grim-faced" woman the new "bossy"?
Yea, the predicate for this cartoon really should be that each of the 7 guests had given the "grim-faced" woman some assurance in advance that they were interested as she was in sharing the immersive experience of watching a particular TV program.
Otherwise, she's just bossy, but we can't say that anymore.
Sean said
whenever my wife or I have something to say while watching TV, we just pause the show to say it.
That would be # 8
As you say, EIGHT most annoying.
People who insist on English subtitles because they can't understand English accents.
People who turn the volume on a 50" down to barely audible because they don't want to hurt their hearing.
People who unilaterally pause and rewind 30 seconds because their mind wandered or they want to see a replay immediately.
Actually, none of the above really bothers me. I don't watch TV alone. As a kid we all had tvs in our separate rooms with no family TV. Now there is just one communal flat screen and solo watching is via laptop or device.
TV is her excuse not to have sex.
I would rather watch TV with any or all of the annoying people than the one who is constantly annoyed.
Watching TV is not an immersive experience for most people. Movies are.
This may all be changing now that "nobody" goes to the movies anymore, and gets their films at home on TV from netflix or pay-per-view. This is one reason that my wife and I do still go to the movies: Sitting in a darkened theatre, with everyone around you (God willing) quiet and attentive, you are drawn into the world of the movie in a way that you are not when you sit at home watching movies on TV.
I have a little sympathy for the unpleasant person in the cartoon, in the sense that you really do miss part of the experience of watching a movie if you interrupt it for conversation.
Now, an interruption for sex is a different matter. Priorities are important. You probably remember the old joke in which the punch line is, "We can never have dinner at the Four Seasons again."
Great post, great takedown.
Talking while watching TV together is like talking while reading together - the talker is either bored or wants to be noticed. In either case, it is a selfish distraction. Now, if they are offering sex, that's a different story.
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