I have “invented” a new form of binge watching TV. I’m calling it Speed Binge Watching™. So what is it, and why would you want to speed binge watch?
What Is It
Speed Binge Watching is binge watching with a twist. When speed binge watching, you constantly fast forward through entire scenes. This is typically done by holding down the fast forward button or the button that skips ahead 10 seconds.
Why Speed Binge Watch
The most typical reason is that you as the viewer have begun to find particular storyline subplots boring or offensive. Often you can predict the dialogue, sometimes word for word. Here is some trigger dialogue that gets me reaching for the remote every time: “How are you feeling? …” or “Are you okay? …” Or the pensively spoken “Hey…” Gag me!
But it’s not always just dialogue. When binge watching shows that maintain viewership with gratuitous sex scenes instead of meaningful plot development, the number of sex scenes quickly becomes hideously tedious to me. Grab the remote. Drug use (of all kinds) has the same affect on me. I hate it.
And then there are series where I grow to loath a character and just can’t stand watching another scene with that character doing what that character always does that makes me hate the character. I’m thinking specifically of the character Frank Gallagher in the series Shameless. Frank is a complete waste of human life. I simply can’t stand to see a scene in which that character is alive.
The character of Frank is completely self-indulged. All other life on the planet exists only to be used and taken advantage of by him. He has no character, no redeeming qualities, no moral compass other than himself. He is always lying. He manipulates everyone all of the time solely to take advantage of them. His only morality is what he wants when he wants it. Nobody else matters to him beyond what he can get from them.
I can think of no character in any series I’ve ever watched that I thought was as despicable as Frank in Shameless. And then yesterday I realized why I find him so vile, so evil, so disgusting! Donald Trump is a real life Frank Gallagher!
I have never so despised another human being as I despise Trump. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib is absolutely spot on in her assessment of him! While I would never publicly write on my blog the words she used, she finally said what a majority of Americans and citizens of the world think about the man. Trump is Frank, and Frank is Trump.