Amelia's Life

flannelanimal:

I love great television and great stories, and in television, there’s nothing better than having characters you grow up with in a way.  I remember visiting a friends’ house with a group of people and I was the only one who hadn’t started watching The Office, this new American version of a BBC show I had seen the year before.  I made the mistake of saying something during a really great Michael Scott scene, and was instantly hushed by the entire room.  Rightly so, as I would learn later from watching it on my own that this show was truly incredible.  I’ve lived in three or four different apartments and two cities during the 7 years this thing has been on the air.  And in every one of those places, Thursday nights meant roommates and friends would all stop what we were doing and see what our favorite characters were doing.  As its writing intended, I connected with Jim.  He became my way into the show, the voice of reason.  I rooted for him and Pam.  I ended a relationship around the same time Jim broke up with Karen (not because he was doing it… well, maybe, I don’t know).  I met the girl of my dreams not long after Jim and Pam finally got together.  I got married to this girl shortly before Jim and Pam tied the knot.  And I watched the other characters grow, especially Michael.  That was the great thing about The Office, and about television in general.  When the writers weave in actual growth, actual small, real moments between absurd plots, jokes and comedic situations, you’ve got a show of substance.  

I say all that to say that watching this show now isn’t the same.  I will always watch it, because it’s still great and I still love the characters.  But the show isn’t about small moments and character development anymore.  It’s just spinning its wheels at this point, trying to keep the formula its so well-known for afloat.  Characters don’t grow in any substantial ways anymore.  Jim and Pam, the humanity of the show, used to struggle and strive for things, and maybe it’s because the things they strove for they now have (family, marriage, stability), but they feel lifeless.  I would say that’s done on purpose, but there’s no somewhat serious acknowledgement that this is actually written into the show.  Rather, I think it’s just a sign that the show itself isn’t striving for anything anymore.  They’ve got syndication, they’ve nailed down their characters, they’ve lost Michael, the central “hero” of their show, and now it’s just a matter of biding time until funny plotlines run out.

There’s so many good shows, but so many just keep going for the sake of keeping going, at the risk of ruining the overall story.  Shows like Breaking Bad and Mad Men are so good because they have end goals in mind.  They realize that they’re telling a story and they can only go on so long before they’ve told everything they needs to tell.  Though I look forward to seeing Jim, Dwight, Pam, and the 300 other characters on The Office every week, I’d love to see the show go back to its original thesis, and make these characters human again.  Just like all of us, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.  

(via oopssorry)

gamefreaksnz:

Never Grow Up!

One of the coolest books out there for gamers. The little blue box says ” How 50 Years of Videogames Conquered Pop Culture” : )

Happy Valentines Day Tumblr : ) <3