Day Four: TV Trash (16 June)
on From Banglatown to Bangladesh (Bangladesh), 19/Jun/2010 11:09, 34 days ago
I have been told, on occasion, that it is an admirable thing, what I am doing here. And while I appreciate the sentiment, this statement bothers me in many different ways. Apart from the question of whether work I actually do is anywhere close to the‘changing lives’ aims of VSO jargon, I also get concerned because the statement suggests that my time is spent in worthwhile ways, doing good things, like, you know, helping people.And this, my dear readers, overlooks a significant part of my days, weeks, and months here. Apart from my time in the office, and trips to the market, and the cooking and cleaning and visiting, all of which form part of my normal routine, there’s also my regular indulgence in, what could be called, TV trash.To be more accurate, it’s an indulgence in DVD-watching on my laptop. Dhaka shopping centres are full of pirate DVD shops, offering latest releases, old classics, and stacks upon stacks of TV series box-sets. All of which are in varying qualities and languages, with cases including film synopses downloaded from criticwebsites (often half-complete, very critical indeed, or for a different film entirely).For most volunteers, DVD-watching is a favoured way to while away quiet evenings or weekends. And for those of you who know me, you will not be surprised to hear that my DVD choices are of the‘fluffy’ variety, to put it politely. While I appreciate film can most definitely be a powerful art form and conveyer of complex messages, when I watch movies or TV episodes at the end of a long day, I’m looking for the type of feel-good feeling that only trash can provide.So, after several episodes of‘How I Met Your Mother’ (which is, relatively, not that trashy at all) this is today’s positive. It may sound shallow, and I don’t think they’ll be putting any stories of it on VSO’s website any time soon, but everyone needs a bit of escapism once in a while. And TV trash is one of mine.