Life of the Lintee Bean

I’m a big fan of Netflix.  I get one DVD out at a time, and as many instant downloads as I’d like.  I watch the instant downloads through my TiVo.

I’m one of those multi-tasking TV watchers.  I never just sit and watch the TV.  I watch TV while crocheting or on the computer.  So, I confess I don’t always catch all of the movie.  Therefore, I’m inclined to watch movies with relatively simple plots and no subtitles.

That’s one of the many reasons I rarely go to the theater.  You don’t have your yarn or laptop with you in the theater, so you can’t multi-task.  There’s other people in the theater, and often they’re really annoying people that talk on their mobile phones or whatnot.  Why would I want to spend $10 or more to get into the theater, then another $10 on popcorn and a drink, to sit less comfortably and accomplish less than I could watching the movie at home?

I like seeing the previews for upcoming films, but I hate it when they give away too much and spoil the movie.  I never read the envelopes containing my DVD’s for the same reason.  Sometimes they say something like “Insomnia: A detective accidentally kills his partner while in pursuit of a serial killer.  The killer finds out and blackmails the detective.”  Why do I even need to see the movie now?  You just told me everything that happens!  It’s like watching a sporting event for which you already know the outcome.

The same thing goes for TV previews.  I always stop watching before the preview for the next week.  They’ll say “You’ll never see what’s coming” as they SHOW you what’s coming – so, yes, I will see it coming as you already showed me!

Because I can watch as many instant downloads as I’d like, sometimes I land up watching really horrible movies.  If I lose my Internet connection or stop watching for another reason, I’ll realize I have no real desire to see the rest of the film and I’ll delete it.  But, otherwise, I’ll jsut keep watching it through until the end.  At least I was multi-tasking so it wasn’t two hours of my life completely wasted.

In fact, I’m watching a bad movie (that I’ve realized I’ve even seen before) as I write.

Submitted for publication in the Greeley Citizen