Assn 5: For the Love and Hate of Television- Amanda Byerman

            My love affair with TV is one of my longest and most secretive. I’ve spent far too much time hiding my love for TV shows, ashamed of the time I spend in front of my television or computer. Television shows, more effectively than any other medium (aside from perhaps books), are able to transport us to another reality, helping us to forget about our woes and problems.

            Movies are short-lived fantasies, lasting no more than two and a half hours and oftentimes cut together hastily and without care for specific characters. The most powerful aspect of any story, the characters, are best developed with TV shows. Because they span so much time, you may find yourself growing with the characters over the weeks, months, and years that you watch the show. This gives you a connection that is impossible to create in any other way, with the rare exception of particularly well- developed book series (i.e. Harry Potter)

            Although I don’t have quite that long of a relationship with it, my current favorite show is CW’s Jane the Virgin, a spoof on a Spanish telenovela, with a captivating and occasionally ridiculous plotline revolving around 24 year old Jane Villanueva, a devout Catholic who made a vow to her abuela at a young age to wait until marriage. In an unexpected turn of events, Jane is accidentally artificially inseminated with the sperm of a famous billionaire with whom she had once been in love. Following this dramatic turn of events, you watch as a woman who you relate to experiences the impossible, and navigates it with charisma and heart.

            The affection I feel for Jane and for the entire cast of this show is unparalleled by any other story, and would not be able to be achieved in any mode other than television. Its longevity and humanity identifies it as a unique and irreplaceable art form.