Aesthetics, Should Art Tear Us Apart?

What are you up in arms about?
"Wait . . . what? Where's your TV?" That's what a dear friend said as she bustled into my unkempt room months ago, intent on watching "Another Cinderella Story." I moved some clothes to reveal a fairly decent sized flat screen my little brother got me a few years back. I had no idea where the remote was (haven't seen it since 2007) and even though a friend got me one of those "jumbo" remotes I haven't been able to figure out the code on it yet. So I asked her which station, dusted off the screen for her and moved some clutter on my bed to watch it with her. It wasn't as horrible as I thought it would be. I hate those people who say, "I don't watch TV" as if whatever it is they're doing is so fucking important they can't catch a show. If I do watch TV it's usually with someone, so most of my TV is done in the family room (my mother has seen EVERY episode of CSI, and NSCI or NCIS, or whatever and she still gets all worked up about certain scenes, it's very cute). I don't watch the news often, I watched the plane crash into the towers once and that was enough for me. I hate most news coverage on the tube anyways.
I read an interesting article in either the New Yorker or the Atlantic Monthly (I gave up trying to remember) and it said that most TV series suffer because of their marketing after their initial airing. Why stay home every Friday night to watch your favorite show when you can netflix the entire series and stay home on a rainy Saturday? True, true but for nostalgia's sake I think there's something to be said about getting a group of your friends together to watch a show. Like family game night. Shut the phones off and detach. Ahhhh. And when stuck between a rock and a hard place, there's always TiVo (or in my case a deal with the little bro). The last show I went nuts about was Gangland, and that's when it was on Thursday nights at 9. Then they moved it to Friday. Then they started to toy with my emotions. I would read online that it would be on, I would see on the TV Guide channel that it would be on, then I'd click on the History channel and fucking Mail Call would be starting. Do you know how annoying that man's voice is? Especially when you're expecting to be gripped by the history and evolution of some of the United States most notorious street gangs. Eventually, after several weeks of this, I mean there I am practically rearranging my schedule to catch this little delight, and I said screw it. I'll catch you when I catch you. One can only get one's hopes up so many times (especially when it's something you really enjoy) before you crack under the pressure. I knew a guy once that felt the same way about the Arrested Development Movie. I didn't want to watch Gangland for the longest time, but eventually, when I started living my life, doing the things I could to make myself happy, I saw that I missed that little slice of heaven/hell/er . . . pleasure, whatever, and once again put my hands at the mercy of a cable television schedule. I was not let down. And even if it hadn't aired, I wouldn't have been putting all my easter eggs into one basket (put THAT in your easter basket, haha, shitty joke alert).
But which shows are worth our time? Our pain, our anguish? To each his own my dear friends. I don't think art should tear us apart, but should bring us closer together. I'll give anything a shot (but I'm painfully honest when something, a show, an artist, a book, doesn't do it for me, and I try hard not to make anyone feel bad if they like it, variety is the spice of life). For example, and what I am about to say would have sounded blasphemous, even to my own ears, several months ago. But I found more reasons to like Twilight than I did the DaVinci Code (sorry Dan, point to Steph). It might have just been my frame of mind, I was expecting to love the DaVinci Code and DETEST Twilight, I don't know. I tried reading the DaVinci Code 3 or so summers back and kept falling asleep. I moved on, I don't think Mr. Brown minded all that much, we parted with no hard feelings.
Most of the times I think there are meatier matters in life to get up in arms about, and slap the keys harshly on the keyboard . . . unless you're protecting something important to you. Something you feel passionately about. I find that any kind of art people bring that kind of heat to protect are the ones closest to their heart. I find that the ones closest to their hearts are the ones that remind them of things you just might not be able to argue against. Are you ever going to be mad at a couple for liking a shitty song because it was the first song they kissed to? It may be unfortunate, but that Gomez chick lost her "Zune" and that was how Prince-Charming found her . . . by recognizing her playlist, nah just joshing, that's not exactly how it went down.
"Hey, so, I figured out this Zune belonged to you because it has Soulja Boy on it and I saw you 'super soak dem hoes' over there. I knew it was meant to be."
Romantic? Who the hell can define romantic nowadays? Someone is being proposed to via text message as we speak, I'm sure. I bet there's probably some sort of acronym for it. I don't think the method/messengers should ever speak louder than the intent of the sender/receiver. My dad wrote my mom post cards (drunker than a skunk I might add) while stationed as an MP in Germany and proposed to her in a letter, with a bunny and a ring (not a diamond, ick, diamonds aren't every girls best friend) after which she promptly lost the letter, the bunny fell apart, and the poorly made ring is still in her jewelry box. But they're still together forty years later so . . . yeah, who the hell really knows?
I say "beauty" to me is doing your thing, believing in the things you say and do, trying your hardest (be yourself, realistically, who else would you really be?), shouting out from the rooftops, howling at the moon, getting lost in cities and supermarkets, feeling whatever it is you want to feel, laughing, crying and flipping the bird from time to time. Saying FUCK if you mean fuck, it feels better than holding back, taking silly pictures as opposed to serious ones, dancing around in your underwear at least once a week (or in my case every morning), staying up late if you want and sleeping in if you feel like it. Doing crossword puzzles in bed and nowhere else. People watching, it's fun, and listening to each other.

If I love you, what business is it of yours?"--- Goethe.