What's Up Column: Guilt

I’ll admit I’ve been having problems with the term “guilty pleasure”.
If you happen to be unfamiliar with the term (congratulations on getting out of the monastery by the way), allow me to enlighten you. The term refers to things we incorporate into our lifestyle that we enjoy, and should simultaneously feel bad or embarrassed about.
We all know it sounds counter-productive, and yet most people still feel pangs of guilt for things they truly enjoy.
And they may not even be Catholic!
I feel like I have a good grasp of this subject as almost everything I enjoy doing in my spare time, my hobbies, are near the bottom of the Nine Circles of “Guilty Pleasure” Hell.
Indeed, dear reader, comic books, video games and television have been a big part of my life. And there is no way I’m going to let someone else put me in a moral quandary about it. I love engaging in these activities, feeling guilty about them doesn’t make any sense.
The biggest example of this phenomenon would be television. It is as if there were a tangible, universal force making people feel bad about enjoying watching pretty pictures in a box.
And I fail to see why that should be.
Television can indeed be a wasteland of video garbage, but there at least is literally something for everyone. Anyone also has the complete freedom to not watch television and do exactly as they please.
Let me explain first that I do indeed watch television. I don’t take pride in watching television; in fact, I feel no need whatsoever to ascribe some sort of nobility quotient to the things I do.
Unfortunately many people do.
I have actually been involved in conversations where people needed to expound the grand fact that they did NOT own a television. Or, if they did own a television, it was only to watch movies – ahem – pardon me, films.
This somehow implied that if they were not at the very least more productive members of society for not watching television, their spare time was naturally filled with grander, more benevolent pursuits.
I assume like finding cures for cancer, or inventing ways for cats to self-extricate themselves for trees. (Actually, that would be kinda cool)
Now, I’m not exactly sure how not watching television automatically makes one more erudite than the rest of the hoi polloi, but there you have it. This is the general belief, especially here in the Yukon.
C’mon, you know and I know that to be in the “high moral fibre” category of Yukoner, one must listen to one certain radio station, and read one particular newspaper.
And no, it’s unfortunately not the print you hold in your hands.
It’s ridiculous to think these seemingly inconsequential things, the media you consume, somehow gauges your status in the world.
I do understand that there is some sort of joy indulging in guilty pleasures. It’s the frisson of doing something naughty, something you shouldn’t be doing.
But can you imagine how much more you would enjoy the things you do if you removed the guilt factor entirely.
And I’m really talking about the purely inconsequential things like television, books or music.
So if you’re going to park your arse in front of the tube for a Battlestar Galactica marathon or listen to another scintillating and informative noon-hour call-in show on the radio, enjoy it!
Just please don’t feel the need to tell me about it. I’m not making any judgements here. Except for the Galactica marathon, I’ll bring popcorn.