From 2006 to 2011, I worked at a music store. Pret-ty cool, right? Kinda like High Fidelity and Empire Records and whatnot. Or it would have been, were I not ruining the cool vibe on a regular basis. Most of my coworkers would only play suave stuff like Serge Gainsbourg in the shop, while I was often booty dancing to Britney Spears. Sure, I like “cultured” music, but I also enjoy a number of things that many would classify as guilty pleasures. Except I don’t. Because there’s no way I’m going to feel guilty about my love of “uncool” things like King of the Hill and Pokemon games.
I’m going to make the broad assumption that you, reader, think of yourself as smart, and I’m sure you have scholarly interests. So tell me, is watching the occasional reality TV show going to eliminate those interests? Does having some Gaga in your iTunes make your IQ drop? Will knowing all the names of the Jersey Shore cast make you forget the monikers of your favorite authors? Both high and low culture can happily exist side-by-side in our brains. So why are we so embarrassed to admit our “guilty pleasures”? Can’t we just call them “pleasures”?
“Guilty pleasures” are the things people in basements are secretly Googling, not what you have on your DVR. If someone thinks less of you for enjoying low-class fare, then they probably aren’t worth your time. Do you want a friend that makes you feel ashamed for liking something as unimportant as a TV show? To quote Meatballs, “It just doesn’t matter.” A smart, knowledgeable and kind person is on the right path, and a little tabloid reading isn’t going to ruin that.
Sometimes we just like pure crap, so why not enjoy it instead of feeling bad? Life is too short to be constantly fussing over your image, so go enjoy reality TV/Cosmo/anime/romance novels with pride.
What are your supposedly “guilty” pleasures? Are you ashamed of them, or do you enjoy them with pride?
guest
7th heaven! I’ll never ashamed.
guest
Lame fiction books. I mean, I love Faulkner and Bukowski and others, but I have also read a ton of Jodie Picoult and Anita Shreve and other random formulaic fiction. It is just so easy, like the literary version of a slightly annoying but fairly catchy pop song.
And bad TV. I LOVE Degrassi, way too much. Teen Mom. Dumb things like that. @belleorecluses@xanga - ahh, me too! Hahaha.
And Pokemon. I freaking love Pokemon, and my husband teases me about it all the time. Probably just jealous of my Pokemaster skillz.
I own my guilty pleasures. I know I’m an intelligent person with good taste, and I can enjoy lame things if I want to, right alongside my more “worthy”, not-guilty pleasures.
guest
I <3 White Girl Mob and Lil B! And no, I am not ashamed.
guest
Romance novels. Bad tv. Catchy, lyric-dumb music. Really junky, salty delicious crap food. Generic plot rom-coms. Incredibly stupid movies.
guest
Probably the lame Zynga games on facebook that I play. haha. But as facebook is public, that’s not really a secret.
rose / 791 posts
i’m not ashamed of anything i like.
orchid / 176 posts
Last night at a friend’s birthday dinner I had to expound on the fact that I’ve seen every single cycle of America’s Next Top Model. I had to explain “cycle” vs “season” and deliberate the latest cycle finale in which one contestant was eliminated. It’s not something I write down as “favorite tv show” …but let’s be honest, sometimes I need some ANTM over Breaking Bad! And after 18 cycles, I’m so over not sharing it. Especially some dudes at the table totally knew what I meant when I said, “Tyra Maaaaaail”
OK, I’ll stop now.
guest
Mine are Gossip Girl and America’s Next Top Model. Especially Gossip Girl. I mean, I made fun of Gossip Girl in high school when I was a self-professed Star Wars nerd. I remember someone showing me something from one of the books and I laughed and vowed never to read it. To be fair, I still don’t read the books, but I watch the show obsessively.
Oh yeah, I also like Twilight.
guest
@jessicaxmaria - i totally watch ANTM but i wouldn’t list it down as a favorite tv show either. haha
guest
hm, i’m quite ashamed of all the romance novels i’ve read. it is stupid but when i read them in public i try to hide a title xD and i never discuss i read them out loud… oh, i am even ashamed to pick them up at the library, so i was considering going to a different library.
guest
I can’t stop staring at the guy in the top picture, HOT DAMN!
Of course I have guilty pleasures. Reading horoscopes…compulsively, girly magazines with no literary value, ivillage, askmen (dot) com, etc. It’s all great fun to waste time on nonsense.
guest
I secretly wish I could read those erotica books but even if I did, I wouldn’t have the time
guest
i used to be a total music snob and repress my desire to listen to “embarrassing” music but over the last several years i’ve learned to embrace my bieber fever as well as my love of rihanna, late 90′s pop, demi lovato, and so many others.
i’m also completely addicted to romance, but i don’t read romance novels, i just watch the fanvids people make on youtube for different tv/movie couples i love, like matt and julie from friday night lights, for example. i feel like if i told most of my friends that i watch those fan videos they would majorly judge me, so that’s something i keep as a “guilty” pleasure.
i guess people think i should be ashamed of watching “whitney,” but it provides me with about 20 minutes of mindless entertainment once a week so i don’t see what’s so wrong with that.
guest
oh and guilty food pleasures abound. everything from mcdonald’s to ranch dressing on pizza to stouffer’s tv dinners. i really am a winner, huh?
guest
I agree! I LOVE Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, every single “Real Housewives”, Millionaire Matchmaker, Tough Love, Love & Hip-Hop, the Kardashians, Baseball Wives, Basketball Wives, True Life, Hoarders, and Strange Addictions. Yes, I love reality t.v. show. I can’t get enough of it.
guest
I don’t know… even if some of the reality tv is entertaining, I feel like it should be taken off the air. Some people really do not understand that it isn’t reality and its unacceptable to act like those people do. Kids watch that stuff.
But that’s just me.
orchid / 205 posts
They’re called “guilty pleasures” not so much because you need to feel embarrassed or secretive about them, but more, in my opinion at least, to distinguish them from things (music, books, shows, etc) that have actual artistic merit. You can totally enjoy something (*cough* bryan adams ballads *cough*) without actually thinking it’s “good”.