Seriously, I just can't sit down and watch an entire movie, sports game or TV programme any more. It's quite amazing. Well, maybe once in a blue moon I manage it, if it's REALLY brilliant, and it's the FIRST time I've seen it.
But generally, I just can't do it any more. I probably haven't been able to do it for 5-10 years now. My attention span for media entertainment has diminished so much that anything that lasts longer than about 15-20 minutes starts to lose my attention.
I used to like sitting down and watching a TV show or a movie. It didn't even need to be massively good, just good enough. Now I often reach for the remote, or the laptop, after a matter of minutes.
I don't think the actual quality of the media has deteriorated significantly, in some ways it's probably improved. I wonder if it's a function of the internet, expecting to interact with my entertainment more, or just a general decreased interest with those media formats?
Anyone else experience this?
While the internet may be a contributing factor, I think the problem may lie with an underlying condition called "getting older," which is incurable and, ultimately, fatal.
There really isn't all that much variety in mass-media entertainment, if you think about it. It's all just different variations on a few familiar themes. And if you consume enough of it, sooner or later, you'll consume all of it. You'll have watched everything there is to watch.
Plus, the older you get, the more you'll discover that most TV programs and films aren't made for you. They're made for younger people. So when you watch them, you're essentially eavesdropping on a conversation between entertainers and their real intended audience.
In essence, you've become like my Dad. In 1977, I thought
Star Wars was the coolest thing I had ever seen. But Dad was bored by it. Why? Because he'd seen it all before, when he was a kid in the 40s and early 50s, watching Flash Gordon and things like that.
I find it especially interesting that you say that sports were the last thing to go. My Dad was the same way. I remember him telling me, years ago, that while a lot of movies and TV bored him, he still enjoyed watching hockey and football because they weren't pre-scripted, and the outcome was uncertain.
The internet is only a stopgap. Sooner or later you'll see eveything there is to see on the 'net as well. And then, you'll get bored with that too.
There are only two possible outcomes to this process.
Either you find something you're really passionate and knowledgeable about, to the point that even very small variations are enough to satisfy your need for novelty--like a classical-music listener who keeps buying different recordings of the same symphony, to hear each conductor's different interpretation. Sounds to me like your wardrobe currently plays this role.
Or you'll just become bored with everything, and filled with
tedium vitae--weariness of life.
