On Mindless Television

I tend to watch mindless television. I watch TV while I am doing other things and thus I need TV that doesn't really require me to think. I am packing combs and taking care of kids during the few hours each night when the TV is on. Also, my spouse says I have very juvenile taste in TV. This may be because I don't usually have custody of the remote. Heck I can't even turn ON our TV without the assistance of a child! So of course my tastes run to the juvenile; that follows, right?

One of my favorite shows is 90210. It is a teen or maybe a tween show. I am reasonably sure that middle aged lesbians are not their target deomographics. But I love the cuts of music the show uses. I love the story lines. And I liked the original 90210 way back when. So there you go.

And this updated version has some timely and topical twists that apply to our family. In the new 90210, there is an adopted AA son named Dixon. The issues of having to explain his adoption all over again when the family relocates resonate with how my Rob doesn't really want to explain about his adoption right now.

In the most recent episode, Dixon is befriended by a black cheerleader at school and invited to her house to hear some great music performed by a bunch of black artists. Her dad is a studio exec or something, if I recall rightly. At any rate, Dixon's character is excited about being around other blacks. He explains to his white girlfriend that there was this whole segment of society in LA that he didn't even know existed. Timely to me also, as I want to make sure that my black kids are comfortable in black society as well as white society. And despite Obama being our President-elect, those are not really always the same societies. In my dreams maybe, not in real life.

And in another surprising twist for my 60 minutes of juvenile entertainment, the black cheerleader isn't even hitting on Dixon as one is led to believe. She is involved with a black female singer in the gospel group performing at her dad's event! OK the whole episode made my night!

If Robbie was a bit older, and a bit more mature, I'd actually watch the show with him. Sometimes things like that are good springboards for talking with my kids. Either watching a show, or reading a book together and then talking about it while i am doing the dishes and it all seems really off the cuff. (and so isn't!) But he isn't quite there yet, so I'll have to hope that I find the appropriate venue when he is!