What I Watched in 2020

I want to make a list of what I watched in 2020.

I've been wanting to do it for awhile. And I've actually started the post a few times only to soon delete it and vow to never try again.

But I'm trying again.

My problem is deciding how to organize it. Should I list it in chronological order?

In the past, I divided all my shows by geography.  

Well...actually.  Looking back at that post, it makes me want to do it that way again.

So I will.

I also colored shows that I loved in blue and shows I disliked in red. I think I shall do that again as well. Note: If a show is not colored blue, it doesn't mean I didn't like it a lot. I might have just liked it with less enthusiasm them the blue shows.  

I'm going to put shows in multiple categories if they take place (significantly) in multiple places. 

I really hope this ends up getting posted, and I'm not wasting my time writing a post that I'm going to end up deleting.

Well...if you're actually reading this, it means the story has a happy ending.

So...without much further rambling, here's the list.

UNITED STATES 

Knives Out

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - This movie totally made me cry.

The Good Doctor

Little Women -Bored by it, but I appreciate the feminist ideals. 

Succession 

Miss Sloane 

Sirens 

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina 

American Horror Story Cult 

Beauty and the Beast - The TV show-remake of the 1980's show.  

Hunters - Tim liked this, but I quit after the first episode. I did like the set design, though.  

The Outsider - If it weren't for the last episode, I'd probably be marking this blue. 

The Handmaids Tale  

Mistresses 

The Plot Against America - It seems like, in 2020, I wasn't in the mood for fictionalized Nazi stories.  

It: Chapter Two 

Westworld- I loved season 1 and 2; was disappointed in season 3. 

Casual

Zombieland 2 - I made the mistake of doing things on my phone or laptop during this movie. I'm not good at multitasking while watching. It takes me away from the story.  So I feel I didn't give the movie the attention it deserved. I feel I lost out here. 

What We Do in the Shadows - The TV show. 

Us - Second time watching it. This is my favorite movie.

Doctor Sleep

The Big Bang Theory

Hart of Dixie 

Hamilton 

The Twilight Zone     

The Magicians 

The Last Ship - The vaccination scene in season 2 was a major tearjerker for me. A sharp juxtaposition to our real world social distancing.  

Blackish- I watched only one episode officially...the one that had originally been censored from airing. Sometimes I watch a bit here and there when Tim watches it. I do have it on my massive to-watch list. Hopefully someday I'll get to it. 

Fear the Walking Dead

Supernatural 

Ramy 

Chatter - I've actually forgotten where this horror movie took place. I think it might have been London and the United States? 

Broad City - I did NOT like this when I first started watching it; then it grew on me. 

American Housewife - This one is complicated. I was never bored by it. But it offended me too much. It was a like/hate kind of thing. 

Borat Subsequent Movie Film 

Evil 

Angie Tribeca 

The Comey Rule - I hope there are many more movies that illustrate the absolute awfulness of Donald Trump 

Scandal 

The Trial of the Chicago 7  

The Flight Attendant   

Doctor Who - the Rosa Parks episode

Please check out my online novel The Dead are Online!

CANADA 

Murdoch Mysteries

The Handmaid's Tale

Heartland 

Schitt's Creek - I love, love, love, love this show. I immediately started rewatching it as soon as we finished. Now I watch it on our Amazon Echo when I'm doing work at the kitchen.  

AUSTRALIA 

Secret City 

All Saints 

Wonderland - I obsessively loved this show back in 2015. But by the time I got back to it, it was hard to get into again. I did like it...just didn't love it again.  

UNITED KINGDOM

Coronation Street-This show is my constant. It's the one show I watch consistently through out the year/years. 

The Crown  

Life in Squares - I was bored by this 

Love is Thicker Than Water

Cold Feet-This is the show that has the infamous Emily from Friends. And, here,  ironically, her character's name is Rachel. 

The Railway Man

Denial 

Outnumbered - The middle kid in this...his voice (after puberty) reminds me of Boris Johnson.  

Doc Martin 

The Haunting of Bly Manor - I loved The Haunting of Hill House more. But this too was perfectly splendid. 

Doctor Who - We just started with the 13th doctor...liking it a lot so far.

GERMANY

Jo Jo Rabbit 

Dark

JAPAN

Sea of Trees

Death Note 

The Railway Man

NEW ZEALAND

What We Do in the Shadows - The movie. I loved this when I saw it but now I don't really remember it much. So I'm going to keep it not-blue. 

INDIA

Hotel Mumbai 

SOMALIA  

The Journey is the Destination 

KOREA

The Handmaiden - A bit too long and a bit too much sex for my taste. BUT since seeing the movie, I've read two of the author's (Sarah Waters) books and liked them a lot. I had the author on my list and she came up via Random.org. I hadn't realized the movie I disliked was based on one of her books. I was a bit hesitant to read something of hers, but decided to give it a chance. And I ended up liking it a lot. That was Tipping the Velvet. Then later I read The Little Stranger.   

The Host 

NOT EARTH 

The Twilight Zone - We watched a few episodes that took place outside of Earth. 

Doctor Who

NOT OUR UNIVERSE

Birds of Prey - Or is Gotham city supposed to be in the United States?  I'm confused about all that. 

The Magicians - 

THE GREAT BEYOND

Miracle Workers  

The Twilight Zone - At least one episode took place in the afterlife. 

The Good Place - 

Upload - This one has some strong similarities with my novel/now screenplays The Dead are Online, so I was sometimes uncomfortable watching it...just because originality was one of the major strongpoints of my novel. So...that's gone now.    

Soul 

 UH...WHO KNOWS

Lost - Rewatched season 2.  It was hard for me to get back into it. And I felt season 2 wasn't one of my favorites, but after awhile I was totally loving it and reaffirming my identity as a Lost fan.  

Read my novel: The Dead are Online 

Wrapping My Mind Around Cultural Appropriation Using Chanukah

 I align well and easily with most things from the left side of politics.

But there are some exceptions.

I've had a hard time with cultural appropriation.

Because in my mind, cultures should learn from each other and share.

And really...if we're not supposed to wear and experience things from different cultures, what does that do to all those stores in Epcot's World Showcase?  And if we actually travel to a REAL foreign country, is it horrible if we buy traditional clothing?

Are we being offensive by eating sushi at home?

Was it wrong of us to make Pavlova and Lamingtons? 

Is it okay for us to make Kimchi at home, because Tim was born in Korea,  but it wouldn't be okay for my cousin to attempt to make it?

I just don't like a world in which we're supposed to wear, use, eat, and celebrate only what's from our own family's culture/cultures.

Also, whenever I've heard of Gentiles doing Jewish things like having a Seder or celebrating Chanukah, I'm not at all offended. In fact, I feel the opposite. I'm very touched and excited by the whole thing.

A few months ago, I read this article that helped me understand things better. 

A Black woman defends her passion for Irish dancing. The idea is she makes it okay by learning about the origins of the dancing and giving the Irish proper credit.  

So I thought about things and this is what I decided:

If I heard about some Gentiles wanting to learn more about Judaism, so they read about Dreidels, learned how to play the game, and held a Chanukah party, I'd be super cool with that.

 And they don't have to do all that for me to be content. Simply playing the game and knowing that it's a Jewish custom...that would totally be enough.  

Here's what would not be at all cool:

I come across people playing a game. It has a name I've never heard of before. I watch them play and see it has the EXACT same rules as Dreidel. It's just all the words are changed. There are no Hebrew letters.

I ask the people playing if they know the origins of the game. They shrug their shoulders. It's obvious they don't care. They just want to be left alone.

I start to tell them it's a Jewish game we play at Chanukah.  They do their best to ignore me. They show no interest in the origins.

If THAT happened, I'd be very offended.  

How would our world change if we knew for sure there was life after death, and it was easy for our dearly-beloved to talk to us via the Internet?   

The Dead are Online, a novel by Dina Roberts 

More Thoughts about Apologies

 In March 2018, I wrote a five part series about apologies. If you're interested, here's part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5.  

I divided apologies into thirteen types: Gaslighting, Victimhood, Shut-up, Hero, Savior, Damage Control, Courtesy, Yom Kippur Style, Sorry for Your Feelings, Olive Branch, Forced, Shame, and Empathy.

In 2020, I wrote this angry, sarcastic post about using the word IF in an apology.  There I said, I'm sorry if you're not educated enough about apologies to know that adding IF to an apology usually renders that apology null and void.

I'm glad to see that I used the word USUALLY, because that means I don't have to contract my past self.  

Today, I was thinking more about the IF in apologies and when I feel it is appropriate and not appropriate.

Well, I'm reading my past writings about the Sorry for Your Feelings apology, and here I disagree with my past self.

Back then I said there were times where it was appropriate to apologize for someone's emotions.  My argument was there are times where we regret causing people pain but yet we do not regret that joke we told or the controversial opinion we shared. I still stand by THAT.  All jokes are going to be offensive to at least one person, and controversial opinions are always going to hurt or anger some people.  

BUT...I now feel it is never appropriate to apologize for someone else's emotions.

So this is what I'm thinking now about the word IF in apologies and what we should do when we don't like that we hurt someone, but we feel our words or actions were merited.  

A) When we know that someone has been hurt by our words and we now feel what we said or did was wrong, then we should say something along the lines of. I am sorry that I did so and so. I really regret it. It was shitty of me.

If someone reacts angrily to our actions and tells us what we did to make them angry, it is very weak to sit there and say, I'm sorry IF I hurt you; or even worse, I'm sorry if you were hurt by what I said.  

B) There are times where we don't know whether or not we have hurt someone.  The day after we said something, we might think about it and cringe, thinking, Yikes. That might not have been a good thing to say. But we might not be sure that the other person was hurt or angry.

Or we might not imagine that what we said was offensive, but the person hasn't returned our text...so then we start worrying. Did I say the wrong thing??

It's a bit presumptuous to assume we offended someone. So then I think, in these cases, it's appropriate to say, I'm sorry if I said anything to offend you yesterday, or I'm worried I made you angry yesterday.

C) There are times we stand by our words and actions, but someone is hurt and angered by them. Then I think the appropriate thing to say is simply, I'm sorry that I hurt you. You're not apologizing for their feelings. But nor are you apologizing for your actions. 

D) There are times where we stand by our words and actions, AND we don't give much a crap about whether we hurt the person.  Then we might say something like, Fuck you or Go to Hell. OR we might say, I'm so so so sorry! and then laugh wickedly behind their back.  

Read my novel: The Dead are Online