...Hello. I’m here today to crankily type about a little something known as “guilty pleasures.” For the record, I do not have any issues with the term itself. (The same cannot be said for terms like “make love,” “man-whore”— oh, the sexism— and “irregardless.”)
In fact, I love the idea of guilty pleasures. I’m even mother to quite a few. I think they’re a great way to get to know someone, because true-to-the-definition guilty pleasures are very similar to secrets. But so many (dare I say, majority?) of the guilty pleasures I hear of today are NOT true to the definition, and this is where the problem starts.
When magazines ask celebrities about guilty pleasures, or someone announces one in a public “place” (i.e. a locale in the real world or a status update online) I’ve learned to hold my breath and anticipate either a back-door brag or just a pleasure.
Sure, the pleasure might be a little nerdy, but if I had a nickel for every pair of Buddy Holly glasses I’ve watched ironically shuffle by me over the past year, I would spend the lump sum on a billboard reading,
“I get it: Cool = 'I’m nerdier/less-mainstream than you.' ”
Odd how no one ever seems to mistakenly label pleasure-less “guilts” as “guilty pleasures.” Maybe the conversion from adjective to noun tips them off that they’re missing something?
Sure, the pleasure might be a little nerdy, but if I had a nickel for every pair of Buddy Holly glasses I’ve watched ironically shuffle by me over the past year, I would spend the lump sum on a billboard reading,
“I get it: Cool = 'I’m nerdier/less-mainstream than you.' ”
But enough ranting (at least in paragraph form). It's time to take this issue to the graphs. Let's start off with a celebrity example.
"My best guilty pleasure is watching old sitcoms and eating grilled cheese and tomato soup in bed."-Padma LakshmiPadma, I think you're great. Love your show, yadda yadda yadda, but that's not a guilty pleasure. That's a Wednesday night.
You see, it's like this:
Need another comparison?
Let me break it down using one of my favorite topics, television:
dig?
...And yeah, that's pretty much all I've got right now. I might be back.
Wow, today is not my day for segues.
Bye?
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