What Should I Watch Next?
Since everything has been closed and I’m at home, I’ve been watching a lot more stuff. This is unsurprising, since I already was watching plenty before the pandemic. Now I have even more of an excuse to watch things, truly observe, analyze, think them over, and let them dwell in my mind. This means that the variety of what I’ve been watching has infinitely expanded. I wanted to share a bit here, about all this content — how it’s made me feel, what it’s made me think about, the impact it’s making on me or others who might be watching the same things. We are in the midst of a strangely beautiful moment where people are making, strengthening, reviving communities online, and so far I am loving the small part I play. Without further ado, then, I’d like to contribute a little list of what I’ve watched so far during Safer at Home (that’s what CA calls shelter in place, because the west coast likes everything to sound nice as well as make sense). Some entries have notes, to better justify why I watched them or what I thought, others I feel are more self-explanatory. Sometimes it’s nice to watch something just because it’s silly, or satisfying, or relaxing. After reading this, I’d love to know suggestions for what I should watch next!
Jenna’s Safer at Home Watchlist, March 2020:
- The water dripping into my Brita pitcher through the filter. (#notsponsoredcontent)
- The coffee dripping into the pitcher of my coffeemaker. This is actually a bit more challenging to watch because sometimes it feels like it’s going slow just to taunt me.
- Tree branches blowing in the wind outside my window. This usually happens by accident: I’ll be reading a book, and I think something has flown past my window. Then, it seems like it’s hovering outside my window, and I’m like, “Oh, am I Snow White? Has a bird come to visit me?” But now, it is the shadows of the tree outside my apartment…which has been there the whole time I’ve lived here, and I still seem to forget about.
- All of the dogs in my neighborhood. Especially the ones sitting at their windows also watching me.
- My Grubhub food tracker. (also #notsponsoredcontent)
- Myself, every time I’m on a Zoom call. Especially when I’m talking, or when someone else is talking and I have to make sure no one can detect my eye roll. [Should I now be more concerned that people can see me rolling my eyes in face-to-face encounters? Hmm.]
- A lot of beautiful Jewish (and more) music on FB live and Zoom. I have been getting surprisingly emotional as I sing together with friends, acquaintances, and strangers on the internet. It’s a healthy mix of nostalgia, longing, feeling moved, and the unexplainable beauty of this surreal experience. A serious shout-out to the music makers and community leaders making this happen, especially my shul communities in LA [Ikar, Temple Beth Am, Adat Ari El], Habonim Dror Camp Moshava, and the musicians I am blessed to know (ex: Josh Warshawsky, the pride and joy of 21st century Conservative Judaism).
- My nails and hair growing. (jk…unless I get particularly stir crazy and make the most boring time lapse video ever, I am not actually watching this happen.)
- A lot of celebrities… struggling(?) to deal with this reality. As the internet has aptly put it, some of them can’t seem to “read the room.” Some of them are making the most of this and are thankfully, and hilariously, continuing to entertain us from their homes. I highly recommend watching Jimmy Fallon’s at-home Tonight Show monologues, and all the jokes that his daughters have made clear they do not think are funny.
- Of course, all the streaming services. Particularly, I have made a watchlist on Disney+ (is it killing the joke if I add the #notsponsoredcontent hashtag here again?) of all the movies from my childhood that I haven’t watched in years, and I want to re-watch and see if they still hold up. The first one, Muppet Treasure Island, indeed holds up — highly recommend, especially since we all have cabin fever.
Ten feels like a good place to stop, for now. I could go on and on, but then I would have to add this tab of my internet on the list, and that is too meta for me right now. So, my friends, what should I watch next? What are you watching in your homes?
