Banana me!

I think the term “guilty pleasure” is one that gets thrown around way too often, and should be officially retired from the lexicon. And the reason is this – if you like a band, song, movie, whatever…then why feel guilty about it? And do you really feel guilty at all? Do you lock your doors and close the blinds before watching your Facts of Life DVDs? Do you carefully check your surroundings like someone in the Witness Protection Program before blasting Right Said Fred on your car stereo?

“Guilty pleasure” is more often than not a euphemism for “I know objectively that this is trash and that people cooler than me would look down on me for enjoying it, but I want to watch/read/listen to it anyway.” I say nuts to that. Low quality does not equal low value. How else to explain the success of McDonald’s? When it comes to our entertainment choices, we spend way too much time worrying about what other people will think of us for our likes and dislikes. I think I’ve finally moved past that point in my life, and encourage everyone else to do the same thing.

So I hereby give all of you permission to enjoy subpar television shows, movies, music, and books without any reservations. Stand up and be proud to own recordings of every episode of Melrose Place! Rejoice over your autographed copy of Vanilla Ice’s epochal To the Extreme! Then, and only then, will we be truly free as a society. And then maybe I’ll finally get the sequel to Leonard Part 6 I’ve been craving all these years.