The Rules

The Rules

It’s true, I watch a lot of TV; I have several Tb of movies and TV series on my server and frequently watch old series alongside new. This is great, I love having the choice and the ability to switch between one universe of lore and another on the spot. I frequently do this and with a whole bunch of different series. The problem is with the rules.

In Star Trek (as an example), faster than light travel is possible; there is sound in space and you can travel through time. However, in Person of Interest you cannot do any of these things, but there are two massive supercomputers watching your every move and trying to determine your destiny. Move over to Supernatural and none of these things is true, but demons exist and fairy tales are more real than the newspaper.

These rules are all very well and good, nothing wrong with any of them, and with a healthy amount of suspension of disbelief one can easily follow these universes. But when one switches between the different programs it can take a second to switch mind-sets. This just occurred to me (not for the first time): I was switching between Person of Interest (new episodes out now) and season 2 of Supernatural.  In the opening scene of this particular episode of Supernatural, you are confronted with a man who has ordered wood from the same place that he always does for building projects, but the wood has bowed and is unusable.

No big issue there, right? A bad batch of wood from a normal supplier. Unless, of course, you’ve just been watching Person of Interest. In which case the evil supercomputer has changed the order or interfered with the delivery in some way, just as it did in the previous episode. Oh, wait. Nope, wrong rules. No big supercomputers in this one. And those three stoutly gentlemen constructing houses are the three little pigs. Right. Gotchya.

Now I’m usually pretty quick on the uptake - I’m not particularly tired at present - but it still took me a second or two to kick back into the rules of the new program. This is not the first time that I have experienced this phenomenon, and I would put money on the fact that you have experienced it as well.

You may not have even noticed it at the time, but take the opportunity to think back now. You’ve just finished watching the latest James Bond or the most recent Fast and the Furious movie. It’s late, and the roads are clear because you saw an 8.30 showing. Did you ever feel like you could totally take that corner just a little faster than you normally do? In fact, you’re quite sure you could drift that wet piece of road if you wanted to - I mean you won’t because that would be silly, but just a little faster couldn’t hurt, right?

Perhaps this is why we tell stories, set the rules of a universe so that we can do the things that we are quite sure we could do, but would never try. Perhaps we just enjoy the fantasy of becoming someone else for a little bit, seeing the world through their eyes for a time. Perhaps it’s just me.

It’s true that when I was shown my first movie, I cried at the end. I was 4, give me a break. I cried not because the movie was sad or my favourite character had died; I cried because the world had ended. I cried because this magical place that I had inhabited for a few short hours had ceased to be. This started my lifelong obsession with movies and TV. I’m actually on the second episode of this particular piece of writing.

But at the end of the day, I love the rules, I love seeing them explored, seeing the boundaries reached and pushed against. I love seeing them run into new rules and finding the limits of them. Is this just me? Is this true of all fans, or is this true of all humans?

Perhaps I just enjoy my media too much.

NAH