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"Guity" pleasures?

Okay, I admit it. For an atheist and "rational" thinker, I delight in the irrational and unscientific when it comes to entertainment.

I know I'm not alone in being a Sci-Fi geek, but my big "guilty" (using quotes because I don't actually feel guilt about it) pleasure is that I love a good, religiously (most often biblically, I am in the U.S. after all) based storyline.

Now of course I'm not talking about propaganda pieces like the crap that is the "Left Behind" series. No, I'm talking stuff like End of Days, Devil's Advocate, and even the series Supernatural. All of those fun "what if the devil is real and Armageddon actually happened or at least almost happened?" kinds of storylines. I don't know why, they're very irrational, they're usually not even that well written, but I still enjoy them.

I can't be the only one so, along those same lines, what are your "guilty" pleasures?

Tags: armageddon, movies, shows, tv

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by dr kellie on July 15, 2011 at 12:31pm

I will admit that I chuckled my way through The Stand, and I would watch it again. So cornily delicious.

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on July 15, 2011 at 12:44pm

I used to avoid paranormal and fantasy crap on TV, but eventually I gave in because that was practically all there was. My first "guilty pleasure" was Deadzone. Now I miss the utterly silly Middleman,

which didn't expect you to take it seriously. However, if a show gets too religious I turn it off. Religious fantasy is too repulsive, even more than outright fantasy like Warehouse 13 or Fringe.

Permalink Reply by Pirate Bard on July 15, 2011 at 12:48pm

I think that's why I like Supernatural. It's very religiously based, but "god" is an absentee father, the angels are bigger jerks than the demons are and the main characters are disgusted by all of it.

Permalink Reply by Ian Mason on July 15, 2011 at 12:58pm

Who doesn't enjoy these things? Stephen King, Terry Pratchett's "Disc World", Handel's "Messiah", Gospel music...................I would consider any atheist who didn't as seriously twisted and fanatical.

Permalink Reply by michel valiquette on July 29, 2011 at 4:36pm

Totally with you .

Permalink Reply by Donna Darko on July 15, 2011 at 1:00pm

Well, I LOVE Supernatural, but probably not for the exact same reasons you do. Oh, those boys!

Permalink Reply by Loren Miller on July 15, 2011 at 1:12pm

Okay, I admit it ... I used to watch "Medium." [Loren waits for the groans to die down!]

First of all, I rather liked it for its writing, for the plots and plot development and that we got to watch "Alison" and her three kids grow up as the seasons progressed.

I have to say, though, I also liked it for the character of Joe Dubois. Question: how many ENGINEERS does prime-time television have as a continuing character? It's never had many that I know of, but I really liked Joe. He was a straight-up guy who does what he can with his own problems, never mind having to deal with an oddly gifted wife (and apparently similarly gifted three daughters!).

Oh, and yeah ... I AM an engineer, myself, so there!

Permalink Reply by Jonny Marko on July 15, 2011 at 1:13pm

I think my guiltiest pleasure is conspiracy theory type movies... Zeitgeist series, Loose Change etc.... I love trying to figure out where to draw the line between government/corporate greed, and "the world is secretly run by Jewish alien lizard human hybrids". It's just very entertaining. Some of the "evidence" put forth is very compelling and I'm sure there's a hint of truth mixed in, it's just hard to tell where to draw the line.

The 2nd and 3rd Zeitgeist movies are very interesting too... they put forth incredible ideas about how money is fake and that we should move to resource-based economies... ideas that are probably impossible to implement this day and age but they still sound very appealing.

Permalink Reply by Susanne Elmer on July 15, 2011 at 1:17pm

Darn I though this was about my favorite author and book series. The first of the more interesting books in the series is "Guilty Pleasures" :D

On topic here though, I like singing "soulful" or religious songs. Even though they are just as much fantasy as Puff The Magic Dragon :)

Permalink Reply by Jonny Marko on July 15, 2011 at 1:20pm

I used to listen to religious music at work quite often through iTunes radio stations. One called "SGM Radio" which is all Southern Gospel (hilarious), and another called Life Talk Kids, which is religious programming geared towards children. Pretty disturbing stuff sometimes knowing there are children out there exposed to songs that are quite literally militantly religious.

Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on July 16, 2011 at 11:37am

Atheists are a few thousand years behind in music writing. Try your hand at rewriting the lyrics so you can put your heart into the music without having to cut your throat intellectually and morally.

Permalink Reply by Alice on July 16, 2011 at 5:31pm