Because humor is funnier when you know it's true.
That television show you love doesn't make you interesting (continued)
I tried. But she had no interest in talking about herself. Or in me. Every time I changed the topic, she managed to bring it right back to “Poldark.”
“So Demelza, for some reason, picks this moment to tell Poldark about her almost-adulterous adventure with Malcolm, so of course he gets angry and … ”
She’s not the first person I’ve met whose idea of conversation is telling you what just happened on their favorite TV show. I’ve never understood how this is supposed to be interesting.
I’m not saying that television can’t inspire good conversation. I’m a “Doctor Who” fan. I can talk forever about the show with a fellow Whovian. I once spent an hour on a train absorbed in conversation with a total stranger who’d spotted the “Doctor Who” t-shirt I was wearing and told me that she, too, was a fan.
We had a blast trading opinions about the Doctor, his companions, reversing the polarity, and traveling in time and space. Talking with another person about a show you both love can be great fun. It’s also a good way to get to know them.
But that’s different from someone telling you the plot of a show you’ve never watched.
The art of conversation, I fear, is kaput. Between people who think it’s perfectly okay to tippity-tap away on their smartphone as you talk to them, and folks who think meaningful discourse consists of yammering on about whatever TV show they happen to be binge-watching, it’s a wonder that anybody bothers.
Forget “Poldark.” If you’re ever seated next to me at a dinner party, instead of telling me about the latest episode of your favorite TV show? Think of the juiciest, most fascinating tale you’ve got to tell about your own life, then share that with me instead.
-Roz Warren
This piece originally appeared on whyy.org. Roz Warren, who writes for everyone from The New York Times to The Funny Times, is the author of Our Bodies, Our Shelves: Library Humor and Just Another Day At Your Local Public Library, both of which you should buy immediately.