A new season for our 'guilty' pleasures

The days after a juicy "Desperate Housewives" episode or a breathtaking new "Grey's Anatomy," devoted fans have a "can you believe what happened" conversation. But have you ever experienced the buzz kill of someone saying, "Oh, I don't watch TV?"

Depending on the tone in which it is said, this statement can be slightly obnoxious and extremely annoying.

One of the main points of television is to entertain. Yes, this great invention has contributed to both areas of communication and media, but so many of us can find instances in TV that we feel relates to our own life.

And for those that bash shows like "The Hills" and "Greek," perhaps they should think twice.

In the new season of "Greek," several clips are played to preview what will be happening in the show for the next several episodes.

The character named Casey is shown quoting to her father, "College … a lot of drama."

The common denominator for all of these "guilty pleasure" shows is that they all contain a lot of drama. Whether it is drama that is completely pointless and we love to laugh at it or if it is serious drama like a cheating significant other, it is addicting.

And perhaps the addicting ingredient to all this drama is how it can sometimes be all too reflective of our own lives.

We all go through days when we're just in an irritable mood and anything can set us off, so is it all too unbelievable that a huge dispute can be dragged out from your roommate forgetting to take out the trash? Or is it too impossible that real feelings can be hurt if someone dumps her best friend and those who care about her for a sleazy, scheming boyfriend?

Either way, these shows that some are so willing to bash for their irrelevance and pointlessness actually have a real way of affecting the lives of others.

In all social situations there are certain dynamics that will always remain.

There will always be the Heidi of the group who is dramatic and never can be completely trusted. There will always be the Chuck of the group who can be extremely selfish but deep down has his shining moments of always looking out for his closest friends. And there will always be the Cappy of the group who is crazy and fun, yet at the same time thoughtful and supportive.

However, the purpose of these shows, which is so often the blunt of some peoples' jokes, is to teach us how to handle dramatic situations in our own lives.

Remember when we were little and we used to hear stories like "Little Red Riding Hood?" Of course, it was not written with a Pulitzer Prize worth writing voice or life changing imagery, but it taught us the everlasting value of the advice: never to talk too much to strangers.

So just like these bedtime stories, that have a moral to their story, although not always extremely explicit, there is still something to learn from these dramatic shows. Whether it is bluntly stated with the sultry voice of the gossip girl or if it is implied by the way some of the characters react to situations which makes a light bulb turn on in our heads or completely disgusts us because we know that is exactly the wrong way for us to handle a similar situation.

By watching the examples set by the overly dramatic characters, we learn that perhaps we should resist giving into our own dramatics and learn from the mistakes of the characters.

This writer can be contacted at opinion@theeastcarolinian.com.