The Best I've Never Seen

There is an ever-growing list of books and movies and television shows that end up being super popular, and in some cases, instant classics. Every year I say I'm going to watch one of these shows or movies or read one of these books, but I don't. Why? Because I can't seem to work up enough excitement about them to go for it, even though it seems like the rest of the population already has.

So here's a list of the best I've never seen, along with a couple I wanted to like but just couldn't get into.

1) Star Wars. I've never seen a single one. The closest I've come to watching Star Wars is Spaceballs. Seriously. I am not a science fiction fan at all, so that's the reason why I've never tried to take the time to watch these movies. Nothing about the story really grabs my interest. But at the same time, I kind of feel like I should give them a chance (the first three, anyway) simply because they played a significant role in the whole cinematic experience and paved the way for many a sic-fi story. So in the interest of fairness, maybe I'll see what all the fuss is about. Someday.

2) Braveheart. Isn't this supposed to be one of the greatest movies ever? Yeah, I've never seen it. I know the general storyline and that gives me enough info to know that I'd probably need to spend about 85% of the movie averting my eyes.

3) Downton Abbey. This one falls under the "I wanted to like it but just could not get into it" category. Have you ever just wanted to like something that you keep going with it long after you lost interest, hoping that something would spark? That's my relationship with Downton Abbey. I kept having to rewind the first couple episodes because my mind was wandering. By the third and fourth episodes I found myself writing out my grocery list and I knew it was time to stop. I'm just not meant to love this show like an alarming amount of the population seems to.

4) The Help. I've never seen the movie or read the book. I borrowed the book once from my sister-in-law and once from the library and both times never ended up getting around to reading it. I don't know why--I'm interested in story and would like to get through it. Maybe because the subject matter is so difficult (as in sad and angering, not intellectually taxing)? I have to be in the right mood to want to read something really heavy. Regardless, this is one that I want to make an effort to read (don't really care about the movie, the books are always better).

5) Twilight. Okay, I'm going out on a limb by saying this is one of the "best" things I've never read, but in this case "best" just means "insanely popular." Vampires. I just don't get it. What is so fascinating about vampire love stories that made these books sell a gazillion copies, get turned into a billion dollar movie franchise, and spark popular TV shows like True Blood, not to mention countless copycat books, shows and movies? There is literally nothing appealing about these books to me. So tell me Twilight fans, is it worth it to read them, despite my lack of interest? I try to bear in mind that I wasn't the least bit interested in Harry Potter for the longest time and finally read the books last year and absolutely loved every page. But based on what I've heard, I suspect the main characters of Bella, Edward and Jacob couldn't hold a candle to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

6) Anything by Jane Austen. I've literally read nothing by her. I feel embarrassed saying that, but there you have it. Where should I start?

7) Gone with the Wind, Casablanca, and a bunch of other classic movies I'm supposed to love. Okay, I technically have seen Gone With the Wind but I was in high school and found the movie to be waaay too long and really quite boring. But it's not really fair to judge it based on that, so I should probably revisit. I've never seen Casablanca, Citizen Cane, or It's a Wonderful Life (in full, at least. I fell asleep).

8) The Voice. People go nuts over this show, and everything I've been hearing recently is about how great this season has been so far and how it's the best show of its kind, blah blah blah. I know myself well enough to know that if I watch a reality competition show I WILL get sucked in. Swiftly. It doesn't really matter the competition--singing, dancing, dating, modeling, fashion design, cooking, surviving. If I watch, I will begin caring about utter nonsense to the point where I will be forced to devote two to three hours of my weeknights to seeing people compete over dumb things and finding out who wins. Also, Adam Levine drives me crazy. And not in a good way.

9) Survivor. I've never seen a single episode of this show, which is probably on it's 412th season by now. See #8, minus the Adam Levine part.

10) The Wiggles. I threw this in as a parent category, since it seems like everyone with a child under 5 has been subjected to hours of The Wiggles. I've seen snippets of this show, and frankly I find it creepy. Why are so many kids shows creepy?? Teletubbies? Those things were horrifying. Right now she thinks Sesame Street is the only show on television, so we'll stick with that. I could take or leave Big Bird, but he's nowhere near as creepy as a Wiggle or Teletubby.

So that's my list. I know there are dozens more, but naptime just ended :)

~Stacy