Let me say right off the bat that this article isn’t anything about what sometimes can happen to a person at the end of a massage. Hopefully you already knew that though with the latter part of the title. LOL. Quickly moving on, an attribute that’s very important to me in the shows I regularly watch on television is that they each have happy endings or are leading towards one. This is one of the main reasons why I can’t get myself to watch something like The Walking Dead.
So yes, I’m not one of the 15 to 18 million viewers who are regularly viewing this show, but that’s not because it’s not a good one, because I believe it actually is. It’s just not the kind of thing I want to spend my time following given the apocalyptic struggles for survival the show surrounds.
If you happen to be one who doesn’t even know what I’m talking about, this show is based on a comic book series of the same name and its premise is quite simple. It’s about a group of people trying to survive after a virus turns the majority of the population into zombies. And as Season 5 begins, the majority of the show so far has been nothing more than killing zombies and avoiding becoming one. I only know this because I follow the entertainment industry so avidly. But I have to admit something, as I did try to watch this series back in its inception. Unfortunately, it gave me such terrible nightmares in the first few episodes I had to stop tuning in to it. While it is well scripted, well acted, and well directed, it really is hard for me to tune into something like this that has no happy ending in each episode or is even leading towards one.
Life is tough enough already given the state of our world and the levels of darkness that still exist within it. So the idea of tuning into something like The Walking Dead, which most likely is only going to depress me, isn’t very alluring. Instead, I like to watch television shows that uplift me by the end of each episode or are always heading in that direction. And this of course is the happy ending I’m speaking of in my title. Shows such as Mom, Once Upon a Time, Arrow, The Flash (which is about to make its freshman debut on the CW) and a number of others are ones I regularly follow. While every episode might not end with a happy ending, the theme of those I do watch are always good triumphing over evil and trying to create more hope in this world for others.
The Walking Dead isn’t so much about creating hope though, as it’s more about struggling to find any of it left and that to me is a very bleak thing indeed. I see enough situations going on in the world today that parallel this such as the wars happening oversees. Sometimes I just want to tune all of that out and create a little hope within myself by watching something that will uplift me and provide that happy ending.
I know that life won’t necessarily have happy endings like this all the time, but I realize in my spiritual journey that I want to have as much positivity in my life as possible. Thus the idea of watching something that will only depress me because it reminds me of the sad state of our world doesn’t attract me. It’s my hope to be a vessel on this planet that spreads more love and light and watching something on television that somehow seems to snuff some of that out is definitely going in the opposite direction of where I want to be heading.
So while The Walking Dead may be a good quality show in regards to its entertainment elements, it’s ultimately just not for me. The closer I draw to my Higher Power, the more I find myself wanting to be uplifted in what I watch, so I look for programs that have happy endings or are heading towards one. Hopefully at some point, the writers of The Walking Dead may end the series in a positive note by finding a cure and saving the world, as then and only then, might I tune into watching it. Until then, I’m going to continue viewing the ones that are helping me remain focused on why I’m here, which is to create more hope and be a greater vessel of love and light for everyone.
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson