It’s a Simple Message, and It Comes from the Heart
After much consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that the label ‘favorite’ as applied to one’s tastes in popular culture is most easily defined as that which one spends the most time reading/watching/consuming/etc. It seems reasonable to expect that one spends time in leisure activities largely because one derives enjoyment from them; therefore that upon which one spends the greatest amount of time must be that which is most cumulatively enjoyable, i.e. the ‘favorite’. In short, no matter what one might say, or however one might rationalize otherwise, the television show one watches most often/book one re-reads through the most/album with the greatest number of ‘times played’ totals in iTunes is by definition the Favorite. The restaurant that one eats at most frequently is their favorite, even if it is the cafeteria at work/school. As long as the consumption is voluntary, the distinction holds.
Using this metric, I can say without the slightest hint of irony that my favorite television program of 2007 is Arthur, the PBS Kids’ show about the adventures of an anthropomorphic aardvark and his friends. And I’m okay with that.*
*WTTW plays two back-to-back episodes every weekday right after when I normally get home from work. I try not to miss it.
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