Confessing My Guilty Pleasures

We have spent a whole month on this blog devoted to horror films of the 1930's & 40's, and while this series initially started with films that are considered "classics," we're at the stage right now where we're coming along some campier films, or movies that have (at best) questionable credentials cinematically.  But, I'll be real here-I love all of them, even the ones that aren't getting great reviews.  There is something about an old horror movie, with the cliched dialogue & character tropes, that just tickles me, and I can't entirely explain it.

Most of you who read this likely don't know me in real life, but for those that do (or can at least infer based on what you see on this blog)...I don't have a lot of guilty pleasures.  This falls into two camps for me.  One, I tend to like things that are probably a little higher brow (he said, knowing that this sentence sounds like he's a jackass but that's not how he meant it).  My TV tastes, movie tastes, & music tastes are in things that most people wouldn't be embarrassed by, and this isn't just me trying to put on airs-these are just what I like.  I can't help it.  And secondly, there are things others might consider guilty pleasures that I don't, and not like in a "I love all of the Tremors movies" sort of way.  I think that we get snobbish when something is really successful in an atypical genre, and consider something a guilty pleasure when it's really just good.  Shows like Jane the Virgin or films like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World are just good, full stop, and thus I don't put them in the bucket of guilty pleasure.  Otherwise, I don't indulge a lot of guilty pleasures, things that are obviously something I'd hide or be embarrassed to have associated with me.  I don't watch any reality TV other than cooking competition shows & Jeopardy, I would happily let a perfect stranger look through my book or vinyl collections, and I'm a pretty good chef.

But of course, we all have at least a couple of guilty pleasures, and since we've spent a month devoted to one of mine (old horror movies), I figured I'd indulge a few more below.  These are things that I either purposefully hide when I meet someone new, or just say with a sheepish grin.  If you have some guilty pleasures, share yours in the comments below!

1. The Twilight Movies/Books

Okay, so this is the real reason I'm writing this article.  I have been watching the Twilight movies again, and am perplexed why I like them so much.  They are not good.  The acting is frequently wooden (though it gets better from Pattinson & Stewart as the series goes on), the writing is indulgent, and the books aren't much better-it's repetitive, and it sends a terrible message about abstinence, co-dependance, and sexuality.  But, like...I can't help it.  They're so addictive, and even as I watch them ten years after the fact (I remember distinctly when the first books came out that I was going through a really bad breakup, and so having some escapism in this way felt like a good anecdote), I still get giddy watching Bella choose between Edward & Jacob, and am so excited to see the final movie, and then read Midnight Sun for the first time in the days after the election (a time that I hopefully will not need escapism, but will just need a sigh of relief).  I'm not proud of it, but this is something I just love without complication.

2. Hamburger Helper

Here's the deal...I love good food.  I'm a picky eater, and also someone who enjoys eating (I recently lost 30 pounds...you don't get to the point where you need to lose 30 pounds and not have a fondness for food), so there's a few food indulgences that I have that are kind of embarrassing.  I love the monster cereals from General Mills (Frankenberry, Boo Berry, & Count Chocula...and I wish they'd bring back Fruit Brute & Yummy Mummy to the point where I have actually written General Mills asking them to bring it back), and I would eat Cadbury Cream Eggs until I was in a coma if that was an option (I literally keep a trove of them in hopes of making them last past Easter...which never works).  But there's nothing more embarrassing than my adoration of Hamburger Helper.  I know it's bad-not just for you, but literally the noodles are low quality & if I really wanted to, I could make a much better casserole from scratch & it wouldn't have near the stigma.  But when I'm feeling blue & cold, I will reach so quickly for a Hamburger Helper box, and just indulge.

3. RV's/Campers

I don't know if this qualifies as a guilty pleasure, but my love of campers & RV's is something I usually keep to myself, especially on dates.  This might be a Midwestern thing, but going out with cute guys who enjoy camping & hiking is kind of the Holy Grail for gay men in their 30's, and something I've done a few times.  However, while I don't mind a night in a tent and I like going camping with a cute guy, there is something so luxurious to me about a camper or an RV that I cannot properly explain.  It's probably because as a kid my best friend and my favorite cousin both had campers, and we didn't.  My dream purchase is to someday own my own RV or Camper (preferably an RV) that I can drive around & just stay in all summer.  I don't care that it's a bit gauche, and that it feels like "glamping"-I think it's so much fun, and I still love walking through campers planning my dream one when I go to the State Fair every year.  Which brings me to...

4. Anything Touristy on Vacation

I love touristy things, especially on vacation.  I know other people hate Time Square (I lived in NYC, I'm aware that I was supposed to hate it), but I always felt like I was walking into something magical when I'd go there.  Every single time.  I didn't grow up poor, but we definitely didn't grow up rich, and as a result travel wasn't something that you did lightly, and if you did it, it was something you got to do only once a year, frequently to visit a relative.  So the indulgences of that are things I've never shaken.  I love hotels, I love airports, I love giant malls & amusement parks-there's something so escapist about it that speaks to me.  And if I'm going somewhere for the first time, I want to do the touristy things.  I'm not above going off the beaten path on a trip, but the first time I went to Philadelphia I hit the Rocky Statue for a reason, and the same with the Parthenon in Nashville or the Freedom Trail in Boston.  I would live in Disney or Universal theme parks if I could. I grew up assuming if we went somewhere special it might be the only time I got to see it, and I want to make sure all of the dreams I've had of visiting a place are fulfilled when I go there (I'm also the person who will try to shove as much as possible into a vacation-you can relax at home).