Optimism & Pop Culture

As you know, I'm a big believer in optimism and positivity. No one is optimistic and happy every second of every day, but having a positive outlook is a powerful thing. However, it hasn't escaped my understanding that eagerness and positivity can occasionally be... uncool. No one wants to be eager to the point of lameness, even me! It's also a trend in pop culture to be a bit cynical- I think it appears "worldly" and optimism is naive. In the past couple weeks, I've run across two articles about optimism and positivity in pop culture and how it is embraced. I really loved these articles and took them to heart, and wanted to share them with you!

The first article I read is about a film I haven't even seen. The film is happythankyoumoreplease, written, directed and starring Josh Radnor. Josh is most known for playing the cute romantic Ted Mosby on one of my favorite sitcoms, How I Met Your Mother. The article is written by him, about his film.

It's called "Why I Chose 'happythankyoumoreplease' Over 'sadscrewyougetlost'". In the article, he talks about his conscious choice to make positive films over the negative, more depressing- but also more critically popular- indie flicks. He argues against the idea that "feel-good movies are less sophisticated than feel-bad movies." Now, I love sad, negative movies occasionally, but I don't think that just because something is sad makes it better, or more valuable. Josh's article gets a little touchy-feely, but I still think it is worth the read. I haven't seen the movie, and the trailer looks a little twee, but hey. I'm very clearly twee. Embrace the twee once in awhile! It doesn't make you lesser, I promise.

The other article is about one of my very favorite shows of all time, and definitely one of my favorite sitcoms currently on television. The article is called "Parks and Recreation and the Comedy of Super Niceness". It talks about the popularity of discomfort and mean or dumb characters in current television. While the two main shows that do this- 30 Rock and The Office- are two of my FAVORITES that I LOVE (Jim & Pam are my favorite couple ever!), Parks and Rec is a nice break. This article talks about the sweetness of the show, and how the show manages to find comedy in sweetness. Every character is genuine and sincere, and the show still manages to be hilarious. (If you give the show a chance, make it through the first season! The first season is not the best, and it's still finding its ground. By season 2, it's a stunner.)

I hope this post wasn't an overload of happiness and sunshine! It just can't hurt to embrace it in pop culture occasionally!