There are so many shows on television that wading through the ones that are there and finding ones that you love, well… that is something to treasure. Time is a pressure commodity that we all don’t have, so choosing how to spend it is something that we should be able to find joy in.
Recently, I have been going through a lot (and if you know me – it’s basically been the past two years) and so I don’t always have time. When I do, it’s normally spent sleeping, because my body is tired and all I want to do is relax. But on a night that I couldn’t sleep, I found myself up and flipping through on demand. Sure, I love Netflix, but I didn’t really want to fall into a binge watching hole that I couldn’t escape from.
Little did I know that On Demand was another rabbit hole that would keep me up all night and finding peace and myself.
I live in New York City – the city that never sleeps and the city that either makes you feel alive or takes everything out of you. It can be an isolating place, but it can also be the place that you find yourself, the place that you find your heart, the place that you know who that you can be and who you can’t. I learned from the moment that I set foot on this island, that I was ready to be something new.
To find something new.
I came across The Village and fell deep. If you haven’t heard of the show it tells the story of a “unique apartment building in Brooklyn that is home to residents who have built a bonded family of friends and neighbors. Sarah’s a nurse and single mom raising a creative teen; Gabe’s a young law student who just got a much older and unexpected roommate; Ava must secure the future of her young, U.S.-born son when ICE comes knocking; Nick’s a veteran who’s just returned from war; and Ron and Patricia, who are the heart and soul of the building, have captivating tales all their own. Their hopeful, heartwarming and challenging stories of life prove family is everything, even if it’s the family created with the people around them.”
I will forgive the fact that it is set in Brooklyn (look, I don’t like to go there – the J always breaks down) because this shows heart is what will take you by the feels and pull you so far in, you might as well just give in. You’re gonna be watching.
IT SHOWS YOU NEW YORK
I love New York and I think in so many television shows you don’t get to see the real New York. You don’t get to see that New York isn’t all Gossip Girl, Sex and The City, and Coyote Ugly. It’s not all Broadway and Park Avenue. New York is a place filled with real people, real hardships, real life, and not everything is in the movies. New York is just like every other place, except it’s on steroids and it never sleeps. It shows you it’s people and it’s heart.
It gives you it’s heart.
The best thing about New York is its people. We are all so different, but so much the same. We all work hard, live life to it’s fullest, and we survive. We have issues. We have problems. But we have a love for this city and that city has been waiting for us and keeps waiting for us.
IT ISN’T A BUNCH OF STIGMATIZED UPPER EAST SIDERS
There are so many shows out there that don’t show an accurate representation of people. The Village shows different races, different walks of life, different issues, and more. The Village isn’t a bunch of the same. You have a woman that is on the edge of being deported, a woman going through cancer returning, a father who finds out that he has a daughter after 17 years of not knowing her, a man returning from war, a cop trying to find his way, a pregnant high schooler who wants to give her baby up for adoption, a young lawyer who doesn’t understand his privilege, and a grandfather who isn’t ready to be old. But it barely cracks the surface of describing who these people are.
IT GIVES YOU HOPE
I think that there are so many shows that are so dramatic, so out of touch, so insane. They are drama for the sake of drama. And hey – drama is life. We all know that it’s there, we all know it exists. But so many times there is no resolution – there is no living in anything but the drama. Sometimes what we loose is the fact that there are resolutions – but even in the pain, the chaos, the confusion – there is a resolution. These are not always easy resolutions, they will not always make you happy, but they are there.
And in the good, the bad, and the ugly – at least on this show, there is hope.
And hope springs eternal.
IT IS NOT ALL RAINBOWS AND SUNSHINE
I think that part of what I love about The Village is that it shows you that you never know what is going on with someone else, but everyone is fighting a battle that you know nothing about. Nothing is easy on The Village. Everything is hard for the person going through it. Family isn’t always there for you – but family are the people that you choose also. Your emotional and physical matters are sometimes private. You see what people want you to see.
The Village isn’t wrapping shit up in a bow. It’s showing you that life is not always rainbows and sunshine, but it’s all worth it if you can stand it. There is a rainbow somewhere in the darkness. Hang on, pain ends.
The Village airs Tuesdays on NBC.
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