This article is written as a series of tweets and is available on Twitter as a thread under the profile @popularbinger. It is meant to be interactive — let me know your thoughts and add to this meta-discourse here.
Am I the only one who can only start watching a TV show if it’s popular? Like, it literally has to be trending for me to sit down and watch it.
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
— A thread (1/?)
I just binge-watched all of “Swarm,” but only after reading multiple tweets about it. I saw the clip between Dominique Fishback and Billie Eilish three or four times, read all the replies praising their acting, and *then* sat down to watch it. (2/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
(The clip where it’s just the two of them talking, the dialogue fast and the facial expressions so poignant… I read one tweet about the two of them having an “act off” because it’s so intense… the two work together really well.) (2.1)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
And to be honest, I didn’t even enjoy it (because of the gore and its disturbing nature). I was actively repulsed by it, but I kept watching because I knew people were talking about it, and I wanted to engage in the discourse. (3/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
I want to clarify that the show is epic. The acting is insane, the plot is intense and it is overall a super addicting watch… I just struggle to watch shows that are so unabashedly violent, and the murders in “Swarm” do not sugarcoat anything… (3.1)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
…the episode featuring Billie Eilish was actually one of the worst ones to watch from a gore perspective… it was so gross (which I understand is the point, lol). (3.2)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
If “Swarm” hadn’t been blowing up my Twitter feed, I know I wouldn’t have watched it — partly because, yes, the serial killing was scarring to me, but also because there wouldn’t have been anything for me to “gain” from it… (4/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
…not even the chance to join in a conversation, which for me is the whole point of binge-watching! It’s about the experience of watching it with others just as much as it’s about enjoying the show. (5/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
It’s why I’ve binged every season of “You” (also disturbing and violent). Every time a new season drops, my Twitter feed goes berserk. People are tweeting their reactions, tweeting about Penn Badgley, etc., and I want to be a part of it. (5.1)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
Like, this man is creepy!! He’s A STALKER! Which people keep overlooking every time a new season drops because Badgley is attractive… like hello, that’s sort of the whole point of the show! (5.2)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
And though the nature of the violence of “You” is different from that of “Swarm,” it was still hard for me to watch… especially concerning part two of season four (SPOILER ALERT) and what he does to Marienne and Nadia. (5.3)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
Apologies for getting distracted… let’s get back to it. (6/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
When I say that I want to “be a part of it,” I don’t mean that I literally jump into the discourse. It’s not about me adding in my own opinions and reactions, but understanding others’… (7/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
Seeing how other people react to shows always fascinates me. Like, this might be a stretch, but think about “The Hunger Games” renaissance for a second. Some people are brainstorming Quarter Quell themes while others… (8/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
…are unpacking how Gale represents what a modern revolution would actually be like. Though people are reading or watching the same thing, they focus on entirely different aspects when it comes to online discourse. (9/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
And if you know nothing about “The Hunger Games” (which seems unlikely), doesn’t this “renaissance” make you *want* to know about it? Even though I’ve been a longtime fan, I reread the books and rewatched the movies… (10/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
…when I saw people talking about it again on social media. It’s a disease! (11/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
I want to understand and laugh at “The Last of Us” memes, I want to tear up at fan edits of Peeta, I want to fall down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories about “You” and in general be a part of the cultural phenomenon. (12/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
(I consumed “TLoU” commentary for weeks before I started watching… I read tweets about the accuracy of the fungal infection and watched fan edits of Pedro Pascal.) (12.1)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
Did I actually have an interest in watching yet another zombie show? Not really. Was I going to let that stop me? You know the answer. (12.2)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
And the ability to do that depends on two things: 1) me watching the show and 2) the show being popular enough for me to watch it. (13/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
Yes, I know I can enjoy a show without it being popular. I have (“The Owl House”)! But it’s never as satisfying if there isn’t some sort of discourse attached to the show for me to indulge in. (14/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
The more I think about it, the more I wonder if it is the popularity of the show that draws me in or how the act of watching the shows has become a convention of our culture and I feel the need to see what everyone is talking about. (15/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
It’s almost like protocol at this point. If the show is trending on Twitter, I watch it. (16/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
There are some shows, like “Swarm,” that I didn’t know about until everyone was applauding it on Twitter. But it works the other way around, too, when the Twitter hype comes *before* the show. (17/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
Before “Wednesday” dropped, for example, I knew I’d be binging it. There was so much excitement and talk clogging my Twitter feed that whether the show ended up being good or not wasn’t a concern of mine. (18/?)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
People were already celebrating Jenna Ortega’s take on Wednesday, from her dead-pan stare to her style based only on promo photos and premiere. Pre-release, it was popular, it was conventional, people were talking about it, so I was in. (18.1)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
And maybe I’m in over my head, but I definitely think companies like Netflix are taking advantage of this idea… like, they *want* their shows to be preceded by conversation/conventionality because it means people (like me) will watch! (19/?).
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
(i.e., they capitalize on our discourse… usually. RIP “First Kill.”) (19.1)
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
Am I the only one falling prey to this conventionality? Tell me if I am, Twitter, and I’ll get a grip. But be honest, is it just the plot that intrigues you? Or do you also watch popular shows just to be part of the surrounding discourse? (20/20).
— Lillian Pearce (@popularbinger) April 3, 2023
Daily Arts Writer Lillian Pearce can be reached at pearcel@umich.edu.