Actor Matthew McConaughey walks the field before before an NCAA college football game between Texas and Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas
LM Otero/AP/Shutterstock
In 2014, Matthew McConaughey was at his peak — or so we thought.
The so-called "McConaissance" was in full swing. With starring roles in indie-darling Mud, oscar-bait Dallas Buyers'Club, Nolan's Interstellar, and the acclaimed first season of HBO's True Detective, he had successfully reformed his brand.
He was no longer just a handsome, shirtless goofball to be plugged into one romantic comedy after another. Suddenly he was one of the most respected actors working in Hollywood, capable of bringing an intense energy and originality to every role he touched.
And what better way to mark that dramatic turn than with the highest honor the American film industry can offer an actor: a producing credit — wait, no, an Academy Award. In 2014, Mconaughey won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance as AIDS patient and activist Ron Woodroof in Dallas Buyers Club and did exactly what any great actor should do as he's reaching the pinnacle of his career — predicted that he was about to go even higher.
In his infamous acceptance speech McConaughey laid out his homepsun philosophy of perpetually "chasing" the achievements of a vision of his future self. Recounting a spurious anecdote from his teenage years, he said, "This person comes up and says, 'Who's your hero?' I said, 'I thought about it. You know who it is? It's me in 10 years.'"
According to McConaughey, his hero has remained 10 years in the future ever since, with the next level of attainment always around the corner. From a teenager with his whole life ahead of him, expressing that kind of bold ambition could actually be kind of impressive.
But from a man in his mid-40s being honored with what is supposedly the height of achievement within his profession, doesn't it smack a little of conceit? Doesn't it kind of sound like he's saying, "If you think I'm great now, just wait until you see what I'm gonna do next?"
Maybe that's being harsh. You could even look at it as humility — an acknowledgment that he still has a lot of room for personal growth and development.
Maybe in that sense Matthew McConaughey has continued his steady progress and can look back with pride at how much he's done — while still chasing his next self. But in terms of professional accomplishments, it's been seven years since that oscar speech. What has he done to level up?
The Beach Bum? White Boy Rick? The Dark Tower?
His performances continue to impress critics, but they aren't quite enough to draw in audiences for a series of broadly forgettable films. The most cultural relevance he's managed since 2014 was in that bizarre Lincoln ad that Jim Carrey parodied on Saturday Night Live. Maybe that's why, at 51, he's suddenly signalling his political aspirations — with eye toward the Texas governor's mansion.
With just three years left to make good on his ten-year-hero status, the prospect of one-upping his McConaissance Oscar win in the acting field seems to be dwindling. A change of venues might be necessary if he wants to prove that he hasn't peaked, and politics could be the right way for him to go.
His fondness for speaking in vague aphorisms and imprecise wisdom is ideal for the political sphere, where it's important to be able to talk a lot without saying much that anyone can pin down to a specific proposal. And his recent memoir, Greenlights — which purports to be full of "raucous stories and outlaw wisdom" — is exaclty the sort of book a prospective politician might use to ingratiate himself to voters.
When he's spoken on politics — including the conversation with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, where a gubernatorial run was first floated — he's tended to be critical of extremism on both sides of the aisle, advocating for an "aggressively centric" shift. So we can probably assume he'd be running as an Independent or a third-party candidate.
While that kind of outsider run has had limited success at the Federal level (see: Kanye West), six states have elected seven independent or third-party governors — including actor and pro-wrestler Jesse Ventura in Minnesota — since the 1990s. And an increasingly purple state like Texas could be an ideal context for someone who expresses criticism of "condescending" liberal attitudes, but without Republican Governor Greg Abbott's opposition to cannabis and gay-marriage, or the baggage from the disastrous February ice storm.
Obviously a lot of progressives would prefer someone like Julián Castro or Beto O'Rourke for the job. But if the people of Texas won't vote for a Democrat, maybe someone like McConaughey could be a good compromise.
With about a year-and-a-half before the 2022 election in Texas, McConaughey still has some time to prove to his home state that he's up to the task, and he seems to be putting in the work. On Wednesday's episode of The Balanced Voice podcast out of Houston, he spoke about his Just Keep Livin Foundation for youth outreach and assured host Rania Mankarias that a run for governor is "a true consideration."
The Balanced Voice Episode 23 | Matthew McConaughey - Greenlightswww.youtube.com
Expressing an interest in finding a "leadership role," he added, "I do think I have some things to teach and share, and what is my role? What's my category in my next chapter of life that I'm going into?" Sounds a bit like a man with a deadline approaching — trying to live up to his ten-year hero prediction.
Either that, or he genuinely lives by his stated philosophy — going with the flow but always with an eye toward the next pursuit — the next challenge. And while the "alright, alright, alright" guy might seem like a strange fit for the stuffy world of politics, so was an action hero with a thick Austrian accent. If Arnold Schwarzenegger can level up to a governor's mansion, why not Matthew McConaughey?
Thanks to streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu, it was suddenly possible to watch multiple episodes of a single TV series in one sitting without the interruptions of commercials. As the way we watched TV changed, so too did the kind of shows we watched. Gone was the overabundance of vapid, sugary-sweet sitcoms, and in came the era of political satire, dramatic comedies, and searing commentaries on everything from abortion to Hollywood. Summarily, the 2010s saw a golden age of television. Here are our 50 favorites, with the top 25 and bottom 25 listed in alphabetical order.
The Top 25 TV Shows of the 2010s
Atlanta
Atlanta first aired in 2016, with Donald Glover's Earn learning that his cousin Alfred has released a hit song under the stage name Paper Boi. Since then, the show has followed Earn's struggle to navigate different worlds as he takes over managing his cousin's burgeoning music career while also trying to be a good father to his daughter, Lottie, and to prove himself to Van, his ex-girlfriend and Lottie's mother. The show uses varying perspectives to flesh out the city of Atlanta and the complexities of being black in America with surreal touches that highlight the real-world absurdity. Yet despite the heaviness of much of its subject matter, it frequently manages to be among the funniest shows on TV.
Barry
For anyone who ever wondered whether or not SNL-alum Bill Hader could carry a serious TV show, Barry answers with an overwhelming "yes." To be clear, Barry is technically a dark comedy, or perhaps a crime comedy-drama, but Bill Hader brings a level of unprecedented seriousness to his titular character that oftentimes makes the show feel like a straight tragedy.
Playing a hitman who wants to leave his life of crime behind in order to pursue a career in acting, Bill Hader imbues Barry with an earnestness that makes us as an audience truly want him to succeed. This likability serves to make Barry's violent acts all the more disturbing. Barry's greatest success is its ability to effortlessly fluctuate between the quirks of life as a struggling actor in LA and the violent inclinations of a man who murders for a living and can never really escape that truth. It's one of the best character studies currently on TV and is sure to cement Bill Hader as an extremely versatile A-list talent.
Baskets
Baskets premiered on FX in 2016, telling the story of Chip Baskets, an aspiring clown played by Zach Galifianakis, who is moving back to Bakersfield, California to live with his mother after a failed stint at clown school in Paris. Galfianakis' talent for melancholy slapstick makes the show by turns hilarious and touching, but it's his mother Christine Baskets—artfully portrayed by Louie Anderson—whose simple enthusiasm for small-town life makes the show one of the best of the decade. Watching Christine, Chip, and his twin brother Dale (also Galifianakis) heighten relatable family drama to exquisite absurdity never gets old.
Black Mirror
Nothing would be the same without Black Mirror. Though its later seasons have been inconsistent in quality, its earliest contributions were digital horror at its finest, with some of the episodes being downright visionary in terms of how accurately they predicted the near future. From the nostalgic visions of virtual afterlife in "San Junipero" to the eerie foresight of "Nosedive" and its digital ranking systems, Black Mirror made an indelible impact.
Bob's Burgers
Whatever you've heard about Family Guy or South Park, Bob's Burgers is the true successor to the golden age of The Simpsons. The Belcher family offers an update to The Simpsons' satirical view on middle class family life that reflects how America has changed since the 90s—slightly more urban, with less overt child abuse and a lot more economic precarity. And just as with the best seasons of The Simpsons, Bob's Burgers maintains a touching core of familial love and solidarity amid the absurd hijinks and veiled political commentary. Throw in the added value of the frequently hilarious, occasionally moving musical numbers, and Bob's Burgers easily secures a spot as one of the best shows of the decade.
Bojack Horseman
In terms of the quality of its writing, BoJack Horseman outdid itself season after season. What began as a parody of Hollywood's excesses quickly turned into a searing, and boundary-pushing meditation on depression, addiction, and what it means to change (or to be unable to). Increasingly self-aware and conscious of its hypocritical tendency to obsess over the misadventures of an evil but sympathetic celebrity, thereby glorifying them while criticizing them, BoJack Horseman is the political, devastating, timely, often hilarious show about an animated horse that none of us knew we needed. It's buoyed by the strength of its secondary characters, from the workaholic Princess Carolyn to asexual Todd to self-loathing Diane, and altogether the show takes deep-rooted fears that many share and refracts them in a funhouse mirror that's impossible to look away from.
Broad City
Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson began producing an independent web series about their struggles to "make it" in New York City in 2009. Soon, Amy Poehler took interest in the series, and it moved to Comedy Central in 2014. The smash hit comedy was not only laugh-out-loud funny, but a beautiful portrait of a genuinely healthy, supportive female friendship—something TV has historically seen little of. Broad City can be credited for helping to usher in a new generation of female comedy creators and has become a cultural touchstone for millenials.
Catastrophe
Catastrophe, created and written by the show's stars, Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan, is one of the realest, grossest, and funniest takes on love and the mess of life. Two people entering middle age meet and hit it off, they spend a reckless night together, and when she gets pregnant, they decide to make things work—not realizing how complicated that will be. It's a simple enough premise, but the cutting dialogue and the absurd comedy that plays out as two near-strangers build a life together make Catastrophe one of a kind.
Fargo
Anthology series like True Detective and American Horror Story can be really hit or miss, but in the three seasons that have aired on FX since 2014, Fargo has been consistently great. Maybe it has to do with the leisurely production schedule, the all-star cast, or the near-perfect movie that forms the basis for its tone, but whatever the cause, Fargo delivers murderous midwestern tragicomedy better than any show on TV—and nearly as well as the original. Season three, which followed the rivalry of the Stussy brothers—as played by Ewan McGregor—deserves a particular call-out, with season four due next year and featuring Chris Rock, Timothy Olyphant, and Jason Schwartzman.
Fleabag
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's stage-play-turned-two-season-TV masterpiece took the world by storm at the end of the 2010s. In the series, the viewer is made into the protagonist's (an unnamed woman played by Bridge) confidante as she uses sex to cope with grief and complicated family dynamics. As the show progresses, the closely protected inner life of the protagonist begins to reveal itself. Many consider the second season to be an essentially perfect season of television, in large part because of the hot priest (played by Andrew Scott). Fleabag is a funny, searing commentary on what it means to exist as a sexual, complicated being in a world with ever-changing expectations of women.
Grace and Frankie
70 is the new 30, or 20, or whatever arbitrary year of life we as a culture are deciding to glorify for no reason, because age is just a number. If you weren't aware that Jane Fonda glowed with money or that Lily Tomlin is our collective spiritual mother, then Grace and Frankie enlightened you. When two septuagenarian women are told that their husbands are gay and in love with each other, the best phase of their lives begins.
Haikyu!!
It's almost 2020, the world is upside down, and yes, an anime about high school volleyball is genuinely one of the best shows of the decade. Haikyu!!, literally "Volleyball" in Japanese, is about the trials and tribulations of the Karasuno High School Boys Volleyball Team. Unlike pretty much every other high school sports anime out there, Haikyu!! takes a relatively realistic approach to...well...high schoolers playing sports. In doing so, Haikyu!! translates the genuine passion that goes into high school sports and the real dynamics of teamwork, better than any other show I've ever seen.
The protagonist, Hinata, isn't a superpowered Volleyball God; he's an extremely short boy who can't reach the top of the net, but works his butt off because he loves the game. Likewise, all the other boys in Haikyu!! have realistic strengths and weaknesses (both on and off the court) that they work to overcome with help from their teammates. Haikyu!! is an exercise in wholesomeness––there are no villains, just other kids at other schools who love the same sport our boys do––and in a decade full of so much bitterness, it's a much needed dose of medicine.
Hunter x Hunter
For anyone who likes long-running shonen anime, Hunter x Hunter is, without a doubt, the pinnacle of the genre. While the original manga began publication in 1998, and a previous anime adaptation ran from 1999-2001, the 2011 adaptation re-started the series from scratch and, most importantly, covered the Chimaera Ant arc (or season––kind of––for you non-anime watchers).
The entirety of Hunter x Hunter is fantastic, featuring likeable protagonists, dastardly villains, and a brilliantly creative power system called "Nen." But there's a reason the Chimaera Ant arc is often considered the greatest shonen arc ever, and that's because it's a total deconstruction of the genre's tropes and conventions. Everything from the "always optimistic protagonist" to "the ultimate evil villain" is turned completely inside-out. The Chimaera Ant arc is intensely brutal and ultimately poignant, making us question the very nature of what makes us human.
Killing Eve
Phoebe Waller-Bridge can do no wrong, and even if she could and did, I'd probably still clap. The combination of Waller-Bridge's cutting wit and Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer's flawless performances makes for a TV show that never quite lets you find your balance before sending you spinning again. It's dark and surreal, while managing to still be deeply human.
Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Being a professional stand-up comedienne is hard, but being Midge Maisel is wrapping chaos in a designer dress. Created by the fast-talking husband and wife behind Gilmore Girls, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel created a stage for Rachel Brosnahan to showcase her comedic timing and Alex Borstein to be a solid, deadpan pillar within Mrs. Maisel's world of quippy, fast-talking, energy. Also Michael Zegen (Joel) is dead cute.
Mob Psycho 100
While One Punch Man might be manga artist One's best known series (and is fantastic in its own right), his other series, Mob Psycho 100,is profound in a way quite unlike anything else I've seen. The show revolves around Mob, an awkward, unconfident middle school boy with god-like psychic powers. Any other shonen anime would use this premise as a gateway to epic battles (and there are a few, and their animation is absolutely incredible), but Mob Psycho 100 focuses far more on the coming-of-age angle instead.
See, Mob doesn't like his psychic powers because they make him feel weird. So instead of focusing on the one thing he's innately talented at but doesn't like, Mob tries to improve himself in the ways he actually cares about improving––making friends, talking to girls, working out with his school's Body Improvement Club. If anything, Mob's incredible psychic powers are a backdrop for the show's larger message––that no person, no matter what natural abilities they may have, is better than anyone else. Mob Psycho 100 shows that everyone has their own struggles, and that the only person you should ever hold yourself up in comparison to is the person you were yesterday.
The OA
Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij's labyrinthine show only ran for two seasons, but it managed to earn a cult following during that time. Deeply weird, profoundly earnest, and full to the brim with observations on the connections between the environment, parallel universes, and technology, the two seasons that we do have are irreplaceable and paradigm-shifting examples of what TV could become, if we let ourselves believe.
Orange Is the New Black
Piper Kerman's post-grad rebellious stage went from a felony to a cultural touchstone. As Netflix's most-watched original series, OITNB boasted a female-led cast and cutting commentary on race, class, and the industrial prison complex.
PEN15
Those who didn't have a gruelingly awkward middle school experience are, by scientific evidence, simply inhuman. Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle tell it best in Hulu original PEN15, which co-stars the real-life BFFs (who also wrote and executive produced together) as 13-year-olds. Here, there's no sugarcoating the calamities of tweenhood, whether they're as trivial as thongs and AIM messaging or as weighty as race identity. All delivered with Erskine and Konkle's razor-sharp wit, it's absolutely hysterical to anyone who's lived past the seventh grade.
Rick and Morty
"To be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Rick and Morty. The humour is extremely subtle, and without a solid grasp of theoretical physics most of the jokes will go over a typical viewer's head."
Okay, so first things first, we need to separate Rick and Morty from the Rick and Morty fandom. The Rick and Morty fandom is so annoying that memes making fun of them are barely distinguishable from the things they actually say. But, to be fair, Rick and Morty really is a great show full of smart writing, surprisingly deep characterization, and the exact kind of bizarre, abstract humor that lends itself perfectly to endless memes. No doubt, Rick and Morty will be the defining animated comedy of the 2010s.
Russian Doll
This tightly-wound and big-hearted thriller stars Natasha Lyonne as a jaded New Yorker who gets caught in a loop in time and has to relive the night of her 36th birthday party over and over again. A perfect blend of humor and seriousness, and riddled with quantum leaps and profound connections, it's as satisfying as it is provocative.
Shameless
We fell in love with the trainwreck family the Gallaghers when it debuted on Showtime in 2011. William H. Macy brought so much toxic charm to the abusive and neglectful father Frank Gallagher that we actually found him, if not likable, then good television. Emmy Rossum managed to cause tears and laughter within the same scene, and the entire cast was as impressive as their characters were appalling.
Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan)
After the first season of Attack on Titan premiered in 2013, it received so much hype that even people outside of the anime community were raving about it. The show featured an incredibly high-concept premise, following the last surviving humans as they tried to fight back against giant, man-eating monsters called Titans. Had Attack on Titan stuck to that premise, it would have been top-notch action-horror, albeit not necessarily one of the best shows of the decade.
But Attack on Titan turned out to be so much bigger than its initial premise. As the seasons progressed, Attack on Titan reshaped itself time and time again, leading viewers through an increasingly complex, expertly plotted narrative featuring some of the most compelling characters and intensely emotional moments that I've ever experienced in fiction. At its core, Attack on Titan is a deeply thematic contemplation on war, othering, and humanity's will to survive against impossible odds, alongside the moral sacrifices they oftentimes make to do so.
Shrill
It shouldn't be revolutionary for a show to feature a fat female lead, but it is. Shrill, the brilliant Hulu adaptation of Lindy West's memoir, Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman, gave audiences a badly needed narrative about a woman who is actively seeking to change her life for the better, in ways that have nothing to do with her body. It's funny, it's heartfelt, and it shows a woman getting an abortion and finding it empowering. Woah. Hell yes.
Steven Universe
When Steven Universe first aired on Cartoon Network in 2013, it was a light-hearted and silly children's show with some super-powered action from the Crystal Gems and a lot of silly jokes from their sidekick—the childish titular character. Since then an entire galaxy has been fleshed out around the boardwalk of Beach City where much of the show takes place. Along with the alien gem creatures and their elaborate history, the show has introduced us to a cast of characters that have grown and changed—overcoming insecurities and facing complex questions of love and identity. While Steven matured and developed into a hero worthy of his last name, the show evolved to become one of the best of the decade.
When the RBMK nuclear power reactor exploded in the Chernobyl Power Plant's 4th unit, triggering a flood of radioactivity that would devastate the areas surrounding the site beyond repair, it's unlikely that anyone who heard about the disaster imagined that the site would become a tourist trap.
But that's exactly what has happened, following the release of the HBO miniseries Chernobyl. The five-part series amassed a total of six million viewers, scoring high ratings and enthralling viewers with its unsparing depiction of the catastrophe. Its release led to a surprising consequence: Tourism to the Chernobyl site exploded. "Most of the people say they decided to book after seeing this show," said Victor Korol, director of the tour company SoloEast, which reportedly experienced a 35% increase in visitors since the HBO series' premiere.
A Gloomy Destination
A trip to Chernobyl offers a smorgasbord of melancholic views. There's the city of Pripyat's abandoned amusement park, its rusty, moss-covered Ferris wheel looking like the patron saint of failed dreams. There's the remains of the reactor itself, covered with a shell of thick steel. There's a drained pool and a soccer field reclaimed by vines. Over the years, the forest has been creeping back in. With it have come wild dogs, wolves, bears, lynxes, birds, and of course, the supermassive (albeit not radiation-grown) catfish that patrol the plant's cooling pond.
With tourists creeping in fifty years after the disaster, they bring acts of typical touristy disrespect. Among the most incendiary is an image one woman named Veronika Rocheva posted on Instagram of herself in a thong, geotagged at the disaster site. Rocheva also posted a photo of herself wearing a gas mask, illuminated by violet and pink lights, and both images generated significant backlash. Rocheva later apologized and revealed that the photos hadn't actually been taken in Pripyat; they'd been taken thousands of miles away, and she'd only geotagged the location as a tribute to the TV series.
Despite the fact that Rocheva's selfies weren't taken at the disaster zone, many other selfies that were actually taken at the site are currently swirling around the internet. In response to a deluge of images, the Chernobyl series' creator Craig Mazin tweeted, "Yes, I've seen the photos. If you visit, please remember that a terrible tragedy occurred there. Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed." His comment came in the wake of a thread of images compiled by Twitter user Bruno Zupan, along with the caption "Meanwhile in Chernobyl: Instagram influencers flocking to the site of the disaster."
— (@)
In response to the criticism, The Atlantic published a piece by Taylor Lorenz which argued that most of the Chernobyl visitors aren't Instagram influencers at all. They're ordinary people, and in this day and age, ordinary people use photos and social media to document their feelings and experiences. "While some critics might still view the posts as distasteful and insensitive, most of these users are all trying to say the same thing: I was here," Lorenz wrote. Through this lens, Chernobyl selfies are ways of documenting and processing tragedy and of sharing one's experiences with others. Perhaps, these images are ways of keeping memories alive.
Chernobyl: Narnia for Fucked-Up Adults?
Whether or not selfies at Chernobyl are acts of self-expression or disrespect, there's another, darker question underlying all this. Behind the images of smiling faces in hard hats against a backdrop of radiation-flattened infrastructure lies the question: why? Why do we feel drawn to these kinds of sites and these kinds of TV series, drawn so strongly that we pay hundreds or thousands of dollars to visit them, and we gather together to watch them in the millions?
The answer may not be so different from the oft-discussed question of why we're so obsessed with serial killers and true crime. Though serial killers are relatively rare phenomenons, as far as causes of death go, they saturate our media landscape, generating obsession, reverence, and even lust among fans (be it the girls who attended Ted Bundy's trial in 1979 or fangirled over him in 2019 after the Netflix documentary, Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes). Though many psychologists have offered a variety of theories on why we love cold-blooded murderers, one consensus theorizes that the actions of these criminals are so incomprehensible, so distant from the every day, that they inevitably pique our curiosity, conjuring adrenaline rushes of shock that can even be addictive.
According to James Hoare, editor of the magazine Real Crime, serial killers "represent something larger than life, something truly cartoonishly monstrous, like the horror stories you're told as a child. Everybody responds to the idea that there's something nasty out there." Serial killers, he says, are sort of "fairytales for grownups. There's something in our psyche where we have this need to tell stories about being pursued by monsters."
If serial killer narratives are fairytales for grownups, lodged in archaic hierarchies and old fears, then Chernobyl is Narnia—a larger-than-life arena where visitors can gaze out over the remnants of otherworldly drama without stepping too close to the edge. The catch is that what happened in these places, though distant enough to allow for a safe level of detachment, still really happened, and this lurking truth can also serve as a reminder of how fragile human life is in the end.
The Shadow Side of Travel
Though Chernobyl may be one of the more extreme destinations around, there's a whole field of travel called "dark tourism" dedicated to exploring the world's sordid, destitute wonderlands. Interestingly, the term "dark tourism" was coined by another streaming service—Netflix—via its 2018 series, Dark Tourist. That show featured host David Farrier traveling to eerie destinations, including a walking tour of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's murder sites and the remnants of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Dark tourism has been gaining traction under different names since the 2000s, though, and popular destinations include Auschwitz, the September 11 memorial, and the ashen remains of Pompeii, Italy. Of course, dark tourism destinations don't have to be famous; the haunted house in the town over, the desert ghost towns off Route 66, or the ossuaries and catacombs of subterranean Paris all qualify.
Of course, dark tourism can be disrespectful or extremely dangerous, both for travelers and the inhabitants of the destination in question. To avoid negative consequences, National Geographic writer Robert Reid advises visitors to examine their intentions before embarking on a trip to places with sensitive histories. "The first thing we should ask ourselves?" he writes. "Are we traveling to a place to heighten our understanding, or simply to show off or indulge some morbid curiosity?" After all, he continues, almost every destination in the world could be seen as dark tourism if you look at its history, and sometimes, "turning your back on reality can be the ugliest travel of all."
In the end, dark tourism might be a way of embracing the world's twisted history and distorted present, instead of trying to escape them by running away to plastic paradises. Through this lens, dark tourism actually offers a viable alternative to traditionally overcrowded, super-commodified destinations that capitalism thrives on selling us. In a way, it's about appreciating a different sort of beauty, one less based on instant gratification and sterile lavishness and more in reflection, history, and perspective. Since many of us know that traditional tourism—and the excessive consumption and environmental destruction that often accompanies it—can be harmful, visiting abandoned, historically macabre, or otherwise gloomy places (especially if they're local) might just be a positive departure from the well-traveled path.
Dark tourism is part of popular culture, and it fits there, just as Chernobyl fits neatly into the TV landscape, right alongside war dramas and the daily news, which a disaster zone of its own. After all, it's hard to pay attention to the headlines (depending on what publications you choose to read) without realizing that we're kind of living in the end times, considering on the consequences that climate change will wreak on our world. If we're living in an era of ecological disaster, being able to find the beauty in scenes of destruction, contamination, and natural reclamation—for example, in cities overcome by pine trees and reservoirs full of massive catfish—might just be a blessing in disguise, a way of living with the consequences of the weight of our human lives on earth.
So go ahead: put on your gas mask and smile for the camera.
Lindsay Lohan will open a beach club as a 32-year-old trainwreck, and a reboot of Temptation Island will air on USA because the network doesn't care if the American public suffers.
Stranger Things's Caleb McLaughlin, Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Sadie Sink
Photo by Gregory Pace (Shutterstock)
With January giving us the 2nd longest government shutdown and a depressing Dick Cheney biopic nominated as a Golden Globe Comedy, we need 2019 to be a good year for escapist TV.
After HBO released its new teaser at the Golden Globes, no one should have to leave their house this winter. HBO will deliver new seasons of fan obsessions like Game of Thrones and Big Little Lies, while NBC will resurrect the much-mourned Brooklyn Nine-Nine, adding its sixth season to its Thursday night lineup. Meanwhile, networks like MTV and the CW are slated to debut more shows that assault common decency and bully America with celebrity misbehavior and melodramatic teenagers played by thirty-year-olds.
Here are the most–and least–anticipated shows of 2019:
Most Anticipated TV Shows
Game of Thrones (HBO) April 2019
According to the teaser, Jon Snow will bring Daenerys to Winterfell. Sansa Stark will give her a steely, "Winterfell is yours, your grace." Season 8 will premiere in April and continue the saga of the Northern Lands.
Big Little Lies (HBO) Unconfirmed, 2019
Meryl Streep will join the already illustrious cast of Academy Award winning women. In season 2, Streep will take on the role of Celeste Wright, the mother-in-law of Nicole Kidman's character.
True Detective (HBO) January 13, 2019
Mahershala Ali will join the cast as Wayne Hays, a state police detective from Arkansas. The third season will investigate a crime in the Ozarks over a span of three decades. Hopefully it'll be a return to form.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC) January 10, 2019
The fan favorite will return this Thursday at 9PM with a reduced season of 18 episodes. Was Holt made police commissioner? How are Jack and Amy as newlyweds? This will also be Chelsea Peretti's last season, with mystery surrounding the circumstances of her character's exit.
Stranger Things (Netflix) July 4, 2019
The third season of the streaming sensation will premiere on Independence Day with a premiere episode that Netflix President Cindy Holland promises is "worth the wait." The show's creators have teased that the upcoming season is " bigger and better than last year."
Least Anticipated TV Shows
1. Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club (MTV) January 8, 2019
Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club 🏖️ Official Trailer | MTVwww.youtube.com
Lohan aims for a comeback as the 32-year-old (former?) trainwreck opens a beach club in Mykonos. Watch as she hires hosts, bartenders, and bottle servers but gives them the title of "ambassadors." It will probably be bland and cringe-worthy, but with Lohan's applicants saying lines like, "If I knew I was going to meet Lindsay, of course I would have put on clothes," it might sate your 2019 craving for guilty pleasure TV.
2. Temptation Island (USA) January 15, 2019
It's a reboot of the 2001 garbage hit from the first generation of reality shows, because USA network apparently doesn't care if the American public suffers.
3. The Hills: New Beginnings (MTV) October 15, 2019
Another reboot of a reality show that depressed 90s kids, this horror show will feature Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's son, who's somehow 22 years old. Also awful: Mischa Barton will be returning.
4. Roswell, New Mexico (CW) January 15, 2019
Roswell, New Mexico Season 1 Trailer | 'Legend' | Rotten Tomatoes TVwww.youtube.com
In yet another reboot of a 90s series, this one features more of CW's bread and butter: attractive teenagers misbehaving–but this time one's a space alien.
5. Rodents of Unusual Size (PBS) January 14, 2019
RODENTS OF UNUSUAL SIZE - Trailer (BSDFF 2018)www.youtube.com
Louisiana's plagued by giant swamp rats. PBS calls this "a real-life horror 'tail.'" Run for your life.
