Who Watches the Watcher Who Watches?

“Always the same thing. God-damned awful shows. Who makes this stuff? Who watches this? Pandering to the lowest common denominator.”

Who Watches the Watcher Who Watches?
By Lhekha — Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

Jim Ikeman stares into the TV and grumbles to himself about what he sees.

“Always the same thing. God-damned awful shows. Who makes this stuff? Who watches this? Pandering to the lowest common denominator.”

His thumb stabs the remote’s control pad.

New channel.

In another place, in another room much like Jim Ikeman’s, an old woman watches TV. She cackles to herself. “Old Jim’s at it again,” she wheezes. “Ha! Always the same complaints, old Jim.”

New channel.

In another room, in another, different place, a stoned teenager stares in groggy fixation at the screen where an old woman cackles at her own TV.

“I wonder,” says the teen slowly, “…who’s watching me?”


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Hi there! I’m Odin Halvorson, a librarian, independent scholar, film fanatic, fiction author, and tech enthusiast. If you like my work and want to support me, please consider becoming a paid subscriber for as little as $2.50 a month!

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