more porn: food, houses, politics, and COVID

Great title and a solid article from John Kass...

A number of years ago, I read an article describing "food porn"-- and it gave me a new angle to consider the popularity of such shows. Think about the camera work, the appeal to our "appetites", what consumers are looking for, hiding imperfections, its unreality-- and a comparison to (sexual) porn. (The same can be said of the various "house" and remodel shows.)

Now, not nearly all consumption of those shows is pornographic, but some of it is. The same is true of the current moment. A lot of folks have moved from "politics porn" to "covid porn" (or the intersection in many cases). If that's you, do yourself a favor, put down the magazine-- and if you have issues, don't renew the subscription.