Mark Reads/Mark Watches

"This is something  you... pay for?"

Okay, the person who said that probably had good reason for it.  I mean, it sounds pretty weird.  I've paid about ninety-eight cents a pop to download videos of a guy watching television.  And I don't mind a bit.  It entertains me, and the price isn't outlandish.  Why wouldn't I pay for something that's most likely a good part of a guy's livelihood at this point? It seems fair to me, even if it's a little silly.  A lot of things I enjoy are a little silly.

The guy in question is Mark Oshiro, and the site is "Mark Watches."  Its companion site, Mark Reads, doesn't have paid downloads that I know of.

The basic premise is that there are certain things that Mark is unspoiled on.  He watches or reads, and he reacts to it.  It's a kind of strange, meta entertainment, but it is entertaining.  He's recently started to work his way through Star Trek, from the beginning up to the current run of films.  I've been keeping up, and honestly, I'd forgotten so much of the original series that much of it is like watching for the first time.

Why is it entertaining?

For one thing, Mark is a delightful viewing companion.  He's always excited to sit down to a new episode, and he always wants to like it.  This is ironic, since the whole thing started with "Mark Reads Twilight," which he hated unequivocally. But he moved on to things like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games ("I LOVE IT. Katniss, LOOK AT YOU. LOOK AT YOUR LIFE. LOOK AT YOUR CHOICES. They are wonderful and I love you forever for them."), and Lord of the Rings ("THIS IS THE BEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED IN MY LIFE. HOW HAVE I SURVIVED A SINGLE MOMENT WITHOUT KNOWING TREEBIRD WAS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER THAT EXISTED? HOW HAVE I LIVED A FRUITFUL, SATISFYING EXISTENCE WITHOUT ENTS OR ENTWIVES OR ENTMAIDENS IN MY BRAIN? I HAVE NOT. MY LIFE UP UNTIL THIS MOMENT HAS BEEN POINTLESS. I HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT SWIM IN NIHILISTIC FUTILITY UNTIL TREEBEARD.").  He also went through complete runs on Buffy, Angel, and Sherlock, among other things.)  Personally, I enjoy this sort of thing for properties I know pretty well, because suddenly, you get a whole new perspective.  This thing that was totally central for me... is it something Mark even notices?  Or vice versa... has he caught on something that I never noticed at all?  His motto is "I am not prepared."  I rarely am, either.

Another point is the community.  Other people meet in the comments, talk about what they've seen.  One commenter for Star Trek posts "This Week In History," to discuss whatever was happening around the time the episode airs.  Using proper spoiler code (so Mark remains unspoiled), they talk about how the current storylines will play out, and whether or not it's good.  It's a fun, bright community.

Anyway, I'm now off to watch Mark meet Spock's parents. (I wonder if he'll notice that Sarek is the same actor from "Balance of Terror," for whose introduction he sputtered, delighted, "It's a Spock!")