My family is way too invested in tv and movies for us to even talk about it. Or actually for anyone to talk to them about it. This isn't just an issue with me, I've noticed it with extended family and mutual friends who are as baffled by their behavior as I am.

They are quite literally incapable of any real insight or conversation about what they've seen. Essentially what they do is quote the media back and forth at each other and make references to it. There is no thought. If someone says they didn't like it or that it reminded them of something.. essentially anything other than a reference or empty praise they literally lose their shit.

For them even as far as saying you do or do not like something is not on the table, their point of view is more like "Ok this is media and we're consuming it." If you ask them what they thought they'll quote the tagline or repeat something from the trailer "that truly was the best film of 2015."

For them, the idea of quality or good or bad is insane... who are you to make that call? who am I to make that call? This is information that I'm stuffing my mind with! please don't have an opinion. I've never seen them like or not like anything. It's simply content which they consume. But my point is...

I believe the idea that "sometimes you wanna just turn your brain off and relax." Is a huge misnomer. My impression over the last 20 years of observing people who say that about movies or TV is that they're constantly in veg out mode. It never ever goes away. It started with my family and then moved into co-workers, classmates, friends. There is a certain type of person who is just constantly in veg out mode, when you break that trance it's like waking them from a good dream and it gets pretty ugly.

Anecdotally I can say that pharmaceuticals really help incubate this.