Where Would I Be Without Entertainment?

All of us like some form of entertainment. Whether it be books, movies, television, sports, computer/video games, music, and/or anything else, we all have some form of it that we enjoy. You may have noticed that, both online and in person, I have voiced a passion for certain kinds of entertainment. I've made countless online posts about my favorite shows, novels I've recently read, or films I've seen lately. Other people, including my friends, post about that stuff as well, but I seem to do it more often than they do. Over the past few months, I've been thinking about why I like all that entertainment so much. Well, just a day or two ago, it came to me: The kinds of entertainment I'm currently into have changed my life.
That may sound ridiculous, but I'll tell you why it's not: Before I started high school, I was into other kinds of entertainment. Usually, that completely consisted of things that were older or obscure, sometimes even both. As you'd expect, that led to continuous harassment from my peers. You could say they were just immature, but even some adults--such as my mom--got really annoyed with hearing about it, too. I'll admit, I wasn't very well-liked back then; still, how much would you like someone who won't shut up about something you either have never heard of or couldn't care less about?
That all changed right at the start of my freshman year of high school. After Growing Pains got taken off of ABC Family's line-up, I was so frustrated with my television, I wanted to throw it in the trash. I said, "There's nothing worth watching on there anymore!" Yet, after watching Lizzie McGuire, I realized that there was good current television out there. Naturally, that led to me watching other Disney sitcoms, which led to Nickelodeon sitcoms, which led to Disney and Nickelodeon movies, which led to Star Wars and Star Trek films, which led to science fiction and fantasy novels...and on and on it goes.
It wasn't just that my tastes in entertainment were current, though. Even some of the things I'd liked before that were also current were still either disliked or unheard of by my peers. The difference was that right many of my peers liked my new-found entertainment choices. I could talk with my friends about Anne Hathaway, Star Wars or That's So Raven much more easily than I could about Mork & Mindy, dc Talk or Hoyle Board Games.
Entertainment's positive effects on me go beyond that, though. This may sound boring, but I don't have the time or space to go into detail about all these stories, so I'll just sum up each one in a sentence or two:

• Weakest Link brought me out of a serious funk that was caused by the unfair cancellation of a local Christian music festival.
• Shows such as Lizzie McGuire and iCarly have taught me about situational ethics, and that rules aren't always cut and dry like I sometimes think they are.
• Sarah's Choice, a Christian movie dealing with abortion, had a finale that almost moved me to tears.
• ApologetiX had some parodies that taught me about Bible stories I wasn't previously familiar with.
• Additionally, their music, along with works by other parody artists such as Petrafried, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Bill Nye the Science Guy and even schoolyard parodies such as "Joy to the World, Barney is Dead," all served as inspiration for works of mine such as "The Siobhan Magnus Song," "Library Love Song," and "You Are Not Omniscient".
• Watching Siobhan Magnus' unfair elimination from Idol last year, as well as that dreadful preview for Love and Other Drugs, helped me understand the wounded pride sports fans feel when their team loses a game.
• Mario Golf for Game Boy Color taught me all sorts of golf terms.
• The Gospel of John (as in the movie) enriched my understanding of the life of Jesus.
• Songs such as "Got My Mind Set on You," "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" and the theme from Top Gear (as in the Super NES game) have enriched my imagination.
• Many songs about romantic love and relationships, i.e. "Total Eclipse of the Heart," "A Kiss is a Terrible Thing to Waste," and "Head over Feet" have helped get me through times when I was shot down by girls I liked.
• A TV-movie adaptation of Alice in Wonderland encouraged me to read the original Lewis Carroll novel.

I could sit here for the next hour and recount those stories and many more, but I don't have time for that. I'll finish this post by saying this: Without entertainment, I would not be where I am today. I would still be that widely disliked, constantly annoying guy that no one wants to be around. You can sit there and doubt that entertainment had anything to do with it, but I know that it did.
Any comments?