If Only...it were Like it was on....(Insert your favorite Drama Show Here)

Netflix, Netflix, Netflix....best thing since sliced bread.  Seriously, what did we do before we had the
capability to binge watch entire seasons, sometimes series in very few sittings.  Being more of a reader myself, I have just recently been bitten by the "Binge" bug where I have watched an entire season of a drama in one sitting (don't judge),  Olivia Pope would capture anyone's attention from the get go.  Scandal hasn't been my only indulgence, there have been many victims to my Netflix "Binges" since my daughter gifted me with a Roku last Mothers Day.

Given this unlimited access and gift of not actually having to wait until next week at the regular time slot to see what happens to our favorite characters, imaginations start running wild, you are allowed to slip into the characters.  Lie if you want, but at one point you have sympathized with, related to and cried with fictional characters, you have wanted to actually be them and our minds get so wrapped around these things the lines between fictional and reality actually start to get blurred. We begin to think, what if my life really was like that and that ignited my thinking....

What if..... I were a powerful woman in Washington, D.C fixing problems and having a steamy affair with the president, a la Olivia Pope.  I mean how awesome would it be to be the "mistress" everyone actually rooted for as apposed to wearing the Scarlet Letter in society. Be honest, Thursday nights and during Netflix binges are the only instances we deem the "mistress" the good girl, we actually root for her, we cheer on the infidelity between her and our Commander in Chief insisting that even if he does divorce his wife for the "other" woman, we would still vote for him, all would still be well in societal standards.  As women, we relate, the desire we all have to be a powerful female, a hot commodity professionally,  to be loyal to a fault, to have people who believe in you so much they would fight for you, to be wanted relentlessly by a man that should not want us; a man that we cannot have.  Our heart strings are tugged as we await Olivia's personal happily ever after since professionally she has sacrificed everything for everyone else.  That's where you get sucked in, her need to "mother" her staff, her need to be all consumed by love because you can't chose who you fall in love with, her need to wear the "white" hat that makes things better.  Scandal makes you rethink, makes you re-evaluate what really is bad or wrong and what really is good or right and I love that, I am team Olivia all the way.
 
What if......I married my high school sweetheart, had a successful music career and my husband graced the NBA, a la Haley James Scott.  No one will ever make me believe that at one point you didn't envy Tutor Girl and Nathan's relationship (aka Naley) on One Tree Hill.  A music tryst, a psycho nanny, multiple brushes with death, the fact that Nathan was a total butthead in the beginning, parental deaths and two kids later, they survived and their love was strong as ever.  As a woman we relate because we want to believe in the fairy tale, we want to believe that there is actually a happily ever after that wasn't orchestrated by Walt Disney.  We want to believe that a male can be faitful all those years, that he can love you so much his own dreams come second.  Couples actually do compromise and sacrifice for each other. Naley sucks you in by taking you on the entire ride with them from first meeting through high school, marriage, pregnancy, parenthood and the feels are there you laugh with them, smile with them, cry with them, grow with them, and that is why Naley will always be relationship goals.

What if.......You fell in love with a convicted felon, a la Sarah Tancredi.   Who would have ever thought I could become pulled in by felons, prison and being on the run?  Prison Break completely took me out of my drama comfort zone.  Doesn't take a genius to guess what appeals to us as females, everyone wants to love the bad boy trying to do what is right, Michael and Sarah are the current day Robin Hood and Maid Marian of sorts, thanks again Walt.  We relate because it was love at first sight, because they both had been without parents the majority of their lives and needed each other, because he is willing to do whatever it takes for her as she is him, because the promise of  "one day", because there is never a perfect time to meet your soul mate.   Prison Break's King and Queen makes us want to believe in complete selflessness and sacrifice for love, we want to believe that regardless of what curves the road ahead may have love doesn't have to die.  Inmates in love, a great love story, how's that for outside the box. 

Leave it to Netflix to allow us that reprieve needed some day's to step outside of who we are and picture ourselves as more dramatic, more exciting people, to give us that escape from the everyday.  For a small fee each month we have all these characters  at the tip of our fingers just pulling us in.  Fiction, that's all it is, but it's okay to use your imagination from time to time to be Olivia Pope, Haley James Scott or Sarah Tancredi,  because deep down at one point every female can relate to a little part of each one of these ladies, we desire to be more like each one of these ladies, regardless if we want to admit it or not.