In the current political and cultural climate, demand for documentaries is higher than ever. But while documentaries are very informative, they aren’t nearly as entertaining as Chopped Junior, the reality show where adolescent chefs compete against one another. Still, it’s worth trying to watch some of the more revelatory documentary films, even if there aren’t any cute kids trying to make a meal from four diverse and seemingly unrelated ingredients. Follow these tips to get through the whole movie, after which you can immediately put on Chopped Junior again.
Set a countdown clock.
To liven things up, put yourself against the clock, just like a nervous 11-year-old Chopped Junior contestant. Set a timer for 30 minutes and challenge yourself to finish a whole documentary in that time. If you get through all of Man on Wire in that time, congratulations! Reward yourself by turning that off and putting Chopped Junior on again.
Get a Ted Allen look-alike to provide summaries.
Not only are documentaries way more boring than Chopped Junior, they can also be a lot harder to understand. Fix this by grabbing a generic bespectacled white-male friend to stand in as Ted Allen, the Chopped Junior host. Every so often, he can provide narration to sum up Tickled in a straightforward and uplifting way. This way you’ll be able to keep up and stay engaged, even though the topic of tickling competitions being a cover for something more nefarious is depressing and convoluted.
Snack on weird food combinations.
One of the best parts of Chopped Junior is how they’re always using strange ingredients. Before sitting down to watch your intelligent flick, grab a bunch of random snacks from the kitchen. You’ll have fun trying to find the best combinations. Cheerios and deli meat? Pizza rolls and grapes? That’ll add a whole other layer to 13th, which honestly has a lot of statistics!
Take breaks to watch videos of sad children.
The Chopped Junior kids are usually good at holding it together when they lose, but disappointment is an important part of the game. If you’re getting bored of watching an older man prepare food in Jiro Dreams of Sushi, take a quick break to watch a few videos of children crying or otherwise being sad. Images of disappointed youths will remind you of the heartbreak of not winning the coveted Chopped Junior apron should inspire you to finish out the documentary.
If there’s a documentary you need to see, use these tips to chug your way through it so you can get back to doing what you truly love: watching Chopped Junior.
