Stop bingewatching TV shows and start bingewatching movies

It’s very easy to tell people that they should be productive while they shelter in place, that they should learn a foreign language or get sixpack abs. But the truth is that these are stressful times, and in stressful times, people like to do other things, such as drink, overeat and watch TV.

So today I’d like to talk to you about one of the three things you’re doing already — watching TV — and then tell you how you might get more out of the experience. Namely, I’d like to talk to you about bingewatching.

Most people bingewatch TV shows, but TV shows are not the best thing to bingewatch. Yes, I know we keep hearing that this is the best era for television, but let’s be honest: That’s not really saying much, is it? Even today, the vast majority of shows are not worth your time. They’re designed to stretch out a teensyweensy story over the course of many hours. They’re designed to addict you, while giving you very little.

This is what I do when I see a TV show that I find interesting: I go on Wikipedia and read the entire plot. If I’m still interested, that means there’s something else there. If I’m not interested after that, I just saved myself many hours. Either way, I’ve inoculated myself against a needless addiction, knowing from experience how I usually feel when I finally make it to a show’s final episode: Empty. (Like, OK, “Breaking Bad” was definitely good, but who cares?)

Instead, you should bingewatch movies.

Movies are aptly named. They actually move. In terms of story, the slowest movie moves faster than most fastmoving TV shows. Movies don’t preserve story, they blast through it. They don’t require 10 or 12 hours to make their characters change incrementally. In movies, characters experience lifechanging transformations in only two hours.

So, instead of wasting 30 hours bingewatching a TV series, spend the same time watching 15 movies by the same actor, or the same director. For the same amount of binge time, you will go to 15 entirely different worlds, and you will come back with insights and ideas, new appreciations and new understandings. You will do more than pass the time. You’ll enhance your life.

What should you bingewatch? I don’t know. What do you like? That’s the key.

Sure, I can tell you to bingewatch Ingmar Bergman — that would be enriching — but if that sounds like work to you, you’ll never do it. Does your taste lean more to Vin Diesel? I can respect that. Then bingewatch Vin, but do it right. Start with “Strays” from 1997 and work your way up.

I’ve bingewatched lots of French actresses, and lots of old movie stars: Greta Garbo, Norma Shearer, Lee Tracy ... I once bingewatched so many Edward G. Robinson movies in a row that, for a week, I couldn’t stop talking like him.

Each binging experience is a revelation. When you bingewatch movies, you learn things and see patterns without even trying.

Here’s one suggestion: I bet it would be fun to bingewatch Elisabeth Moss right now, perhaps in reverse chronological order. And not her TV shows, but the movies. Start with “Invisible Man,” then “Shirley,” then “The Kitchen,” “Us,” “Her Smell,” and “The Seagull.” She’s about the most dynamic screen actress working right now. It would be interesting to see how that happened.

Here’s another one: Clint Eastwood turned 90 last month. Watch every movie that he has directed since 2003’s “Mystic River.” It’s one of the most impressive runs by any director in screen history.

Just whatever you do, don’t get sucked into any more of these pointless TV shows. Ninetynine percent of them promise you a lot, string you along and leave you with a vague blur of empty experiences. You deserve better. Make the switch to movies.

Merie W. Wallace / Warner Brothers Sean Penn starred in “Mystic River,” directed by Clint Eastwood, who’s had an impressive run behind the camera.

Universal Pictures Bingewatching Elisabeth Moss movies could provide insight into the career of today’s most dynamic screen actress.