Life is Not a Movie

It is a common phenomenon that an actual event will create an entirely different story in the mind of an onlooker. A man trips among a crowd. A witness nearby can come to entirely different conclusions about the circumstances of this trip. Perhaps someone deliberately tripped him. Perhaps there was a banana. Perhaps he fainted, was sick.

Stories, by definition, are events stored in the mind, rearranged to fit the individual observer and to maximum entertainment value.

One of the most remarkable aspects of a media-centric culture like ours is that we live in a story driven culture. From a very young age, we are told about the stories of the others, and these stories are often repetitive, similar, to the point that they can convince not only the young child, but also the full grown adult that this is how life must be. There is a danger to this: If negative stereotyping of entire groups of people occur in movies and books, hardening assumptions, so do stereotypes as to how one should live one's life as shown in various media.

These stories typify the normal American life - one is born, studies, becomes either a rebellious teenager, a bookish 'nerd' or some other mold an unsure adolescent can fit himself in, and then has to either go to college or not, then work, then marry. It enforces certain stereotypes, expectations and modes of lifestyle that is untenable, unlikely or simply impractical in real life.

It is this linear progression that not only stifles genuine creativity in living life, it also sets up disappointment for those who cannot fit into the 'average' path of the American life. If one finds that one cannot do what others do, or are supposed to do, then that only inspires frustration.

The typification of life, whether arising spontaneously as a result of societal trends, or as a semi-conscious tool to control the movement of society itself, affects everything from the way we live our lives to the more tangible factor of how we spend our money. In a highly consumerist culture like ours, we have been taught, through stories, that advancement through life is only attainable and quantifiable through purchase and materialism.

Of course, advancement through life is not as simple as changing what form of entertainment one enjoys. There is economics to consider, demographics, geography. However, this kind of typification of life stifles not only individual growth in the short term, but also the development of society in the long term. The paradigm of development reverses - individual trends, real trends no longer influence our stories, but rather the stories have begun to influence our individual and real trends.

While stories have influenced societies before, the sheer amount of exposure to today's stories is unprecedented; whereas in the past, there was room for interpretation and analysis of how the stories relate to the individual, nowadays the constant bombardment of How Life Should Be leaves no room for doubt, no room for questioning the status quo except for those who are clinically stubborn.

Of course, there is always room for disagreement. One can simply reason that these are just stories, that one constantly analyzes what one is watching or enjoying. In any case, that is the only antidote to the stagnating effect of too many external stories - internal analysis, the ability to always separate the story from the actual event.