It’s like that show Big Brother… except somebody will be watching
March 10th 2008 05:13
There seems to have been a theme of life imitating art happening this week in my world. You know, my world where I can’t distinguish the difference between poorly scripted drama productions and reality. I’m honestly not being petty here. I’m just genuinely worried that people reading this think that I believe everything I see, hear or read is for real. In the same way that my friend’s elderly grandmother talks about how wonderful a person Victor from “Days of our Lives” is… or is on “The Young and the Restless”? Come to think of it, he might be in both of them. You know who I’m talking about, the guy with the moustache, looks like Magnum P.I.?
The point I’m trying to make is, when it comes to the world of entertainment, nothing is real, and I know that. It’s impossible to find truth in so called entertainment “reporting”, even if you see the same story in five of those hard-hitting magazines they sell at the grocery store check-out with the gum and twin Caramello Bears, as a bulletin report when you sign into your messenger service, or on one of those entertainment “news” shows, and the other “news” show on the same channel that directly follows it which leaves you wondering why that particular network went to the effort to make those two shows when one has nothing unique to offer from the other apart from a different host, possibly only in the beginning stages of anorexia, and therefore not worthy of being seen on the first show that airs that people will actually sit through. Oh, I’m talking about the E! Entertainment network, by the way.
Even though I know everything about the entertainment industry is complete crap, whether it be scripted, real-life, or the weird hybrid that is alleged reality-TV, my friends and I are still guilty of talking about this world as if it were real. Not because we are delusional, but because it’s FUN! We know it’s all one colossal, world-wide joke, but we do it anyway. Like those people who are obsessed with Star Wars. They know none of that actually happened and they will never get a chance to live out that movie as if it were real-life… okay bad example. Um, what about those kids that constantly play World if Warcraft? They know it’s just a computer game and that okay that’s another bad example.
Alright, how about this one. The whole Santa Claus/ Easter Bunny/ Tooth Fairy thing. I’d issue a disclaimer before I write this, but I’ve decided that if you are reading this and no one in your life had squelched the fantasy for you, then today is the day that the training wheels come off your bike and you become a big boy. Anyway, everybody lies about that sort of stuff to keep true to the illusion for the kids, but at any age, it’s fun to get caught up in the world of make believe. We could just be honest with our children and tell them what a cold, dark place the world is straight up, but come on, it’s fun to pretend!
And eventually, the kids come to realise that’s what it’s all about: pretending. The world IS a cold, dark place, and sooner or later everyone becomes fully aware of that. And if we can’t change that, then the best we can do is everyone once and while transport ourselves to an alternate world through our imagination, just as long as we keep a foot in reality and realise that we will never actually live in the World of Warcraft, even if we spend more time emersed in the game than doing anything else and get to the point where you stop showering because you don’t see the point as those people you are talking to on the other side of the world can’t actually smell you.
Most people achieve this suspension of disbelief… or is it suspension of belief… it’s been a while since I did year 12 English… anyway what I’m saying is this thing whatever you want to call it happens for most people when they watch suitable TV shows or movies. However, it just doesn’t work for me. I just see the CGI lions, tigers and bears or a couple of guys play fighting in front of a blue screen whose image will later be magically transported to the top of an aeroplane in mid-flight.
So instead, I indulge in trash. After a long week in our respective lines of duty I get together with my friends and we actually do sit around wearing avocado masks and eating Tim Tams and speculate who’s pregnant and who’s just bloated from a big lunch or wearing an ill-fitting blouse. Some people think at my age I should be out and about of a weekend, but truth be told, I started going out at age 16, so I was over it by the time I was legal. Now I’m just focused on actually doing something with my life. The trash thing is what I do in my down time, for fun.
I must admit that sometimes, I probably do get sucked in to the trash machine. Take for example my obsession with “Flavor of Love” and “Rock of Love” and any other shows VH1 produces focusing around these somewhat unholy forms of affection. I actually do think that parts of these shows are for real. I’m sure the events that transpire and conflicts are… lets say fabricated, because to go as far as to say as they were scripted is ludicrous, as Oscar winning films are scripted, and I don’t think such television productions deserve to be lumped into the same category. But as for the girls in those shows, I don’t think they’re actors, I wouldn’t to give them that title even if they were pretending for the same reason. I mean, think about it, in order to make each series, all they had to do was find 25 or so girls in all of the United States that were literally that stupid and desperate to be on television… it’s totally doable.
So give my regards to the entertainment industry. It may not rock your world, but it certainly rocks mine. Which inspires me to write about it, and then you for some bizarre reason which I don’t understand but totally appreciate to read what I write. The system works.
The point I’m trying to make is, when it comes to the world of entertainment, nothing is real, and I know that. It’s impossible to find truth in so called entertainment “reporting”, even if you see the same story in five of those hard-hitting magazines they sell at the grocery store check-out with the gum and twin Caramello Bears, as a bulletin report when you sign into your messenger service, or on one of those entertainment “news” shows, and the other “news” show on the same channel that directly follows it which leaves you wondering why that particular network went to the effort to make those two shows when one has nothing unique to offer from the other apart from a different host, possibly only in the beginning stages of anorexia, and therefore not worthy of being seen on the first show that airs that people will actually sit through. Oh, I’m talking about the E! Entertainment network, by the way.
Even though I know everything about the entertainment industry is complete crap, whether it be scripted, real-life, or the weird hybrid that is alleged reality-TV, my friends and I are still guilty of talking about this world as if it were real. Not because we are delusional, but because it’s FUN! We know it’s all one colossal, world-wide joke, but we do it anyway. Like those people who are obsessed with Star Wars. They know none of that actually happened and they will never get a chance to live out that movie as if it were real-life… okay bad example. Um, what about those kids that constantly play World if Warcraft? They know it’s just a computer game and that okay that’s another bad example.
Alright, how about this one. The whole Santa Claus/ Easter Bunny/ Tooth Fairy thing. I’d issue a disclaimer before I write this, but I’ve decided that if you are reading this and no one in your life had squelched the fantasy for you, then today is the day that the training wheels come off your bike and you become a big boy. Anyway, everybody lies about that sort of stuff to keep true to the illusion for the kids, but at any age, it’s fun to get caught up in the world of make believe. We could just be honest with our children and tell them what a cold, dark place the world is straight up, but come on, it’s fun to pretend!
And eventually, the kids come to realise that’s what it’s all about: pretending. The world IS a cold, dark place, and sooner or later everyone becomes fully aware of that. And if we can’t change that, then the best we can do is everyone once and while transport ourselves to an alternate world through our imagination, just as long as we keep a foot in reality and realise that we will never actually live in the World of Warcraft, even if we spend more time emersed in the game than doing anything else and get to the point where you stop showering because you don’t see the point as those people you are talking to on the other side of the world can’t actually smell you.
Most people achieve this suspension of disbelief… or is it suspension of belief… it’s been a while since I did year 12 English… anyway what I’m saying is this thing whatever you want to call it happens for most people when they watch suitable TV shows or movies. However, it just doesn’t work for me. I just see the CGI lions, tigers and bears or a couple of guys play fighting in front of a blue screen whose image will later be magically transported to the top of an aeroplane in mid-flight.
So instead, I indulge in trash. After a long week in our respective lines of duty I get together with my friends and we actually do sit around wearing avocado masks and eating Tim Tams and speculate who’s pregnant and who’s just bloated from a big lunch or wearing an ill-fitting blouse. Some people think at my age I should be out and about of a weekend, but truth be told, I started going out at age 16, so I was over it by the time I was legal. Now I’m just focused on actually doing something with my life. The trash thing is what I do in my down time, for fun.
I must admit that sometimes, I probably do get sucked in to the trash machine. Take for example my obsession with “Flavor of Love” and “Rock of Love” and any other shows VH1 produces focusing around these somewhat unholy forms of affection. I actually do think that parts of these shows are for real. I’m sure the events that transpire and conflicts are… lets say fabricated, because to go as far as to say as they were scripted is ludicrous, as Oscar winning films are scripted, and I don’t think such television productions deserve to be lumped into the same category. But as for the girls in those shows, I don’t think they’re actors, I wouldn’t to give them that title even if they were pretending for the same reason. I mean, think about it, in order to make each series, all they had to do was find 25 or so girls in all of the United States that were literally that stupid and desperate to be on television… it’s totally doable.
So give my regards to the entertainment industry. It may not rock your world, but it certainly rocks mine. Which inspires me to write about it, and then you for some bizarre reason which I don’t understand but totally appreciate to read what I write. The system works.
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