Stay Tuned

The thing about TV shows that are narrated in the first person is that it is far from real life. Think Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, Sex and the City. Each episode usually starts off with the main character telling the story of the day, and then ends with some epiphany or other. It wouldn’t bother me so much if the epiphanies weren’t as vague or redundant or slightly stupid as they usually are most days.

“I made my way home and that’s when I realized, we HAVE to be who we are.”

Or “It suddenly struck me that people do the things they do for a reason.”

Gimme a break.

The thing of it is that we watch these people stumble through their daily lives, their jobs, and then ultimately idolize them. We find ourselves the following day waking up and acting like there’s a whole crew of people videotaping our lives. Then we make our way home and start realizing equally meaningless things. I do it more and more each day. Only last night, I was in the car on the way home when I realized, people ARE different from each other, even if they’re all the same.

It’s funny, isn’t it. People started making movies to imitate real life. But now, people live their lives in imitation of movies. (See what I mean about epiphanies?)

Of course, before these TV shows, there was MTV. I still remember when I was in my early teens, when my friends and I lived our lives like it was a drawn-out music video. If you’re a bastard child of the 80s, you know what I’m talking about. The Slow-Mo Syndrome, we call it. If you had a problem, you sit prettily by the edge of your bed, cry theatrical tears, have flashbacks of happier times in slow motion, and pretend you were a teen pop star singing a ballad. The flashbacks were the best part. They usually involve a group of pretty young things with their heads thrown back in laughter, spraying each other with water. Slow motion is key.

In real life, of course, flashbacks aren’t that vivid or detailed. In real life, there are no epiphanies, except if you’ve had too much to drink. In real life, there isn’t always a story to tell, there isn’t always a moral lesson.

As I wrap up this entry, I realize that life isn’t always what it’s supposed to be. At the end of the day, we are who we are. People go on with their lives, and most of the time, so do I.