TV, and the "Anatomy" of "the Self"

"Art may imitate life, but life imitates TV" - Ani Difranco

I can't say that I really know what "me" is, and to be honest, right now I don't think it really matters. In many ways our culture, and specifically our generation, could be argued to be the biggest group of raging narcissists to have existed. I am just as guilty of it as anyone. We feel the need to share every thought that runs through our heads on Facebook and Twitter, we construct idealized online persona's, and choose our "favorite" everything: from music, and authors, to TV shows and restaurants. Our consumption, whether it is media, academia, food, or retail products, in many ways constructs what we consider to be our identity. Narcissism aside, this leads to a big, socially constructed, fragmented, ideological mess. We want to be entirely "unique" and individualized. We want to "find" who is we really are, but we are always finding it outside of ourselves. This reflects one of the major themes we have encountered in this course, that nothing exists outside of culture, not even "the self". Perhaps there is no natural state of "you" to be discovered. As our coursework would suggest, it is instead a culmination of your surroundings, and everything and everyone you have encountered.

One way I have seen this play out in my life is through television. Today many of us use the TV we watch as an extension to help us define our tastes and interests. Maybe sometimes we seek out certain shows and characters because they depict in some way the kind of person we want to be, or because we see reflections of our lives in them. It has been my experience that people often place themselves in the roles of TV characters. A friend once said to me in high school, "We are like the girls in Grey's Anatomy! I'm Izzy, she's Christina, you're Meridith!".....(rolls eyes). It has also happened on numerous occasions that I see someone post a cast photo from a movie or show, tagging their friends as different characters. This behavior showcases the importance we place on television in shaping our identities. For me, one of my favorite shows growing up was Gilmore Girls. I can't argue that watching the main character Rory, study hard, push herself, and aim high for her education, made me more driven as a student. As an artifact, the DVD sets that I watched every day after school, reinforced for me an appreciation of academics, family, and witty pop culture references. Especially in our media climate, it is hard to argue that the TV personalities we grew up with did not shape us in one way or another.

This topic could easily benefit from pages of elaboration, but for the sake of this post I will conclude by saying, normally I would hate to admit that television and media culture has impacted me so much, but it's true, and this class has begrudgingly made me realize that. Of course my family, friends and mentors have helped shape me, but it cannot be discounted, the ways (no matter how insignificant) in which the likes of Rory Gilmore, Lizzy McGuire, and Marissa Cooper, impacted me as well.