It started as a way to turn off my brain at the end of an exhausting day. I was always the one who rolled my eyes at my friends who were obsessed with the new millennium's answer to ER. But then one day, there they were, all the seasons of the show on my Netflix screen. OK, I thought to myself, let's see what the big deal is. I had nothing else to watch and it must have been raining that day. It pains me to even say it but I got hooked- immediately. The drama, the light-hearted comedy, the characters, the insane plots, the sex, and Patrick Dempsey really did get hot! It only took me three whole seasons to realize, however, that as much as I loved watching the disaster that is these people's lives, well frankly, this show pisses me off!
I made the mistake of comparing a wildly unrealistic television show to my own painfully realistic life. And I was left with this nagging question:
When the hell ever happened to saying what's on your mind?!
Sure, on Grey's Anatomy viewers receive an overdose of melodramatic characters expressing every fleeting emotion. How else are you going to getting those kind of ratings? But look at the real world. Do you see anyone anywhere at any time having those conversations? Would anyone ever admit that they are avoiding their best friend at work because they are secretly in love with them? Would any two people sit down over a cup of coffee and discuss at great length, in perfect articulation, the reasons why they got drunk and had sex the night before?
These people are so in touch with their own emotions and motivations that I'm starting to feel like rolling my eyes again. Yes, I know, it's scripted prime-time soap opera drama; I'm not an idiot. People get paid a disgusting amount of money to out those perfectly articulated words in these people's mouths. But when I look around my own reality I can't help but wish a little of that immaculately scripted honestly could show itself in real life.
We're living in a world that perpetuates passiveness and ambiguity. We text everything to the point many of us have lost the ability to carry on a real conversation over the phone. It seems as though everyone hashes out their problems with people over Facebook status updates and third-party gossip. The last time I had a person confront me about an issue they had with me it was via Facebook chat. Evidently that is what's being considered bold these days. All you have to do to avoid someone is not answer a text message and conjure up a lame excuse the next time you cross paths with that person. "I'm sorry I never got back to you, my phone died after I left it in my friends car and then I fell asleep."
Don't get me wrong, if the real world was just like a Prime Time drama nobody would ever get anything done because they would all be too busy having lengthy conversations about everything they ever felt. And to that end, how do these people manage to be doctors when they spend so much time whining? But I digress. I'm not asking for everyone to air out every grievance, uncertainty, and mini-drama in their lives, that would get annoying extremely fast. However, it would be nice to know that our generation has not become completely emotionally stunted to the point where we are all just high school students with day jobs, mortgages, and children of our own.
So essentially what I'm saying is we should learn to talk to each other again. We should be able to figure out what it is that's really bothering us or what we're feeling in general and form an appropriate and coherent response. Is your best friend pissing you off because she doesn't return any of your calls? Tell her! Are you avoiding someone at work because they did something last month that got you all twisted and even though it doesn't seem like that big a deal anymore you still can't break the silence? Talk to them! It may be uncomfortable and you may not have a million dollar script to tell you what to say but friggin' try anyway! Don't let our generation be the one that destroyed the brilliant art of human interaction. Don't do it.
No comments:
Post a Comment