18/365

When you turn on the television you are guaranteed to see something... unwholesome. I struggled with a word because you know what they talk about on television. You see what's in movies and you hear the songs on the radio. I guarantee you that every time my mother and I leave a movie, she will comment on how many curse words were in the film. Every time. Because when my mother grew up, people didn't curse on film. People did curse. We are the same people that we were in 1974; we are just more open. Now, being open isn't a bad thing. There are things that are talked about now that are so important, that should be discussed (ie depression and suicide discussion stemming from the death of Robin Williams). However, there are some things that I wish society would stop trying to make 'cool'. Here they are:

1. Drinking alcohol makes you cool, makes me people like you and helps you enjoy life more. False. Alcohol is not this magical drug that makes you seem awesome to other people. They are drunk. They don't know who you are on a Tuesday morning at 9am when you just finished your coffee and are planning to eat a takeaway Chinese by yourself that night. They know you -- or just the blurred image of your face -- at 11pm on a Saturday when you can't really walk straight. Problem. 

2. Having problems in your life makes you complex and, therefore, more interesting. No, having problems means you are like everyone else in the world. I blame made-for-TV movies for this, because they glamorize our misfortune and make it seem like that will make people love us. Once you reveal your problems, people can learn to love you. Eh, not true. People don't need to know everything about you to love you and having problems doesn't make you more interesting -- especially if you tell them to everyone.

3. How many people/who you have sex with means a lot about you as a person. The one thing I hate most is that the media thinks it is lovely when men sleep with many women, but awful when women sleep with many men. To be honest, your value doesn't depreciate by how many people you sleep with. You are the same person before you got in the bed as when you got out. Also, the idea that you have to sleep with someone by a certain age or you're lame -- yeah right. Who you sleep with and how many people you've slept with is your knowledge and you don't have to prove anything to anyone. Chill out.

There are many other things that I see problems with within the media; these are just a few that I've been thinking about lately. You remember when they warned you about peer pressure in school? What they didn't tell you is that your peers aren't really the ones pressuring, the people in the media are. Think about it.

catch you later,
Karleigh

"I am in competition with no one. I have no desire to play the game of being better than anyone. I am simply trying to be better than the person I was yesterday." //  unknown.