The Truth in What We Watch
With every passing trend, influence rises in teenage culture, as popular crazes tend to affect our style, personality and even decisions.
Technology tends to have this impact on our lives, but no one can quite put their finger on it, but experts try to analyze the appeal. According to BCTV.org. technology “plays an important role in society today. It has positive and negative effects on the world and it impacts daily lives."
Tiktok, Instagram, Pinterest and other forms of publicity are impacting our lives and decisions, but what we view can make us see the world in a different light. Our choice in TV shows and movies affects our lives, helping us make a change based on what this pretend society embodies.
One show that strikes a chord with the teenage audience is the show Euphoria. This show takes place at a high school in Los Angeles County, focusing on the drama of these high school students. This show appeals to the general high school population as the lives on the screen are somewhat like outs but conducted in a more dramatic manner and consisting of a more interesting situation.
Modern entertainment does not always take on a glamorous form as Maddie Edmondson '24 understands the characters to be “toxic and partake in unhealthy relationships and tendencies” that she would not like to emulate herself. Edmondson does describe it as a “learning experience of what not to do”
Her favorite show is New Girl, a popular show for the highschool audience, that she says “makes her feel happy as the message is positive”
Entertainment and trends are perceived in many ways, displayed in a multitude of manners, making a positive or negative impact depending on the circumstance.
Euphoria is a prime example of entertainment that tends to cloud our judgment as Lily Coughlin '22 comments on the “romanticizing of unhealthy and toxic trends.”
Lily says she “tries not to let the media influence her” as she knows that “trends subconsciously make us choose things which is not always a bad thing but it can prevent us from being individual and making our own choices and using our freedom.”
She tries to focus on the “positive trends and entertainment that makes her feel good”
For example, Lily's favorite tv show is Anne with an E. Coughlin states it’s a “really wholesome show that can be sad at the times but always ends up working out. there’s a slow burning romance that appeals to viewers and makes them feel good about life.”
This is one example of the positive impact TV and entertainment has on teenage lives.
In conclusion, the lives on the screen resonate with us, influencing our lives giving us a feeling that we cannot describe. Entertainment clicks with us, drawing us to the lifestyle, giving us high schoolers a way to live. This media impacts us positively and negatively, showing us what we can and can’t do, and how these decisions affect our lives. We are all subjects to the media craze, victims to its addiction. Whether or not we choose to give into the drug that is entertainment, that is up to us.