I like to watch a lot of TV shows, ranging from sitcoms to cartoons to shows like How It's Made and even Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. About the only thing I don't watch is reality shows because way too many of them don't seem like reality. They seem more like people that aren't actors trying to act out a very generalized script.
But I really like watching sitcoms like How I Met Your Mother or Home Improvement. Shows like that, those shows about a bunch of people living life and a bunch of realistic, yet absurd stuff happens to them regularly. Those feel more like reality, especially when the actors (and the writers who write their lines) portray them in such a way that I go "That's pretty much how I'd react."
Recently though, I was watching through the seventh season of How I Met Your Mother, and watched an episode called The Trilogy. In this episode, Ted, Marshall and Barney reminisce every three years about what their life was like three years ago, and what they think their life is going to be three years from now when they get together again to watch the Star Wars Trilogy in one sitting (something I should probably do sometime soon. I haven't done that in a long time.) Every three years, they talk about how three years ago there was certain problems going on, how some of those problems got resolved, and then imagined a grandiose future of perfection that should happen in three years (Except Barney, who just said "This is <blah>. You are going to be seeing a lot more of <blah>. *leads her out the door* And they never saw her again. WASSUP!")
Now, whenever I watch what I consider a good TV show, I can't help but associate one character, or sometimes multiple characters, towards my life and who I am. I've also done this with songs, even going so far as to say that enough of The Offspring's songs reflect some time-frame of my life that they are taking my life as their inspiration. But in HIMYM case, I suddenly realized I was Ted. Actually, worse off than Ted, but Ted none the less. I'm the hopelessly optimistic guy that's their for his friends, looking for someone to spend the rest of my life with and be stable both financially and relationship wise. Yet, I always seem to fall short in every aspect, especially now.
I'm 27 years old, still working a part-time job that a high schooler could do (well, I work at a liquor store, so a 21 year old still in college), and my life doesn't seem to be progressing. There is a wall I can't seem to climb over, and I've been looking around and there is no one around to help me over it. Yet, I keep trying to climb it. I keep clambering up that wall, and I keep falling short and falling back down.
Let's go back nine years to 2004. I was in the Navy, had just gotten out of boot camp, and was heading to my A-school. At that time, I wanted to go to Japan, do my four years, and get out with money to go to school. I imagined that in three years, I would be heading to college with plenty of money in my pocket and plenty of memories of my time in the service.
Jump three years forward to 2007. I'm now out of the Navy with an honorable discharge, I was able to go to Japan as well as a bunch of other countries. I had those memories I wanted, and a few I didn't want, and I had my money for college. My prediction had come true, and now I wanted to go to college, get my degree in Computer Programming, and start working on video game design and building.
Finally, we jump ahead to 2010, and I was in the Master's degree at Full Sail, working on a plan to finish my thesis, get my Master's, and hopefully get a job as a Producer or Assistant Producer, or even just a QA tester in the video games field. I had managed to go to the college I wanted to, but instead of Computer Programming, I instead had jumped to Computer Animation, received my bachelors with little to no problems, and decided to stay to possibly earn something even greater. Three years from then, I imagined myself working at a smaller studio, somewhere that did console and/or PC games, and working my way up the ladder towards my dream job of either Lead Designer or a Director's position. By that time, I also expected to have a steady girlfriend, possibly living with me, and in my own head starting to think about proposing to her within the next year or so.
Yet, here we are in 2013, and instead of all of that, I live at home with my parents, I work a part-time job making barely enough money to pay some of my bills from school, I have no girl-friend, and all of my regular friends are at minimum 600 miles away from me. I've realized that without the centralization of communication I'm used to of school, clubs, and commonality, as well as the lack of money to freely spend for enjoyment, I have trouble making friends. While I'm confident in my ability to speak, I can't seem to find a girl that I can see myself with. And as much as I try, whether within or outside my field of talent, I can't seem to land a career to allow myself to be self-sufficient once again.
If I were to make a prediction right now about where my life will be in 2016, optimistically I would probably say that I might be at a point where I've been promoted at my job (or possibly another part-time job I may take has promoted me) which places me in management. I would then be working 40-60 hours a week at a job I really don't like and don't want to be in, and probably working a second job just to make ends meet. If I'm lucky, I'll be at least living with a roommate in a small apartment, and I might have a few friends that we get together every-so-often and watch TV or play Rock Band. In other words, mediocrity.
And that's why I watch TV. I escape into the lives of people with problems more extravagant than mine, yet still very similar. I associate myself into one of the characters and hope to have their solution inspire a way to correct my situation. But the more TV shows I watch, the more I wish I could get the writers of my life to stop dragging on this season, and instead answer some of the questions I know they must be asking. I would like a new story arc to begin. We've been through the Trial of the Navy arc, the Good Times of College arc, let's put an end to the Career Search Challenge arc at least.
I'd love to know if other people associate themselves with characters like this. I know there is a type of psychosis that pertains to this, but I'd feel better knowing that I'm not the only delusional one.
But I really like watching sitcoms like How I Met Your Mother or Home Improvement. Shows like that, those shows about a bunch of people living life and a bunch of realistic, yet absurd stuff happens to them regularly. Those feel more like reality, especially when the actors (and the writers who write their lines) portray them in such a way that I go "That's pretty much how I'd react."
Recently though, I was watching through the seventh season of How I Met Your Mother, and watched an episode called The Trilogy. In this episode, Ted, Marshall and Barney reminisce every three years about what their life was like three years ago, and what they think their life is going to be three years from now when they get together again to watch the Star Wars Trilogy in one sitting (something I should probably do sometime soon. I haven't done that in a long time.) Every three years, they talk about how three years ago there was certain problems going on, how some of those problems got resolved, and then imagined a grandiose future of perfection that should happen in three years (Except Barney, who just said "This is <blah>. You are going to be seeing a lot more of <blah>. *leads her out the door* And they never saw her again. WASSUP!")
Now, whenever I watch what I consider a good TV show, I can't help but associate one character, or sometimes multiple characters, towards my life and who I am. I've also done this with songs, even going so far as to say that enough of The Offspring's songs reflect some time-frame of my life that they are taking my life as their inspiration. But in HIMYM case, I suddenly realized I was Ted. Actually, worse off than Ted, but Ted none the less. I'm the hopelessly optimistic guy that's their for his friends, looking for someone to spend the rest of my life with and be stable both financially and relationship wise. Yet, I always seem to fall short in every aspect, especially now.
I'm 27 years old, still working a part-time job that a high schooler could do (well, I work at a liquor store, so a 21 year old still in college), and my life doesn't seem to be progressing. There is a wall I can't seem to climb over, and I've been looking around and there is no one around to help me over it. Yet, I keep trying to climb it. I keep clambering up that wall, and I keep falling short and falling back down.
Jump three years forward to 2007. I'm now out of the Navy with an honorable discharge, I was able to go to Japan as well as a bunch of other countries. I had those memories I wanted, and a few I didn't want, and I had my money for college. My prediction had come true, and now I wanted to go to college, get my degree in Computer Programming, and start working on video game design and building.
Finally, we jump ahead to 2010, and I was in the Master's degree at Full Sail, working on a plan to finish my thesis, get my Master's, and hopefully get a job as a Producer or Assistant Producer, or even just a QA tester in the video games field. I had managed to go to the college I wanted to, but instead of Computer Programming, I instead had jumped to Computer Animation, received my bachelors with little to no problems, and decided to stay to possibly earn something even greater. Three years from then, I imagined myself working at a smaller studio, somewhere that did console and/or PC games, and working my way up the ladder towards my dream job of either Lead Designer or a Director's position. By that time, I also expected to have a steady girlfriend, possibly living with me, and in my own head starting to think about proposing to her within the next year or so.
Yet, here we are in 2013, and instead of all of that, I live at home with my parents, I work a part-time job making barely enough money to pay some of my bills from school, I have no girl-friend, and all of my regular friends are at minimum 600 miles away from me. I've realized that without the centralization of communication I'm used to of school, clubs, and commonality, as well as the lack of money to freely spend for enjoyment, I have trouble making friends. While I'm confident in my ability to speak, I can't seem to find a girl that I can see myself with. And as much as I try, whether within or outside my field of talent, I can't seem to land a career to allow myself to be self-sufficient once again.
If I were to make a prediction right now about where my life will be in 2016, optimistically I would probably say that I might be at a point where I've been promoted at my job (or possibly another part-time job I may take has promoted me) which places me in management. I would then be working 40-60 hours a week at a job I really don't like and don't want to be in, and probably working a second job just to make ends meet. If I'm lucky, I'll be at least living with a roommate in a small apartment, and I might have a few friends that we get together every-so-often and watch TV or play Rock Band. In other words, mediocrity.And that's why I watch TV. I escape into the lives of people with problems more extravagant than mine, yet still very similar. I associate myself into one of the characters and hope to have their solution inspire a way to correct my situation. But the more TV shows I watch, the more I wish I could get the writers of my life to stop dragging on this season, and instead answer some of the questions I know they must be asking. I would like a new story arc to begin. We've been through the Trial of the Navy arc, the Good Times of College arc, let's put an end to the Career Search Challenge arc at least.
I'd love to know if other people associate themselves with characters like this. I know there is a type of psychosis that pertains to this, but I'd feel better knowing that I'm not the only delusional one.
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