Anjanette Rodriguez

ENG 101
Culture paper
10 Nov. 2015

Big dreams and a sad reality

People everywhere watch television, it is a monumental source of entertainment for
Americans. Knowing this, movies and television shows use this as a way to portray the beautiful
lives of people every day; being surrounded by their friends, family, and neighbors; having
barbeques and going to every single family party in enlightening conviviality. Television is
giving off unrealistic portrayals of relationships whether it is friendships, intimate relationships,
or family they do not show the actual loneliness in the world.
This may not always be a negative thing, people may view these shows and
movies in a positive way. Some people may even look up to fictional characters and families and
be inspired to have them as their goals when they watch them. I am sure the thought That is
what I want my life to be like, when watching occurs. People take comfort and grow emotional
connections when watching shows like, One Tree Hill, or Greys anatomy. But they are
connecting with characters rather than real people. Is it because these shows display constant
intimate connections with other people, hanging out all the time? It is ironic that television is
constantly basing their shows off friendships; when in this society it is a struggle to find social
interaction anywhere but on TV or on social media.
In One world, many cultures, Neal Gabler who is the author of The Social
Networks, talks about how it is not that people would rather choose television over human

interaction; they want to be a part of a big community of people. He states that a study showed,
TV provides a sort of simulacrum of community because the relationship between the TV
viewer and the people he or she watches on the screen competes with and even substitutes for
physical encounters with real people. (pg.56) In this society it is organized by how many friends
you have on Facebook, how many followers on Instagram and Twitter you have. The more you
have, the more popular you are. When friendships are not fulfilled people look to their TV to
indulge in the lives of a created perfect life.
The social cultural shifts that have occurred over time have changed the way we
interact with other human beings. People are categorized by the amount of friends they have on
social media, and spend the majority of their time on it. This changes based on what is important
to the culture and in todays society social media is huge. Not only does this make it difficult to
make friends because time is spent on the internet rather than being spent interacting face to face
but this adds to the division of people based on popularity; the more friends you have the more
popular you are. Culture is always changing, new things are always becoming popular, I
believe as time goes on it will continue to shift, so people may be so entertained by television
and confide in it as there emotional connection but that may change to something different; it all
depends on what the culture decides is the best new thing.
For now, Television will remain one of the main sources for entertainment.
Advertising constant family and friends gathering together and happiness and laughter going
around. People will continue to fill the void in their lives with this unrealistic demonstration of
constant happiness. Instead, of the realization that families argue and friends argue over things
and happiness is not always going to be constant. In this culture instead of facing reality, an

alternative to face it is being sought and that will depend upon what is trending in that time of
culture that makes people happy.

Works Cited:
-Hirschberg, Stuart. "The Social Networks." One World, Many Cultures. New York:
Macmillan Pub., 1992. Print.