Monday, January 17, 2011

Tom TV

Have you ever thought what a younger version of yourself would think if he/she watched a movie of your present-day self? For instance, if 21 year old Tom saw present-day me leaving work, driving home and crashing on my parent's couch, he would be...confused at least.

I'm not saying that because I'm not happy. I am. I also know I'm working towards making my life better than it is now. The thing is, people make these specific and sometimes grand plans for themselves all the time. If we are all being perfectly honest with ourselves, these grand plans rarely work out the way we expect them to.

All of us can end up in these day-to-day routines, or ruts even sometimes, for the longest time. Suddenly, our lives can flip 180 degrees seemingly out of nowhere, and nothing is ever the same again. People get new houses, new jobs, begin or end relationships, become sick, hurt or happy out of the clear blue.

None of this is to say we don't have control over our futures. It's like driving a car. We have no control of the outside conditions, but it's still our responsibility to get where we need to go. Some people are better drivers than others, and some have easier roads to travel than others.

That's what makes reality TV so successful (well, that and it's cheap as hell to produce, but whatever). Even boring people can be fascinating at the right time or in the right light. Some shows are entertaining (The Real World is a very guilty pleasure of mine). Others are exploitative and downright awful (There has been talk of girls trying to get pregnant to get themselves on 16 and Pregnant). It's also why some count people watching as one of their favorite activities. Nothing more that seeing what other people's lives are like.

How would a past version of you react to your present movie?