Own and other stories

I've often wondered about the lure of television as well as the lure that novels enjoyed in the past and going back even further, the lure of age-old stories transmitted from generation to generation by the only medium available then: orally.

Many people would simplify it with statements such as "The poor bastards havech empty lives they have to fill them with other people's lives". Well, if one doesn't stop to think a little it may seem a relatively "reasonable" explanation... but it doesn't really hold up then you apply a little logic. Otherwise, 90% (beware, I didn't look up this statistic) of world population could be classified as poor bastards with empty lives!

There must, then, be another explanation. The explanation is that men (as a species, not a sex, nobody jump) has the need to feed his imagination with stories, possibilities, impossibilities and dreams both own and foreign. No matter how full our life is, we will inevitably dwelve in an alternative world be it through television, cinema, books, comic books (graphic novels), heck! When you think about it, even catalogues! We may imagine outselves as owners of a product!

We have all had to suffer the talk about the idiot box, not without some part of reason. Although, if going to the cinema was free, I'm sure we'd spend loads more time there, too, lets be realistic. The fact is that man (see previous comment) is lazy by nature. It is preferrable to obtain the same benefit (a fed imagination) with less effort; reading implies, for example, having to scenify the situations in our head, whilst these are "just given to you" on the telly and the cinema.

I wonder if our ancestors had to endure the accusation about not using their imagination in something more productive like reading a book when they listened to the radio series. At the end of the day, they were also being given part of the job done already, too!

But getting back to the subject about why stories are so enjoyed, they drive us away from our daily worries and allow us, but for a while, to enjoy a holiday away from ourselves (however our lives may be). The only problem arises when people try to find in their daily lives that which they miss or most enjoy from these unreal lives: the drama, the unexpected turn of events, the euforia of success, etc. Or when they confuse reality and fiction and try to bring to normality certain reactions, attitudes or thoughts which are not normally found in real people.

A clear example of this is the world famous "american dream" which keeps capturing an ever growing portion of the world population, including our beloved politicians... But I'll go into that some other time...

I won't be as simplistic as to sat that television is to blame for certain dramas that really happen all to often. The blame cannot be laid on the gun but on the gunslinger. The blame is on who looses their sense of reality, on who doesn't have enough of a brain to separate reality from fiction, normal from fantasy, and tries to apply standards from novels to find everlasting happiness.

"Everlasting" happiness does not exist as such. It is an "american dream" whose only ultimate result is a constant depression caused by never arriving at an unreal goal. The successful attainment of small daily goals is our only way to reach satisfaction; to enjoy our achievements, at any level, to basically know when you are happy instead of worrying about trying to be happy. As my good friend and mentor, Guillermo, was saying to me yesterday, whilst talking about something else, if you only have one unrealistic goal in your project you are guaranteed a constant frustration. Setting attainable milestones guarantees a sense of progress, of achievement and therefore the realization you wish to achieve.

So, my friends, stop building movies, dramas, romantic comedies and senseless storylines. Reality is a lot simpler, easier, attainable and generally better. Crisis or no crisis, people still purchase, lovers keep loving, friends stay in touch and people still love, no matter what.

Life would be a lot simpler if we could only see how simple it really is...