Skip to main content

Your Movie

If you were on the hottest social media app Tik Tok this past summer, you probably know about what it means to be the Main Character. The archetype of the main character is nearly epitomized as being the center of attention, but not in the perfect life kind of way. More like in a "quirky" kind of way.

Recently, as social media has begun to highlight quirky personalities and shame their basic counterparts, the trend has only perpetuated the cycle of homogeneity. Regardless of how unprecedented a goal may be, with everyone aiming for it, it loses its shine. Quite frankly, striving to match an archetype of any sort produces the most boring and predictable movie---for you, as the "main character," and for viewer: your friends. And not only is it boring, but aiming to fit that mold is tiring---unsatisfactory. 

So as the clĂ­che goes: Just be yourself. 

But sometimes, even that's boring. (No offense)

I believe one of the most satisfactory and thrilling ways to live is by being shameless. Not just unashamed, but shameless. Dictionary.com defines the word as "lacking any sense of shame" or "insensible to disgrace"---even when rightfully deserved. Despite the negative connotation of the word, I often choose to describe myself as shameless (something that people don't know). 

Recently, I've learned to embrace shame and being ridiculed. As I've come to see it, nobody cares about me. Seriously, nobody actually cares about the things that you and I do; it's not their life! Really the only people who care about my actions are my friends, telling me "Sabrina, that's sooo stupid" and "that's never gonna happen." Call me an idealist but actually entertaining the random ideas is both possible and one of the most exciting decisions possible. Truthfully, it's the best way to make friends: showing your most genuine and strange side. It's the best way to improve yourself and your personality. Say hi to everyone on the street! In the car next to you! Act like someone you've just met is a lifelong friend! It may take them by surprise but ultimately shamelessness is often appreciated. 

You make friends and make it big when you do what everyone's too scared to do. You're only the main character in your own life.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Prepare to be Disappointed

The human mind naturally develops pattern recognition. In psychology, this describes how we make connections between memories and information perceived because our brains want to predict situations from past experiences. Because this behavior is so basic and innate, considering the logic and accuracy of patterns, it seems that we've integrated it into our thinking even when we shouldn't. Throughout our K-12 education, we're taught to analyze characters: what are their key traits? Their conflicts? Their attitudes? And through this, we've gotten into the habit of labeling them and putting them into categories for the convenience of characterizing them. It seems like every character has a distinguished role and a distinguished set of ideals. But in Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the main character Ifemelu and those around her challenge this way of thinking. In Americanah, central conflicts arise from status--both finance and race-based. Like the rest of the...

Married to Money

Nearly everyone imagines getting married one day. Some girls create a Pinterest board with the perfect dress, venue, and bouquet, while others don't. Regardless of the amount of thought put into it, the majority of people picture having a grand white wedding with all their friends and family--just a happy time. But aside from the obvious fear of commitment and attention, one of the scariest parts of a wedding is paying for it. Sources state that the average wedding costs $38,700. This includes the cost of an engagement ring ($5,000), the ceremony and reception ($29,200), and a honeymoon ($4,500). To put this into perspective, according to the U.S. Census, the average household income in 2018 was $63,179. That means on average, couples spend over 60% of their annual income on a single unrecurring event--and that's being generous considering the fact that new couples make less early on. As Didion criticizes the commercialized nature of American culture, she exemplifies with a...

Think Before Judging

A Raisin in the Sun  is a play about the Younger family, consisting of five members: Mama, Walter, Ruth, Beneatha, and Travis. Each character plays a distinct role in the family dynamic, but some carry more weight than others. While others might say that Walter is the worst and even drags down the family, I take a less critical approach. I fully admit that Walter, at times disgusts me, as he is the type of man who would waste his family's hard-earned money in a casino. However, he carries this sort of judgement with the risk he takes playing the role of a Lone Ranger. Diverging from the norm, Walter makes decisions alone, which will not always satisfy everyone. Another influential character is Walter's sister Beneatha. Portrayed as an untraditional and progressive woman, Beneatha is nearly perceived as Gandhi. In such a way, Beneatha's character provides verisimilitude by prompting to compare her to Walter as the better sibling. While she defies conventional images of a...