It may come as a shock to some, but TV shows and movies are not accurate portraits of real life. I know, right? Audiences around the world eat this shit up and fictional realities become our template for ideal lifestyles, but because these are essentially unattainable for everyone, they actually contribute to our unhappiness and dissatisfaction with our own lives. These are the awful expectations promoted by TV and movies;
1) Body shape
That's right, I'm gonna flog this horse some more, the ideals of beauty have shifted so much over the decades that it's crazy. Supposedly normal, average, everyday people have six-packs, amazing hair and wardrobes... except this is all the product of a successful acting career and a wardrobe department. Also, it's a common Hollywood move to cast 20-something year olds in teenage roles who are clearly more physically developed than teenagers can naturally be, yet teenagers still feel the pressure to look just as good. Yes, even that nerdy-but-adorable character has his own personal trainer and hair stylist in real life, and he doesn't actually just play video games all day.
2) Circle of friends
There is a strange impression given by long running shows that you can still have a large social circle even though you spent most of your twenties hanging around with the same small bunch of mates. This totally neglects the fact that you actually have to maintain relationships, and can allow audiences to infer that there must be some deficiency in their life when they think they're doing all the right things.
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How they got anybody to come to this party is beyond me.
3) Sexual partners
A few years back, a study showed that the global average for sexual partners was 9. Now think of a show like Friends, for example, where Joey was an unwitting role model for horndog lads around the world. Joey was shown to have 51 sexual partners over the course of the show, that's a pretty outrageous disparity between reality and fiction, if you ask me.
"Mr Tribbiani, I'm afraid you're riddled with STIs."
4) The big dance
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Be it a prom or debs, your big dance will be the high point of your young life. Psych! In reality, it turns out to be just another session, just slightly bigger than the usual.
It's almost as if they make dances seem more important for dramatic purposes!
5) Happy endings
I can't help but blame Walt Disney, because in real life the only happy endings you get come at the end of a dodgy massage and you have to pay for that. Tragic much?
