How The Media You Consume Has A Strong Impact On Your Mentality
Published April 23rd, 2023 by Sabah V.
We often don’t consider how the media we take in affects us. This is why social media has caused so many people to feel depressed and anxious. But I’m not here to talk about how social media impacts us today, I’m going to be talking about how the music you listen to and the shows you watch have a profound impact on your mentality.
How Television Impacts Your Mental Health
It is often said that as human beings we are products of our environments, and this is true. People often say that we are a product of the five people we are closest with. Often times when we spend too much time around someone, we begin to mirror their behavior. We subconsciously start to mimic the patterns of their gestures and speech without even realizing.
This is why when you begin to binge watch a show on Netflix for example, we start to subconsciously mirror some of the behavior patterns of our favorite television stars.
Here’s an example: When I started watching Peaky Blinders, I immediately became obsessed with the main character: Thomas Shelby. A lot of males referred to Thomas Shelby as a “literally me” character, which if you don’t know what a “literally me” character is – it generally refers to protagonists who resonate with specific audiences.
Image From: https://www.goodfon.com/wallpaper/peaky-blinders-ostrye.html
Before long, I was subconsciously copying many of his mannerisms. Thomas Shelby is known for his “dead inside” appearance which has become appealing to a large audience. He wears his newsboy cap low enough to cover his eyes, giving him a more mysterious look.
Without realizing, I was walking around my gym everyday wearing my baseball cap low enough to cover my eyes a bit.
Not only that, but being in college at the time – it was pretty normal for people to smoke cigarettes here and there when they were drunk. The way I smoked cigarettes even started to mimic his patterns. He is known for rubbing the cigarette across his bottom lip before lighting it, and being able to speak while the cigarette rests on his lip.
I began to totally mimic this behavior without realizing what I was doing, until one of my roommates that was also watching the series with me commented on the fact that I “looked like Tommy Shelby when I smoked cigarettes”.
When It Becomes Dangerous
I don’t think that copying these subtle mannerisms is bad per say, but it does become dangerous when you begin to adopt their mentality.
When I started seriously watching this series, I met this wonderful woman and we hit it off instantly. Before long, she brought up the idea of entering a relationship together. But, deep inside I began to feel like Tommy Shelby. Dead inside and incapable of feeling emotions.
Every time I felt a warm feeling with her, I began to feel the way Tommy did. I started to adopt the idea of being ok with being unhappy and drowning myself in work. I almost felt guilty to fall in love in a way, because I would watch him on television and think his “dead inside” demeanor was so cool. I was totally copying this fictional character without even realizing what I was doing to myself.
Adopting Beliefs
Some time later I began watching Bojack Horseman. This is another phenomenal show that I totally recommend. It follows the story of a horse named Bojack who is an old television star looking to find his next big break. But, if you look deeper it is really about a man who is seriously damaged inside from past trauma and has a hard time finding happiness in anything.
While watching this show, I started to find similarities in Bojack with some of my self-destructive behaviors. Seeing that he also had a hard time finding a real long-term marriage, I started to believe that getting married doesn’t happen to broken people like me.
Next thing I knew, when my friends and I would brush up on the topic of marriage and children – I started telling them that I didn’t think it was for me. This was totally untrue, I’ve always wanted to have a future that included a happy wife and children. But my inability to distinguish television from reality blurred the lines for me a bit.
Image From: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/bojack-horseman-returns-with-its-most-emotional-season-yet/2017/09/06/567a4b7e-8f4c-11e7-91d5-ab4e4bb76a3a_story.html
How Does Music Affect You?
Music will impact you the same way. The truth is that none of these things are responsible for how you act out on them. It is your responsibility and yours only.
Investing your time into too much of one sort of media can easily cause a human being to find that lifestyle appealing and adopt it to their own lifestyle. This is because human beings are extremely impressionable.
Listening to sad music can make you more sad. Listening to a rapper talk about grand riches and beautiful women can make you want to live a faster lifestyle. We are far too impressionable.
The Solution
Be mindful of the fact that as a species we constantly mock what we deem to be appealing or popular. Recognize that when you are watching content or listening to content, that you can just enjoy it without letting it appeal to your life too much.
When I was watching Peaky Blinders, I was constantly trying to draw comparisons to the show into my life and how empty I felt sometimes. I could have instead just appreciated the show for what it was: an experience that is not mine to have, but mine to watch and enjoy.
Although we are easily swayed and very impressionable, being mindful of these things is a good way to keep your mind centered.
Disclaimer
By no means am I speaking poorly on Peaky Blinders or Bojack Horseman. Both of these shows are amazing and I totally recommend them.
I was just highlighting how younger people can get the wrong idea from some things, and start believing things about themselves that aren’t true.
Remember, you don’t have to copy people that you think are cool. Being yourself is enough.