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Television vs. Reality

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Illinois chapter.

Television romanticizes life in general.  Television tends to portray family life being much happier and loving than most people know it to be in reality.  It portrays friendship as an unbreakable bond between a happy group of people.  On television, love can usually conquer all.  Let’s face it, if life was really like it is portrayed on television, the world would be a much better place. Everyone would feel loved and accepted and life as we know it would be much simpler.
            

On shows like Full House, Eight Simple Rules or Gilmore Girls, family comes first.  All of these shows, and even more shows, show what most people would like to see a family to be like: loving, strong, happy and more.  Yes, there are problems that arise in these families, but the issues are handled with much more grace and care than they often are in reality.  Most families are not as happy or even as civil as the television families. 

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Marriages and relationships are definitely not like the relationships seen on television or in movies.  According to family.com, many women want their lovers to be like the romantic heroes seen on the big screen, but those expectations are hard to live up to.  In life, love really does not conquer all, people do not always end up together and people do get hurt.  Television really tends to only show people falling in love, not the drama that comes afterwards.  Television also shows love at first sight, which is very unlikely to actually happen; very few people experience this in reality.  Most people have to get to know a lot about each other before they can even develop feelings for the other person.
             

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Friendships are also unrealistic on television.  In many different shows the characters have the same group of loving and loyal friends throughout the years, but in reality, friends come and go.  Girls really do choose a guy over their friends; friends really do betray each other and gossip about one another.  Sure, most people have their best friend that they will always be friends with through thick and thin, but most people do not have an entire group of friends like that.  Studies show that most people are not satisfied with their friendships, so they turn to the television to fill the gap.

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When it comes down to it, television makes life look a lot more picture perfect than it actually is.  People tend to compare themselves and their relationships with those seen on television, but in reality it’s quite difficult to live up to the standards of television.

Don’t try to emulate your life off what you see on the TV screen. Instead, create your own goals and find your own happiness!

Emily Cleary is a 22-year-old news-editorial journalism major hoping to work in the fashion industry, whether that be in editorial, marketing, PR or event planning is TBD. With internships at Teen Vogue and StyleChicago.com, it's clear that she is a fashion fanatic. When she's not studying (she's the former VP of her sorority, Delta Delta Delta), writing for various publications or attending meetings for clubs like Business Careers in Entertainment Club, Society of Professional Journalists, The Business of Fashion Club, or for her role as the Assistant Editor of the Arts & Entertainment section of her school's magazine, she's doing something else; you will never find her sitting still. She loves: running (you know those crazy cross-country runners...), attending concerts and music festivals, shopping (of course), hanging out with friends, visiting her family at home, traveling (she studied abroad in London when she was able to travel all over Europe), taking pictures, tweeting, reading stacks and stacks of magazines and newspapers while drinking a Starbuck's caramel light frappacino, blogs and the occasional blogging, eating anything chocolate and conjuring up her next big project. Living just 20 minutes outside of Chicago, she's excited to live there after graduation, but would love to spend some time in New York, LA, London or Paris (she speaks French)!