By editorial board
We all have characters we turn to when we seek connection. Maybe you watch that movie every year or listen to that album every time you feel sad. Some of us create personalities of our favorite influencers, stalk them on Instagram, and think we know them.
We all have a character we’re convinced would be the love of our lives if they really existed (Jess Mariano from Season 3 of Gilmore Girls). The extent to which we obsess over the latest TV show or rom-com, anticipate the latest romance novel, defend our favorite celebrities who “wouldn’t hurt a fly,” or stalk influencers on social media. , has become frightening.
According to experts, these are more than just guilty pleasures. they are harmful. A 2014 Stanford University study found that “low levels of social connectedness not only reduce physical and mental health, but also increase the likelihood of antisocial behavior that leads to further isolation.” It turns out.
The interconnectedness between social belonging and mental health has become painfully clear during the COVID-19 pandemic, with experts universally agreeing that loneliness is the biggest psychological byproduct of lockdown. .
The coronavirus pandemic appears to have caused irreparable damage to people’s desire for human connection. Not only has face-to-face contact become deadly, forcing everyone to use technology and entertainment to satisfy their desire for connection, the world is now at risk of being robbed of it at any moment. They seem to be afraid of connecting with people.
It’s easy to look back and laugh, remembering the good old days of fighting over toilet paper and consuming exorbitant amounts of Netflix, but I dare say we’re traumatized. We have trained ourselves to replace in-person contact with Zoom calls. Since we couldn’t leave the house to meet new people, we relived her journey to finding love on The Good Place, the 8th most popular TV show during the pandemic. I watched and lived through Kristen Bell.
Four years after the outbreak of COVID-19, the obsession with characters and celebrities remains as strong as ever, except for the presence of real people. We just keep choosing to replace them with fake ones. Even though proper face-to-face connection is available, we try to satisfy that need by connecting through a screen and clinging to characters.
It’s honest that you and Taylor Swift have been best friends ever since we made eye contact on the Ella tour, or since I couldn’t go out and watch ‘Twilight’ because I can’t love you more than Edward Cullen. Even in faith, many of us are guilty of replacing connection with entertainment and then giving up on it.
The bottom line is that Heath Ledger’s character in 10 Things I Hate About You doesn’t exist, and even if he did, he wouldn’t quit smoking or turn away from his “bad boy” ways for you. I don’t think it will. And guess what? Kanye doesn’t know you exist, so you don’t have to protect him in your dying moments. Stop rewatching that rainy marriage proposal scene from the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice and go outside.
Build meaningful relationships. Talk to your friends. It’s fun to reread your favorite novel or binge-watch a romance show after your favorite artist’s tour, but it doesn’t satisfy your desire for human connection. But the good news is that there are other humans around, and you can assume they’re also looking for connection.