Justin Fetter
Professor Brady
English 102
Everybody is afraid of the truth. It is a fact that nobody wants to hear that his or her hopes and dreams will not come true. When people come across this uncomfortable truth they somehow create an alternate reality in which they feel more comfortable. In a way, it is sad to see so many people, just like Stella, tell their own self a lie and then force themselves to believe it. In “A Streetcar Named Desire” Stella is a perfect example of how creating an alternate reality is the reaction to the unwanted truth. For example, “I couldn’t go on believing her story and living with Stanley” is how Stella reacted when she was told about the stories of Stanley raping Blanche.
Stella is well aware of Stanley’s past including his abusive behavior and ability to rape. She is also well aware of mainly everything Stanley is trying to tell her when Stanley is explaining how Blanche is a constant liar. She knows the story of how Stanley raped Blanche, but she’s in love with him so she doesn’t want to deal with the truth because she can’t handle it. Stella tricks herself into believing that walking past a rapist everyday in the same house is normal. She is able to create this illusion/alternate reality that Blanche is always a compulsive liar and that Stanley is always wrong because of his past. For example, Stella says, “I don’t want to hear anymore” (1215) after Stanley explains to her about lie number 2 of Blanche.
Today people are always creating better versions of their lives in their own minds. Everyone has their own “perceived” way that they want society to see and accept. This becomes so much of a habit for so many people that they start to believe it is the actual truth. Such as Blanche, who creates this whole fake life of being rich, wearing fancy clothing, being snobby, etc. She didn’t want to, nor know how to, handle the fact that her life was falling apart and she was basically ruined as a human, which is why she created her own illusions. This absolutely relates to the people of my generation. People are constantly posting photos of things they cant afford on social media like twitter Instagram, Facebook, and snap chat. Putting up pictures of fake Louis Vuitton bags, High-end car keys, constant postings of their latest tattoos. Social media is simply its own alternative world. Men and Woman hide behind social media with their looks and appearances. One photo can make you look towards a certain family in such a judgmental way. For example, “this woman posts photos of her and her kids by the pool laughing and having a good time while Professor Brady is at home having chaos with her kids, the next day Brady finds out the woman was having the same problems with her kids but she was able to hide it because of her wonderful and amazing picture.”(Brady) When these people start to create these “fake life” pictures they start to show forms of depression. To elaborate, “You get more explicit and implicit cues of people being happy, rich, and successful from a photo than from a status update.” (Krasnova) “A photo can very powerfully provoke immediate social comparison, and that can trigger feelings of inferiority. You don’t envy a news story.” (Krasnova)
There is so much photo shop and editing that can be done to pictures that are posted on social media. They create an alternative reality by posting a “selfie”, editing it, and seeing how many likes/comments they can get to deal with their anger, stress, or whatever emotion they need to cope with. The same concept applies to creating an alternative reality like when Blanche throws herself out there with her expensive clothing that she can’t afford trying to draw attention just to cope with her emotions/life. It is pointless to try and impress people with anything because nobody cares and it just makes you look foolish. The goal is not to go through life looking to impress other people.
No comments:
Post a Comment