We're involved. A little too involved.

When discussing narratives, particularly those put out by the mainstream media, it is not surprising to find how we tend to let a fictional world control how we should be. Our culture, indeed, even our world, tends to judge itself based on the constructed narration and reality that is presented through us through media texts and outlets. I believe that this has a lot to do with the way that narratives engross us.

There are six ways in which audiences become a part of the stories they hear. Most of the time, people are looking for answers in these stories that usually relate back to real life. If something works in a movie, why shouldn't it for us? If this character has this problem and they're now fine, won't I be? There are several ways that audiences can, and do, misconstrue fictional narratives with their own lives. This relation influences our fantasies, our ways of thinking, and sometimes, even our choices and actions.

This supposed influence may be overblown, but how many times have you considered yourself to be just like a character out of your favorite book? How many times have you thought of your life as "just like a movie"? How many young girls feel they need to be just as beautiful as every woman repesented in media texts? When we get involved in narratives, they tend to get involved with us.