The rise of the millennials has seen social media thrive. Giving each individual a platform to freely express themselves. Like me, right now, blogging. Social media holds our society with a firm grasp, some would say, almost too firm. Suffocating.
There isn’t a person I know between the ages of 13 and 31 that hasn’t had their outlook on life or outlook on themselves moulded by that of the media and it’s ‘social norms’.
Everybody is all too familiar with Face tune and filters. Myself included. We portray exaggerated and polished versions of ourselves online because we’ve been told that our unfiltered selves are not worth as much recognition. And that’s what this generation thrives off of. Recognition, adoration, followers, likes. It’s an endless cycle.
I often look through social media and see these synthetic apparitions of happiness, posted by people I know. When in reality, what you see, isn’t always the truth. Hence my title.
Lady Gaga hit the nail on the head when she sang about a perfect illusion. We convey our lives to the world, not in a truthful way, but in a way that people will find aesthetically pleasing. We can’t even go out with friends for a drink without arranging our cocktails for an Instagram picture. We can’t go to a music concert without documenting the whole thing on our smart phones.
I went in December to see The 1975 in Manchester (Iconic, ethereal experience). During the concert Matty Healy, before the band performed their song “Me”, spoke of wanting to cherish the concert. And how he wanted everybody to be present in the room and see the performance with their eyes and not through a lens. I didn’t have a phone at the time so I had no choice but to do so. I must admit that there is no substitute for being there and looking at the artist as they perform, knowing you’re breathing the same air and are living the same moment. But the speech made me think about other concerts i’ve been to. I went to see my absolute QUEEN, Adele, in march. And I watched almost the whole concert through the lens of my digital camera. Yes, I have some amazing footage of a life changing night. But I now wish that I’d have experienced the night as it happened, not in retrospect, through playbacks.
Anyway, back on track.
Perfect Illusions can crop up EVERYWHERE in day to day life. I just had one of my perfect illusions shattered last week. Somebody who I adored and spoke so highly of, someone who I was willing to give my time and affection to, turned out to be the complete opposite of who I thought they were. I had literally used the words “In love” to describe my feeling towards them, I quickly replaced those words with “In lust”. And now in my final edit, I’ve substituted the phrase “In lust” for “repulsed.”
I’ve seen the cracks start to form in some of my friends portrayals of their perfect lives lately too. Scratching just beneath the surface has uprooted many a problem or cause of unhappiness, that had been so cleverly concealed through their eclectic posts on social media. The definition of Perfect Illusions.
2017 is the year of Lady Gaga.
Joanne is still Lit. The Super Bowl is going to be iconic. And she may not top the Bad Romance music video this year, but GAGA IS WOKE.
RIDEORDIE4GAGA, STOODBYYOUTHROUGHARTPOP, BORNTHISWAYERA4LIFE, LITTLEMONSTER, BADROMANCEISICONIC, WHENSTHEJOANNEBALLTOUR?
You can ignore my not so subtle Gaga fan boy plea’s, but there is still a message to be received in this post.
You are enough, know your worth, be your authentic self, live your truth.
Pineapple can go on pizza if it wants to, don’t put it in a box because of your social norms.
xoxo,
Jacknowledged.
Jacknowledged 