MEdia: The Imaginary People Who Made Me
Introduction post for my new series
I remember being in elementary school when one of my teachers turned 50. I attended a small parochial school, so there weren’t many teachers and this was a Major Event. What I mostly remember thinking was that she was SO OLD.
Today is my 49th birthday. In one year, I will be the same age as that very old teacher from when I was in elementary school. I’ve been trying to think about how to celebrate this final year of my forties, and in addition to plenty of personal goals that I look forward to pursuing, I wanted to do something fun here.
I often think that if one were to look through my favorite movies, television shows, books, music, and video games, they could probably learn a lot about me without even really having much of a conversation with me. Honestly, I think this is probably true of a lot of people. We are often shaped by the media that we consume, and we consume media that in some ways represents who we already are. That nature vs. nurture argument, but this time with which television mom raised us.
As I’m nearing a big milestone birthday, I thought it would be interesting to pick 12 characters who have had a major influence on me, or who I connect with in some significant way. Characters like all of the women on Designing Women who had a profound impact on how I move through the world and characters like Diane Nguyen from BoJack Horseman who feel they could be lifted from my real life.
Once a month for each of the next 12 months, I am going to choose one character in media who represents me or had a profound impact on me. Part memoir, part character analysis, these posts will run on the first Wednesday of each month, so the first one will be in one week.
Because these are going to be more personal in nature and I’m trying to guard that part of my writing a bit more than I have in the past, these posts will be behind a paywall (gotta pay for therapy somehow). But good news for you! I am still offering my paid subscriptions at 20% off FOREVER if you subscribe by tomorrow.
Join me for MEdia: The Imaginary People Who Made Me.
Who is a character that you would point to and say, “Oh, that’s me”? Let me know in the comments!