Treatment

What drives people to love drama and turmoil so much that they are willing to waste their valuable time watching trashy T.V. shows like Maury? Kurt Vonnegut had a theory, which makes so much sense to me:

"People have been hearing fantastic stories since time began. The problem is, they think life is supposed to be like the stories. Let's look at a very common story arc. The story of Cinderella. It starts with her awful life with evil stepsisters, scrubbing the fireplace. Then she get an invitation to the ball! Things look up. Then the fairy godmother makes her a dress and a coach. Even better! Then she goes to the ball, and dances with the prince! This is great! But then it's midnight. She has to go. Oh no. Sadness. Back to her humdrum life scrubbing the fireplace. But it's not as bad as before, because she's had this encouraging experience. Then, the prince finds her, and the happiness factor is off the chart! Happily ever after.

People LOVE that story! This story arc has been written a thousand times in a thousand tales. And because of it, people think their lives are supposed to be like this. But the problem is our lives drift along with normal things happening. Some ups, some downs, but nothing to go down in history about. Nothing so fantastic or terrible that it'll be told for a thousand years. But because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs! So people pretend there is drama where there is none.

That's why people invent fights. That's why we're drawn to sports. That's why we act like everything that happens to us is such a big deal.

We're trying to make our life into a fairy tale."

While I would hardly call a Maury episode called "My fiancee needs to know my unbelievable sex secret!" a fairy tale, I certainly do understand why people are drawn to it. (In my defense, I was in NTB's customer area, waiting for the mechanics to finish changing the oil in my car -- that show just happened to be on.)

A personal theory of mine is some of us Americans are so comfortable with our lives that we feel the need to create drama to stir up some excitement. I highly doubt child laborers in India and their parents put on crowns and elaborate hats and waited by their T.V.s with bated breath until the news started airing the royal wedding -- an union between two people they had never even met before in their lives.

This can also explain why people are addicted to realty T.V. and celebrity gossip. If someone feels that he/she needs a daily dose of drama, I suggest that he/she find a hobby to occupy their time and eventually live a full, enriching life that leaves no room for any petty drama.