Need a Lil Angst? Get Mortified!
Apparently I’ve missed a “cultural phenomenon” that’s “sweeping America.” Sadly, it wouldn’t be the first time.
Today, on CNN, I saw a brief vignette about a website called Get Mortified where people have given up their diaries, love letters and hateful scrawlings from when they were awkward teens. It’s a stage show (seems that’s how it started out) and also a book series (Mortified: Real Words. Real People. Real Pathetic.
Now this got me thinking. We’ve seen reality TV cropping up, Myspace and its spinoffs, not to even mention blogs (of the more personal type) where people vent their ‘inner thoughts’ to the whole world. But everything’s edited, isn’t it? When it comes to entertainment and the capitalistic way of life. Hell, we even self-edit to a large extent, I’d imagine - without even being entirely conscious of the process.
So the book’s touted as a great thing for adolescents who’re going through the ‘awkward phase of life’ that people go through. I wonder, though, if it’s all as ‘fresh and honest’ as it’s touted to be.
Am I slamming the concept? Absolutely not. It’s surely pure genius. I’m just offering up a little food for thought.
Tags: angst, books, true stories, videos, Websites