The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie had a deeply meaningful message about the stories we consume every day. She shared her story about how she grew up reading books that described characters that were nothing like her. In result, she wrote stories about these people and did not stop to consider that she could write stories that were about people like her. How she put it, she was stuck reading a single story. A single narrative that had not been changed by the different people all over the world. This changed when she finally read an African book that was more about her experience in life that showed her she could write stories anyway that she decided upon. This opened her to realize the influence she could provide. I think this is a powerful lesson for most people. Each individual has an unique story to tell, and if they do not share their life's experience with the world, then the world is deprived of that person's journey. This message has made me realize that I should try to immerse myself more in a people's culture before I make any assumptions based off of what could be a single story.
Imaginary Friends and Real-World Consequences: Parasocial Relationships by Jennifer Barnes was as deeply intriguing as the first video. In this video, she explains the relationships between real life people and fictional characters in movies, books, etc. The relationship she found was not entirely shocking, but still somewhat hard to digest when said aloud. In her studies, she found that most people have a much stronger connection with fictional characters than they do with people that they actually know in person. When asked how they would react when their favorite fictional character and a real acquaintance died, most respondents replied that they would be more upset about their favorite character's death. This shows how much people can bond with characters that are not actually real. Even though they are not real, they can mean more to readers than someone that they just know of in person. I have personally made strong connections with fictional characters, and I can understand why this is the response they received in their study. This has made me evaluate how I can use this energy for positive change in real life.
Bibliography
The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Imaginary Friends and Real-World Consequences: Parasocial Relationships by Jennifer Barnes
Image Information: Old books, Pixabay
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