The map is not the territory.

As I was sitting in my modern rhetoric class, my professor started to talk about the narrative in our everyday life. He pulled up an article from The New York Times which really caught my attention. The article focused on the new era of the Oscars, where the #MeToo movement takes precedence and there is a larger variety of nominations that are history making.

The article, “We Got Read of Some Bad Men. Now Let’s Get Rid of Bad Movies”, has a good title, but there is something that does not sit well with me. Yes, this is a new time where women and minorities have the chance to stand up for themselves, this movement is just getting started and they don’t plan to go anywhere. However, later on in the article, West starts to point out certain movies and shows that have influenced her as a child. This part is what I want to focus on.

West is saying that the makeover shows made her feel ugly, that from Disney movies, she learned that she needed to have a waist small enough for the prince to want her, from “The Smurfs” she learned that boys can have distinct personalities, like being smart or grumpy, and girls can have only one.

Which is all true, but don’t we have the final say on how things affect us? I like to believe we have the power over things being reflected on the media and on movies, it is up to us to make the best of what is given. Also, I believe that it is up to us how we interpret what it is being said.

For me part of the issue is getting caught up in the narrative and given it the importance it shouldn't really have. I know this is practically inevitable, the narrative is granted the ultimate point of reference for everyone.Throughout time, we have all been saturated with a narrative, which makes it hard to acquire the level necessary to reflect and understand on your own. We don’t change our minds and opinion until we are being introduced to some new idea.

We calibrate our reactions based on what we believe disrupts perfection. For me, however, I accept that I base my opinions on what I see, but I still believe in the good of the movies, on the message that they are giving, not necessarily on the appearance and physical characteristics of the characters.

Now is the time to fight the wrong narrative. You need to pay attention to how you divide your reality. You have to stop listening to what others tell you to think and start giving thing meaning based on what you think. It has been a long time since we have heard a certain narrative, which makes it hard to distinguish between your own ideas and those of the narrative. What’s missing is the possibility that by fixing the narrative you are not necessarily fixing the people or fixing yourself.

There is always someone that would feel like they do not belong to that narrative, but every map is different. The map is not the territory, and you need to pay attention to the discontinuity of the narrative you already have of something. Do you know what your perception is already?