Self-Improvement In Pop Culture: Creating a Character of Oneself

Though there is much discussion about what pop culture is and how it forms, it is becoming increasingly clear that as circumstances become more difficult to deal with or control, people will inevitably seek methods of escape. Whether that is in the form of people to idolize/speak to or ways to entertain and distract an otherwise overburdened mind, these are still methods of escapism at their core. These are the things that become trends in any given culture. Pop Culture is formed fundamentally by methods of coping. Younger generations have experienced huge global and national tragedies, rates of mental illness, and a perpetual idea that one must improve themself to an unnatural degree. By analyzing the mindset that people adopt in order to cope with these things, one can better understand how pop culture is formed from these ideas and makes coping easier. These elements of pop culture that make life easier to deal with, and easier to enjoy, are the best that pop culture has to offer.

A  major trend throughout the rise of social media has been self-improvement. From classic self-help idealogues like Dr.Oz to the concept of “glow-up challenges,” people have wanted to find ways to elevate themselves. This trend has seen particular growth, however, amongst the younger generations. Caroline Beaton stated in her article “Never Good Enough: Why Millenials are obsessed with Self-Improvement'' that millennials were more likely to spend more time and effort on self-improvement than their older counterparts. In turn, they have been shown to see more long-term results (Beaton). Wanting to see oneself as an ideal version has outgrown the restriction of putting in the effort to get closer to the ideal self, and the idea that the real results come from acting as though the results have already been realized has become a dominant mindset. This has been shown in the Main Character trend on Tik Tok. In her article on the subject, “TikTok is teaching Gen Z what it really means to be the main character,” Chloe Meley explains how this trend started as a way to playfully make fun of one’s own self-absorption. Content Creators would make a joke about how those around them were extras or supporting characters (Meley). These jokes would have themes similar to the idea of self-focused default setting that David Foster Wallace lays out in his commencement speech titled “This Is Water.” He explains that, as our experiences are the only way we have to learn about the world around us, we are automatically conditioned to feel as though our experiences are the most real (Wallace). This internet trend has taken this general idea and turned it into a joke, as well as a self-awareness of how obsessed people can be with an ideal “protagonist” version of themselves.

Many have speculated as to why younger generations have become so attuned to the idea that they could live as an ideal version of themselves. Beaton hypothesizes that this could be because younger generations have all of their basic needs met. This would afford them the luxury to spend their time and energy on self-fulfillment needs rather than life-preserving ones, a luxury Beaton states that older generations would not have had. This would further align with David Foster Wallace’s theory that our first instinct is self-preservation and self-absorptions (Wallace). However, this does not seem to line up with the financial trends across generations. Millennial-lead households are more likely than any other to be in poverty, at a chance of ⅕. Millennials also on average make around half the salary as Baby Boomers. These statistics do not account for generation Z, who do make up a large part of the self-improvement obsession, but these trends could certainly indicate that a fixation on one’s ideal self is not a response to comfort, but to life insecurity. Beaton explores this view, stating that the self-improvement industry owes much of its success to younger generations. She explains that “it’s also relevant to Millenials themselves who anxiously wonder if they will ever be good enough (Beaton).”

Throughout the past few decades, older generations have berated younger generations for many elements of younger cultural trends. Everything from younger generations’ enjoyment of selfies to their financial insecurity has been mocked when covered by older journalists. But this isn’t the only problem, as a large amount of insecurity in younger generations comes from themselves. Millennials on average rate themselves lower in skill/ability than older generations do (Beaton). This obsession with self-improvement could also be social-media’s attempt to correct a problem that it perpetuates. Scrolling through any social media will lead someone to see idealized versions of everyone they know, or know of that is. Many times these pictures and stories are taken from the most enviable moments in a person’s life, and then further airbrushed and embellished to create a flawless image. The way this content is presented, however, is meant to give the illusion that this is normal to strive for. 

When people feel as though they have to live up to unattainable standards, how are they to ever feel as if they have done enough self-improvement? The answer to this could be the “Main Character” trend. Though this started as, as continues many times to be, a form of lightheartedly poking fun at one’s own self-absorption, it is not restricted to a medium of self-aggrandizing humor. More often than this interpretation, it is genuine advice on how one should think of their life in order to gain the most out of every experience. In a video from content creator Ally Ward that is often cited as the beginning of the widespread “Main Character” mindset, she prompts her audience to “start romanticizing your life. You have to start thinking of yourself as the main character. ‘Cause if you don’t, life will continue to pass you by, and all the little things that make it so beautiful will continue to go unnoticed. So, take a second and look around, and realize that it’s a blessing for you to be here right now. (Meley)” This aligns almost directly with what Kurt Vonnegut says “I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is (Leonard).’” These acts as an example of Brendan Leonard’s philosophy of Maximum Enthusiasm. He believes that everyone should take advantage of every small joy in their life, and fully appreciate it. He explains, ‘And most of the small things that make up your life are amazing, too—mountain-bike rides, rock climbs, ski runs, sunsets, stars, friends, people, girlfriends and boyfriends, dogs, songs, movies, jokes, smiles .. (Leonard).” This is the exact mindset of “romanticizing your life” that Ally Ward uses to encourage her audience to see their life as beautiful and exciting just as it is. Both of these ideas are a lot more than just encouraging an optimistic mindset. They are, as Chloe Meley says in her article on the subject, “a lens through which to see the world that encourages you to confidently take charge of your personal narrative (Meley).” 

Pop culture, social media, and trends can never be good or bad. They just exist as a reflection of the people that form them. By establishing such a dichotomous answer, one would really be making that judgment of people. However, to really answer, if these things could have a positive or negative net effect, one has to see what state people are in when they cling to these ideas. The “main character” trend is one that encourages people to enjoy even small moments of their life. Like everything, when taken to extremes this could cause problems of real self-absorption in a way that harms others. However, the most common implementation of this mindset is one that makes dealing with a life that may feel mundane and hard to love to seem like an award-winning story and one that someone can always improve.