The Power of Suggestion

There are some people in the world who pride themselves on being different. The people who say they don’t eat meat, or say they don’t watch television, but all succumb to suggestion somehow. A woman can say she does what she wants and doesn’t care what other people think, but then why does she have the newest makeup and in season clothes? A man can say he is his own man and doesn’t follow trends, but why is his music new and why is he up to date on the playoffs? To follow anything is to fall victim to suggestion.

ESPN says you should watch the NBA playoffs, Lebron says you should wear Nike, everyone is suggesting something. Particularly everyone on television is suggesting something to viewers.

You cannot escape suggestion, even if you don’t watch television there is radio, there are billboards, in New Orleans on Bourbon Street there are women in bikinis standing outside establishments trying to encourage people to enter. Suggestion is everywhere — which is amazing and terrible at the same time. It’s amazing if you own a business and are trying to get into the minds of consumers. It’s terrible if you are a parent and you want your children to lead instead of being led by vanity and the bottomless pit that is human desire.

Yesterday, I went downtown and I was counting all the black on black relationships in St.Louis, there were two and one was a lesbian couple. Immediately a sound minded person may assume it was due to the income level of the area, but this was near a college. I instantly thought about television and sitcoms over the years, and sadly interracial relationships have been pushed for a very long time. From Lucy and Ricky Ricardo to Scandal’s Olivia and Fitz. There is nothing wrong with interracial relationships however, they are a testament to the power of suggestion.

Even news is a suggestion, it suggests you care about things that don’t effect you or to even believe what you are told. How many things about you are not also true about someone on television or movies? I’d bet money very few things about you are absolutely original. There is a saying that there is nothing new under the sun and I kind of agree because we are all just following trends and lying to ourselves about what originality actually means. If you have ever met anyone original in this world you probably called them a weirdo or thought they were strange, which furthermore proves my notion.