and, you know what the really odd thing about it is?

this false projection of me that he modeled himself on wasn't, like, some cooler version of me, or something. i could at least sort of get that.

it was the version of me that my parents wanted me to be.

so, imagine trying to juggle that - not only do you need to deal with rejecting your parents' false expectations of you, which is relatively normal, but you need to deal with the bizarre reality that your friends have exactly the same false projections.

i guess i can look back and realize that i obviously wasn't doing a very good job of projecting myself, was i? but, i think the broader truth is that people see what the media programs them to see, and the weird underlying reality is that they were watching the same tv programs.