Identity is finding yourself and being able to embrace who you really are. Once you figure out what your identity is and how you want to be perceived. You become more comfortable with yourself. Figuring out your identity is a big part of high school/college. You’re so influenced by all the new people you meet and you figure out who makes you feel comfortable and who doesn’t. It plays a big role in movies and TV shows. To give an example, the movie Mean Girls. Cady Heron is going to public school for the first time and she meets two entirely different groups of people. One is the “plastics” and their whole group revolves around being the center of attention and gossiping. The other group is Janis and Damian. They are outcasts. Cady hung out with both groups but overtime she started to hang more about The Plastics. This played a big role on her identity because she was changing as a person. She saw how they were acting and the attention they were receiving so she started to act just like them. As time went on, Janis helped her realize that she was becoming one of them. Cady was in denial at first but she eventually came to her senses and realized that’s not who she is at all. It was a big part of figuring out what her true identity was.
I agree, the time in college and high school paves the way for your true identity. While they say it is a safe place where you can be who you are, many high schools and colleges still judge other students and change them into not being themselves. In addition to the movie, mean girls, the movie ‘She’s All That’ brings into perspective identity and how peer pressure in high school to become popular can change someone’s appearance and their identity as a whole. The movies alter and put into our minds the unrealistic reality of being perfect and popular, having people try to live up to unattainable standards. Finding your identity is the hardest part of reaching adulthood that everyone must go through to have your own personality and identity.
I also think that who you choose to spend your time with plays a big part in who you are as a person because as you spend more time with those people you start to slowly become similar and share characteristics unless you have a completely dominating personality and even in that case it is hard to stay the same after long constant interaction with people
I think, after reading your post, as well as the replies below, that it’s reasonable to say identity shaping is not limited to that of online media, but the social surrounding and the media shown by peers, teachers, or generally external influences can additionally mold identity. I think that it’s great that this is shown in modern film/shows because it broadcasts to the public that identity is easily influenced when in particular surroundings, and I find it ironic that those films/shows shape identity at the same time.
I find it particularly interesting that you used “good guys” and “bad guys” inferences in your post without expressing it directly. There’s an interesting corollary to identify formation, and it’s acceptance and/or rejection. Identity formation results in reactions and responses, and those responses also become important shaping influences on our identity, for better and for worse.