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friendsef

3 min read

The author, Miles Mathis, introduces the “Friends Effect,” a concept he developed after writing about Matthew Perry. This effect describes how popular TV shows like Friends can create a hyper-reality that viewers prefer over actual life. Characters like Rachel Green become more real to audiences than the actors who portray them, Jennifer Aniston, due to constant exposure to carefully constructed scenarios and emotional attachments. The author argues that these fictional worlds are more appealing because the characters are often more charming, attractive, and witty than real people, thanks to extensive production efforts.

This hyper-reality not only warps viewers’ expectations but also affects the actors themselves, who may find real life a disappointing contrast to the curated world of the show. The author suggests that actors, like Matthew Perry, can become “schizo” due to the disconnect between their on-screen persona and their off-screen reality, facing social awkwardness when their amplified on-screen personalities are not well-received in real-life social settings. He further elaborates on this by comparing it to living with highly talented individuals like Frank Sinatra, Van Cliburn, or Jim Carrey, whose constant performance can become overwhelming in daily life.

The “Friends Effect” is presented as a contributing factor to societal disconnect and dissatisfaction, leading people to compare their own mundane lives and social circles unfavorably to the idealized fictional world. The author then pivots to a broader critique of modern society, citing events like 11, Sandy Hook, Boston, MeToo, and the Covid pandemic, as well as alleged CIA interference and “fake” statistics, as mechanisms that have led to widespread social decay and a state of “tharn” or shock among the populace. He describes the isolation experienced in places like Starbucks in Amherst, MA, and criticizes the effects of what he calls “vaccine damage” and “mask-freaks.”

The author posits that the deliberate destruction of real-world social connections, such as through the closure of social venues during Covid, is a deliberate effort by “the State” to replace reality with hyper-reality, further exemplified by ai and virtual reality. He points to symbols like the all-seeing eye on medium.com as evidence of a broader agenda to create a population that is bored, afraid, and distrustful, making them more susceptible to manufactured realities. The X-Files is cited as another step in this process, fostering distrust.

Despite this bleak outlook, Mathis expresses a sense of hope, noting signs of resilience and pockets of sanity and resistance, particularly in the US in 2024. He observes that people are beginning to reconnect, despite what he characterizes as the “governors’” efforts to control and manipulate. He concludes by suggesting that individuals must actively disengage from these efforts and “unfriend” those who perpetuate them.

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