(Unrealistic) movie-inspired expectations from life

I think we all have something in common here (on listology.com): besides being obsessed with lists, we are also obsessed with music, books, movies or TV shows (or even a combination of all of the above, like me). That, of course, has consequences. One that we're all aware of is that it takes more of our spare time than we have actually got left. However, I recently noticed another, more important consequence, which is at least true for me: It remarkably influenced my expecations from life. Every experience in life has to be in some way special. Extreme emotions are needed (as presented in music and movies etc.), otherwise it's just not right, it's not what life is supposed to be.

Genius writer Nick Hornby once phrased it perfectly in his novel "High Fidelity" (which I highly recommend to every listologist):
"It seems to me that if you place music (and books, probably, and films, and plays, and anything that makes you feel) at the centre of your being, then you can't afford to sort out your (love) life, start to think of it as the finished product. You've got to pick at it, keep it alive and unravel it until it all comes apart and you're compelled to start all over again. Maybe we all live life at too high a pitch, those of us who absorb emotional things all day, and as a consequence we can never feel merely content: we have to be unhappy, or ecstatically, head-over-heels happy, and those states are difficult to achieve (within a stable, solid relationship)."

Ok, he rather referred to love and relationships, but you can just as well say the same about life in general. At least that's how it feels like for me, as if I don't have a real life because I neither feel unhappy nor "ecstatically, head-over-heels happy". My expectations that derive from movies are even more specific. When I watch a movie I usually don't think "oh, that's how it's gonna be in life", cause I'm not stupid, I know it's just a movie. But still, the images sneak their way into my brain and hold on to it, which leads to some major disappointments. Here some examples:

1. Love
For some reason the movie that made me think "That's how love is supposed to be like" was "Vanilla Sky" (which doesn't really come to mind when you think of the great romantic epics like "Gone with the Wind" or "Love Story"). I just always loved the way Camaron Crowe imagines life ("We created our own world together. Us versus them. And we were quite a pair. Her believing in me, me believing that I actually deserved it. We talked about the big things, the little things…and the big things. But, in truth, with Sofia it was the in-between times.") The scene with Bob Dylan singing "Fourth time around" is just perfect. Ok, I could do without the "I'm frozen and you're dead" part, but apart from that…
"Is this a dream? - Absolutely." And of course it is. But hey, I'm young, still many relationships to come I guess…

2. College Life
Well, I'm going to university and I will probably graduate this summer. It's been a pretty good time (I studied a lot, found some friends, went out from time to time), but not quite what it was supposed to be. Has anyone seen the movie "Gossip"? That's what it was supposed to be like! Living in a huge loft with your cool friends, exciting affairs, inspiring lectures and even more exciting parties. Ok, those parties really were too perfect (music and location-wise) for college parties. Well, maybe I shouldn't have studied in a city like Heidelberg to begin with, New York might have fulfilled some of these movie-inspired expectations…

This list could go on forever. Why was my first time not like that scene in "Cruel Intentions" (won't go into details here :-)), or why can't I be all wrapped up in my job like… whatever movie character is all wrapped up in his job. I don't want to make any suicidal impression here, cause I really am satisfied with my life, and I'm having a lot of fun. There's just a little voice in my head sometimes saying "Wait, that's not how it was supposed to be like…"