Passive entertainment creates strange people.

The characters you see on TV, movies and in video games are exaggerated, dramatic and in some instances, annoying. This seems obvious, but frequent consumption of passive entertainment will lead to you adopting their traits, leading to friction between you and the outside real world

Most characters in passive entertainment media would be disliked in real life. However, behind the screen, they are presented as "misunderstood" or even "cool", and the audience develops a parasocial relationship with them, finding their otherwise insufferable traits as an exciting ingredient to the plot. The plot, which often goes in their favour, only validates their otherwise strange traits.

In the few instances where the uncooperative characters are ostracised, they end up being vindicated when the other characters find out "the truth", and begin to feel sorry for them and seek to make amends. In the real world, this doesn't happen, nobody is going to investigate why you're "edgy" and come to some grand realisation.

It’s easy to be edgy, uncooperative, and insufferable when you have the screenwriters on your side, and the story will end in half an hour or so.

Frequent consumption of these media means viewers will adopt their persona or traits in some way. Humans are social animals, and copying others is a survival trait (this is demonstrated when people change their foreign accents with prolonged exposure to the dominant accent, or how certain slang will be adopted due to constant exposure).

Reaction GIFs which are snippets of popular media are used by ordinary people, this demonstrates how, rather than saying a unique statement of their own, they borrow scenes and quotes from characters to illustrate their reactions.

Music, another form of passive entertainment, also achieves this. Many songs emphasise helplessness, a desire to rebel against the system, or one's parents. Had these songs been created by ordinary individuals, it would be a wonderful expression, however they are often pumped out by major corporations.

But this doesn't just apply to fictional media. Many people absorb hours of eccentric and goofy streamers on the internet, and the success they're having in terms of views and monetary riches, and they replicate their behaviours in real life.

We must limit our exposure to passive entertainment. You won’t know how much you’ve been influenced, until you step away from these mediums.