Acting vs. Being

Today's class discussion about acting and performance got me thinking. As we stated, acting is a type of pretending, whereas acting is more honest, where the actors are deeply involved with their roles. In chapter 6, part 2 of our Schnecher reading states, "social scripts permeate daily life." So are we ever not acting? Can we ever truly just be? In my opinion, I don't believe we can. Breaking a role or going against what is socially accepted has clear consequences, like alienation physical risks/harm, etc. As members of our society, we keep up appearances in order to avoid social scrutiny. Even when we are sitting in our room, completely alone, our web browsing, television watching, or even magazine reading, can resonate the beliefs/ideas society, media, or our peers place in our thoughts. Even if they are an afterthought, our reactions to certain situations can be seen as a kind of performance. For example, if we deny ourselves a piece of cake because swimsuit season is right around the corner, that is a lingering statement made by society. We see images of our Facebook friends in their bathing suits during spring break, or we hear about the latest celebrity diet craze on television. Regardless of how hard we try to avoid society and "just be ourselves," I believe that it is impossible to completely disregard the effects society has on us.