Well, it’s that time of the season again in the entertainment world. No, I’m not talking about another “Girls Gone Wild Spring Break” video. It’s award season – the Golden Globes, Grammys, Screen Actors Guild awards, and of course, the Oscars. And with all the analysis and discussion about showbiz, I’ve come to notice something interesting. The realization in question is how much our lives resemble our entertainment.

Now, I’m not saying that I believe everything on television is directly based on real life. And truth be told, I’m probably just as guilty of watching too much TV as anyone.

I really don’t want to hear about “TV turn-off week,” and about how I need to read books instead or something of that nature, just in case you’re thinking that. Books are great, but they are probably equally at fault for inspiring unrealistic flights of fancy.

I mean, I’d say the odds are a lot higher that Oliver Twist would die of pneumonia (or some equally unpleasant ailment) on the streets of London rather than the feel-good ending of that book. Chances are Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn would have washed up on shore the morning after they ran away – “drownded,” as Tom might say. And then there are stories of Hobbits and Orcs, Elves and Dwarves, Gnomes and Goblins – each story being more of a crock of garbage than it’s predecessor in terms of reality.

Through most of their history, TV and movies have followed a similar formula, providing a variety of romantic notions and delusions of grandeur in order to provide entertainment. I’m not bagging on any of that, because I love to watch television, and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy will always have greater appeal than my Power Electronics text. Fantasy and fiction are a great way to take a walk in different shoes; an everyday out-of-body experience.

However, I really do think there are a lot of similarities between real life and the life portrayed in TV and movies. These similarities are and upwardly mobile phenomenon. Consider how much more realistic television shows are due to more resources, and better research and technical consulting.

Similar factors have improved the realism of movies as well. “Saving Private Ryan” or “The Thin Red Line” probably are more physically realistic than “The Longest Day,” if for nothing other than the technological superiority of the production techniques available in 1998 as opposed to 1962.

There’s also the fact that any member of the audience can get on the Internet and find information about the events, people or technologies, which makes it even more important for film makers to be historically and technically accurate.

For similar reasons, “ER” appears more realistic than “St. Elsewhere,” and “NYPD Blue” more plausible than “Starsky and Hutch,” the disco-style icon status of the latter notwithstanding.

Of course, it’d be a travesty not to mention the recent reality TV craze as part of this trend. There’s everything from “Survivor” to “Big Brother” to the pioneers, “The Real World.” And of course there are about 400 different dating shows. All of these are based on filming all or part of people’s lives, and their popularity is an indication of how appealing realism is in entertainment.

In addition, there has not only been a tendency of entertainment to resemble real life. It seems like real life is starting to develop more and more similarities to its TV and movie counterparts. We all know about the problems with television and movie violence and their effects on society. Every time you see Dolph Lundgren in “The Punisher” or Mel Gibson in “Payback,” you’ll be reminded how sweet it is to pick up a gun and blow away people who have wronged you.

Don’t tell me that doesn’t contribute to the propensity of your average person to go on a shooting spree every time their life hits the skids.

Personally, I can’t help wondering every time someone enters the room during a class in session, whether or not they did poorly on the last test and have decided to dish out some payback of their own.

And there’s one of my personal favorites – the ever-so-charming concept of Teen Angst 101, as taught by the WB University.

One habit I have developed over the years is quoting lines from movies or using movie situations as anecdotes as a form of modern day philosophy, if you will, because I have realized that moves and TV are cheesy and overdramatic – not unlike our everyday lives.

And as much as we prefer to remain in denial about it, the fact is that life does imitate art.

Emeka Anyanwu is a senior in electrical engineering from Ames.