SCRIPT Theory –
Social Control Reinforced/Reproduced In Practice/Performance Talk/Text
(Really it’s SCRRIPPTT but there’s no need to make spellcheck that angry with me.)
We all perform scripts.
“How’s it going?”
“Good. How ’bout you.”
We have scripts for starting conversations, and scripts for replying.
“Hey, Kiddo! Time to get up.”
“Ugh! Five more minutes? Please??”
Our scripts depend on our roles, and the options that have been modelled for us in order to get our needs met.
“You’re five minutes late for work today, Mr. Rod”
“I’m so sorry. I left on time but there was a train.”
Minor deceptions are necessary to access resources, avoid penalties, and navigate a system full of gaslighting.
“Where’s your homework Timmy?”
“My dog ate it.”
Scripts are not a reflection of reality, but rather are the source of reality.
“Who ate the last piece of cake?”
“It was Timmy! He’s always stealing!”
“You’re such a snitch Janet!”
“Alright you two! Enough. You can both go to your rooms!”
“But that’s not fair!”
“Of course it is! Timmy’s in trouble for eating the cake, and you’re in trouble for snitching! Now go!”
“I don’t see why I got in trouble too.”
“Nobody likes a goody two-shoes. Not even Mom” laughing.
These exchanges fuel our sense of self, and our roles, and our relationships with others. This is where the pecking order is determined, and right and wrong are defined. This is where the structure is reified and justified.
Scripts control our participation in all aspects of life, like interacting with our parents, siblings, children, and friends. Scripts determine our success or failure. Scripts are absolutely everywhere, and you can’t even get a burger without one.
We’re not confined ONLY to scripts. I’m breaking a bunch of them right now!
Scripts take us away from our authenticity. Scripts tuck our vulnerable selves away deep inside. This is what’s meant when we say we’re “just going through the motions.” Is it any wonder that after decades of performing this people have mid-life crises to access their authenticity?
Scripts send people to jail and set them free, NOT the truth.
Scripts determine who gets treated for diseases, and who gets a pass from their regular role to accept the scripts of the sick.
Scripts determine your grades and your income. Scripts determine your networks.
Scripts, and our participation within them, create and reinforce the social order. These scripts play out in all forms of language.
The words we speak
The texts we send
The papers we write
The books we read
The posts we make on Facebook
The movies we watch
The conversation at your favorite bar
The employee handbook
The music you listen to
The art you consume
The silence held in place of words
The entrance
The exit
How many scripts in your life do you wish you’d performed better?
How many scripts had an impact that couldn’t be reversed?
How many times have you had to choose between existing scripts?
How many times have you set a script down to pick up a new one?
What did that create?
I’ve been trying to find examples to disprove this theory since the pattern became obvious just before I left grad school. I welcome anyone who can give an example of this not being in action.
The funny thing about SCRIPTs is that we CAN generate a new SCRIPT at any time. There is endless creative potential to create new SCRIPTs and history is the story of how new SCRIPTs changed how we are human.
The funny thing is that when you present a new SCRIPT people lose it. Most don’t readily make the shift with you. This is what pulls dissenters, who would choose their authentic selves, back into place.
Learning a new SCRIPT can enable you to code switch, or adopt behaviors and linguistic patterns that are appropriate for different groups.
Can you think of a time in your life when you lived as your authentic self? Can you think of how that impacted your interactions with others?
Even when we break out of our SCRIPTs, and live authentically, those authentic actions become repeated until they become the script.
The ONLY way to avoid it, is to continually question and recreate the script, which necessitates the participation of others.
This is how cycles continue. This is how society works.
Thanks for reading.
Go out and do something authentic.
Survivor Literacy 
What do you think?