{"id":165471,"date":"2025-12-17T16:12:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T00:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=165471"},"modified":"2025-12-17T17:53:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T01:53:59","slug":"the-thick-identities-of-belfast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=165471","title":{"rendered":"The “Thick” Identities of Belfast"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gemini says: In Blue Lights<\/a>, the characters possess “thick” identities because their sense of self is historically situated and socially embedded. They do not merely “choose” to be who they are; they are defined by their neighborhood, their family names, their religion, and which side of “The Troubles” their parents stood on.<\/p>\n

This creates a high-stakes environment where identity is heavy. It imposes obligations and dangers\u2014you see this with the constables who have to navigate their own communities carefully\u2014but it also provides a profound sense of belonging. You know exactly where you stand in the world, even if that place is uncomfortable. The “thickness” comes from the fact that these identities are unchosen and difficult to exit.<\/p>\n

The “Thin” Identities of Los Angeles<\/strong><\/p>\n

In contrast, the “thin” identities you observe in Los Angeles are often rooted in “voluntary association” and professional ambition. LA is a city of transplants and reinvention, where people move specifically to detach themselves from the “thick” restrictions of their home towns.<\/p>\n

In LA, identity is often performative and fluid. You are defined by what you do, what you consume, and who you are currently networking with. This offers immense freedom\u2014you aren’t held back by your grandfather’s sins\u2014but it can result in the social thinning you noticed. Relationships can feel transactional, and communities can feel temporary because there is no shared history binding people together regardless of their personal choices.<\/p>\n

Why You Might Be Admiring the “Thick”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your admiration likely stems from a craving for “solid ground.” In a world of infinite choice and liquid modernity (like LA), life can sometimes feel weightless or inconsequential. Watching characters in Blue Lights operate within a framework of deep loyalty, historical memory, and intense community pressure can feel more “real” or substantial, even if it is also more tragic.<\/p>\n

Many people want the benefits of thick identity but they don’t want to do the work and pay the price.<\/p>\n

“Community” is such a buzzword in places like LA, yet actual community is rare.<\/p>\n

People often mistake “thick identity” for a warm feeling of belonging, when in reality, thick identity is largely defined by constraint.<\/p>\n

Here is why thick identities are dying out in favor of the thin ones:<\/p>\n

1. The Price is Lack of Exit<\/strong><\/p>\n

The characters in Blue Lights cannot easily “exit” their situation. If they mess up, or if their family has a reputation, they carry that burden everywhere.<\/p>\n

The Modern Desire: People want deep connection, but they also want the “Exit” button. They want to be able to ghost, to move neighborhoods, to change careers, or to cut off toxic family members.<\/p>\n

The Reality: You cannot have a thick identity if you have an easy exit. Thickness requires being stuck with people you might not even like, simply because you are bound to them. That is the price: You lose the freedom to leave.<\/p>\n

2. The Work is Submission to Authority<\/strong><\/p>\n

Thick identities usually require submitting to a structure bigger than yourself\u2014whether that is a religion, a multi-generational family code, or a neighborhood hierarchy (like the paramilitaries or the police force in Belfast).<\/p>\n

The Modern Desire: People want the rituals and the aesthetic of tradition without the dogma. They want “spiritual but not religious.”<\/p>\n

The Reality: The “work” of thick identity involves suppressing your own ego. It means doing things simply because “that is what we do,” not because it aligns with your personal self-actualization. Most people in LA (and the modern West generally) view submission to unchosen authority as a failure of self-expression.<\/p>\n

3. The Cost is Privacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a thick community, everyone knows your business. This provides safety (someone notices if you are missing), but it destroys privacy.<\/p>\n

The Modern Desire: People want to be “seen,” but they don’t want to be watched.<\/p>\n

The Reality: The price of the thick identity depicted in Blue Lights is the “goldfish bowl.” You are constantly surveilled by your peers. Modern urbanites generally value their anonymity too highly to pay this price.<\/p>\n

Because they won’t pay the price, many people settle for a “boutique” or “lifestyle” identity. This is what you see in LA. It mimics the look of a thick identity (e.g., intense fitness communities, fandoms, political aestheticism), but it remains structurally thin because it is based on consumption choices. If you stop paying the membership fees or stop posting the right opinions, the identity dissolves instantly.<\/p>\n

You cannot buy the benefits of the old world with the currency of the new world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gemini says: In Blue Lights, the characters possess “thick” identities because their sense of self is historically situated and socially embedded. They do not merely “choose” to be who they are; they are defined by their neighborhood, their family names, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42739],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-165471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ireland"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=165471"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":165501,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165471\/revisions\/165501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=165471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=165471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=165471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}