I was just reading an article, one of many that I have seen recently which attempts to diagnose the trouble with boys today. I live in a mostly childless, adult world so I can't say I have a good perspective on this issue. However, a commercial for EA's new game FaceBreaker made me feel like I had something intelligent to say on the subject of a generation of lost boys.
I do not believe in scapegoating video games. If a kid plays Grand Theft Auto and then decides to shoot up his neighborhood, I think there was something a little deeper going on then a violent video game. Most people don't realize that the worst school massacre in United States history, the Bath School disaster, took place in the very pre-video game year of 1927.
Back to FaceBreaker, a fighting game where, according to Snoop Dogg, the player is able to beat their opponent so bad that the digital face of the loser is literally disfigured. Again, I don't have a problem with the cathartic release provided by a video game. However, I do think that the lack of repercussions for these violent actions may be leading a distorted sense of the way the world works. In real life, an attempt to rearrenge someone's face most often involves putting the current status of one's own face on the line. The agression exercised in a video game is completely one-sided, playing up victories while glossing over defeats. Imagine how a kid would play GTA if the game was destroyed the first time his charachter was killed. I bet he wouldn't run into a gangster hangout with his guns blazing. He would probably just go to that arcade.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Current
I have recently started watching Al Gore's Current TV, a cable network that features viewer created content. Current makes no apologies for its obvious appeal to Gen-Whatever politics and attention spans. The basis of Current's content are "Pods," short (3-7 minute) video packages. Pods deal with everything from fashion and music to international politics and they are generally created by viewers, though some are created by in-house producers.
Overall I have been impressed by Current. The viewer created content provides an interesting prospective that you do not get from most other media outlets. While the Pods are often repeated they are not very long, so you don't feel like you're watching a rerun. Also, the hourly news updates and interesting "Google trends" updates (based on one of my favorite timewasters, www.google.com/trends) helps keep the overall feel of the programming fresh.
The interactivity provided through the station's website (www.current.com) provides an interesting opportunity for viewers to get involved with the station's content. Users of the site are able to upload news stories that they have found on the internet. Other users are then given the opportunity to vote stories up or down a master list. Every few hours, the story at the top of the list of covered on the station, aling with a few comments that have been left on the story's response board. Surprisingly, the fact that this is all read by a computer generated voice is not at all unsettling.
Overall, I would say that Current is successful in its attempt to be "the first national TV network created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience." They achieve this without giving you the the feeling that a bunch of 50+ TV execs are pulling the strings. If anything, I would like to see the station drop more of its already loose structure. It would be interesting to see, mixed in along with the Pods, a montage of art and music.
Overall I have been impressed by Current. The viewer created content provides an interesting prospective that you do not get from most other media outlets. While the Pods are often repeated they are not very long, so you don't feel like you're watching a rerun. Also, the hourly news updates and interesting "Google trends" updates (based on one of my favorite timewasters, www.google.com/trends) helps keep the overall feel of the programming fresh.
The interactivity provided through the station's website (www.current.com) provides an interesting opportunity for viewers to get involved with the station's content. Users of the site are able to upload news stories that they have found on the internet. Other users are then given the opportunity to vote stories up or down a master list. Every few hours, the story at the top of the list of covered on the station, aling with a few comments that have been left on the story's response board. Surprisingly, the fact that this is all read by a computer generated voice is not at all unsettling.
Overall, I would say that Current is successful in its attempt to be "the first national TV network created by, for and with an 18-34 year-old audience." They achieve this without giving you the the feeling that a bunch of 50+ TV execs are pulling the strings. If anything, I would like to see the station drop more of its already loose structure. It would be interesting to see, mixed in along with the Pods, a montage of art and music.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Thursday Was A Dark (K)night
I ventured out on Thursday night with Kelly, Todd and Mark to see the midnight showing of Dark Knight. We went to Studio 35, an old independent single-screen theater in Columbus' Clintonville neighborhood. The place is great, they serve pizzas that they order from down the street and there's just enough peeling paint and stains to make you feel like nobody will care if you put your feet up.
We got to the sold out theater at around 10:30, giving us the chance to catch most of the 1966 Batman they was showing as people filed in. The movie has the same cast as the television show and provides just as much camp. I had never seen the movie and I thought it was really fun. The bomb run scene has to be a classic and I'm surprised I've never come across it before.
The feature started just after midnight, to the cheers of a crowd who had obviously been waiting some time for that moment. The crowd was a good time and I'm glad I went to Studio 35 instead of the local megaplex. People in the crowd were not afraid to cheer and you could tell everyone was having a good time.
I was really surprised at how dark the Dark Knight really was. It was not gratuitous violence but instead the psychological aspects of the film that made me find it somewhat disturbing. While I doubt there is anyone reading this who has not already seen the movie I will still resist the temptation to spoil its better surprises. However, I will say that hopelessness plays a huge role in the movie's overall theme. Ledger's Joker is a charachter who is very upfront about his motivation - destruction.
It would have been easy for Ledger to over-act the part, but he does an impressive job of keeping the silly laughs and exaggerated gestures to a minimum. As Kelly pointed out to me after the movie, in a weird way his Joker is actually a fairly believable charachter. This more realistic portrayal makes his charachter all the more disturbing. Had Ledger delivered the charachter as the far more cartoonish version we saw from Nicholson in the 1989 film it would have be easier for the viewer to distance themselves from his insanity and nihilism. Ledger forces us to confront a Joker that is deeply disturbed yet always in complete control.
It is a shame that the historical treatment of his charachter will always be clouded by his death. Dark Knight is currently enjoying a 9.5 rating on IMDB, putting it .4 points ahead of The Godfather and Shawshank Redemption. The movie is certainly a masterpiece. However, I have to wonder how much of the current hype is related to the movie and how much is related to Ledger's death. It may be the case that some time will have to pass before we can make an objective judgment of this movie's place in cinematic history. In the meantime, at least it will give me something to talk about.
We got to the sold out theater at around 10:30, giving us the chance to catch most of the 1966 Batman they was showing as people filed in. The movie has the same cast as the television show and provides just as much camp. I had never seen the movie and I thought it was really fun. The bomb run scene has to be a classic and I'm surprised I've never come across it before.
The feature started just after midnight, to the cheers of a crowd who had obviously been waiting some time for that moment. The crowd was a good time and I'm glad I went to Studio 35 instead of the local megaplex. People in the crowd were not afraid to cheer and you could tell everyone was having a good time.
I was really surprised at how dark the Dark Knight really was. It was not gratuitous violence but instead the psychological aspects of the film that made me find it somewhat disturbing. While I doubt there is anyone reading this who has not already seen the movie I will still resist the temptation to spoil its better surprises. However, I will say that hopelessness plays a huge role in the movie's overall theme. Ledger's Joker is a charachter who is very upfront about his motivation - destruction.
It would have been easy for Ledger to over-act the part, but he does an impressive job of keeping the silly laughs and exaggerated gestures to a minimum. As Kelly pointed out to me after the movie, in a weird way his Joker is actually a fairly believable charachter. This more realistic portrayal makes his charachter all the more disturbing. Had Ledger delivered the charachter as the far more cartoonish version we saw from Nicholson in the 1989 film it would have be easier for the viewer to distance themselves from his insanity and nihilism. Ledger forces us to confront a Joker that is deeply disturbed yet always in complete control.
It is a shame that the historical treatment of his charachter will always be clouded by his death. Dark Knight is currently enjoying a 9.5 rating on IMDB, putting it .4 points ahead of The Godfather and Shawshank Redemption. The movie is certainly a masterpiece. However, I have to wonder how much of the current hype is related to the movie and how much is related to Ledger's death. It may be the case that some time will have to pass before we can make an objective judgment of this movie's place in cinematic history. In the meantime, at least it will give me something to talk about.
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