#POST 2 : WHEN TECHNOLOGY IS TOO MUCH OR... MISSING

Description

This video is structured around two main narrative voices and a character illustrating what the voice-over says while a singer often merely repeats or comments on what's just been said (as in a Greek chorus).

The setting is a Christian home and church, so this particular context is very meaningful.

We can notice on various occasions that the main character is addicted to high-technology products, mostly smartphones.

He is shown as a family man unable to communicate with his wife, except through texting

He is also shown as a church-goer incapable of attending worship without all his phones vibrating all the time, making him look like he's full of the holy spirit.

Finally, he is depicted as a computer geek whose life has become extremely complicated instead of having been simplified.

Interpretation

Basically, this video means that high technology has become a religion for many people, even Christians who are not supposed to be materialistic. It is a humorous way specially with the voice over or for example when the man write to several people on different phones to exaggerate and to show the abuse of technology which is used on excess. 

Then, in a Christian lifestyle, quite a few church-goers and believers tend to focus more on materialistic issues rather than spiritual ones.

We can add that technology reigns supreme for many people who revere it as a God enlightening his followers. We have lost human contact because the guy prefer texting his wife than talking to her face to face. There is no longer communication that is not virtual, we do too many things at the same time, we live in a virtual world. This document shows and talks about the idea of progress. We are part of a generation that lives with the new technologies and it can be a bad things if they are used wrongly, they create addictions and dissociate men from their families,friends...

The question is, is this a real progress for humankind ?

Description

Two people are stuck on an escalator in a place that seems literally empty/deserted probably in a mall. The man looks upset/annoyed. He might be an office worker walking to his job. The woman claims that she is already late, so for her, this is the last straw. At one point, she's about to cry and asks for a phone, then she screams for help. In short, they both look helpless, clueless, powerless and even hopeless.

Interpretation

 We can relate this situation to a fairly common one in real life : getting stuck in an elevator. The difference however, is  that in this situation, people have the right to panic/freak out/feel panicky whereas on an escalator, there is no reason whatsoever to be scared.

This video points out the increasing dependence of human beings on technology. If it goes missing, it is as if a crutch had been taken away from them, so these two people cannot even walk up the stairs, which would be the normal thing to do. We could think that technological progress makes humans lazy or at least less prone to take initiative and think by themselves, less inclined to make efforts.

Post #1: A Cartoon

This document is a cartoon by Chapatte published in the international Herald Tribune. There's no date on it, but it seems to be modern because of the Cannes logo. Indeed, this cartoon is about the idea of progress: it shows a current issue and describes an incident that affects the modern society : the piracy (In that case for movies). 

What catches the attention is the Cannes logo in the top left hand corner and the red carpet in the middle. Then we see 3 characters in the foreground : two celebrities and a fan who seems to be a fanatic geek because of his t-shirt,he's the only one who talks. One of the famous actress is posing, the other one(obviously a film director) looks angry and is signing an autograph to the fan. In the background we can notice more fans, photographers, and two celebrities walking up the stairs. The cartoon is made up of a caricature, and includes a logo of Cannes and a balloon where the geek says that he loves all the movies from the film director and that he pirated them all. It is very ironic because piracy is an illegal thing. 

The journalist means that nowadays everything is pirated it is not only a bad thing for the movie industry but it's also ilegal, Nevertheless everyone is concerned about this topic : from old to young people.He aims to make us react and criticize this generation. He wants to make people concerned about illegal downloads .The message put across by the author is that people should pay to have the right to watch a movie, or listen to a song. He's trying to make people sensitive to this cause. Several associations are trying to fight against piracy .In our generation where we have access to everything, this very simple practice has become practically a normal thing. Nowadays not many people buy movies or CD music legally.

I personally think that it's well designed and can make us react but it can also be taken more in a funny way than seriously.From my point of view it's more complicated to make people change their minds, their habits. Especially because there are many people that download illegally.It's naturally a problem, a current issue. In my opinion it's more about education. For example, If a young teenager sees his parents downloading films, music or whatever he will find this normal and do it himself. Nowadays I think the topic is so common that it is not strong enough to convince totally the readers. But i agree with the author, piracy should not  be allowed, even if it facilitate things a lot.

This topic is obviously related to the idea of progress: because piracy has to do with the evolution of society, modernization. It's a current issue because of the new technologies. I don't think things are developing in a more positive way. They are considered from the same point of view in Spain. Nevertheless people are still pirating...