The 'i' Age
When the movie ‘The Godfather’ was released in the early 1970s, every movie going adult seemed to be, impatiently, waiting to watch it; and when it finally came to one of the local theaters in my area – there were very long queues for days, and the theater was packed for weeks. I did not watch it that first time, but I did watch it about two years later. Maybe because I was too young then, I did not like it that first time, and it took me years to realize that ‘The Godfather’, part one, is one of the greatest American films ever made.
In the late 1990s, here in Hadhramout, the ‘Pokémon’ cartoon TV series became such an enormous hit with children and mothers that, the local religious leaders had to intervene. As it was: every evening – children, and most mothers, were glued on TVs; even during the time for prayers. Worse, the ‘Pokémon’ toys, stickers and other related merchandise, were selling so much and so fast that the local stores selling them could not keep up with the demand. In all this, the men, including me – were detached. In fact, I could not understand what all the frenzy was all about. As the adulation for the Pokémon cartoons, toys etc. , especially Pikachu, became too intense and so much time and money was being spent on that, religious leaders started preaching regularly, intensely too, about the danger of turning the Pokémons in to figures of worship. And within days, the Pokémon fever – abruptly - ended; store owners selling Pokémon stuff, incurred huge losses. And now? Children here, as most around the world – are crazy about PlayStation; but not as much as they were, with Pokémon.
I still remember at how: PlayStation 3 was longingly awaited for, in major urban areas around the world; and how the ‘Harry Potter’ books and movies are impatiently waited for. Strangely, Harry Potter has no fans here at all. Of late, for the last few years, there have been the many ‘i’s. There is the iPod, CNNs iReport, the iGoogle and now? The long, feverishly awaited: iPhone. All aptly named. Aptly named, in that – we now live in a world, in an age, where the ‘i’ , the self, is supreme, overrules and overrides; more than at any other time in the past. Instead of: people, family, friends and live pets - robots, toys and gadgets which can cost thousands, are what interests most; including, children. Children are being brought up and indoctrinated in to this ‘i’ culture. A culture that distances emotions and feelings, except for the self. A frozen, anaesthetised self.
Many, are now most happy to spend hours each day on the Internet; another ‘I’: the biggest one. Most people in urban areas now communicate, not directly with each other, but through electronic means. Most too, spend much of their time with one electronic device or another. Parents and their children are no longer as close as they were before; couples too, are not as close as couples of old used to be. In short – people, especially in urban areas, are most happy and choose to be - alone. Alone, with an electronic device or gadget. No wonder, the number of divorces and children on drugs are fast increasing; and most marriages, particularly in urban areas, are simply there by name, and not real.
In all this, if one really thinks hard and deeply – are we happier or more at peace now than people of old? Are all the hypes about a movie, a book, a gadget - honest and true? Or do we just get entrapped, and then move along with the masses? For any movie buff who loves American films, 'The Godfather' is truly a great movie; but is the iPhone truly as useful and as worth as it is said, it is or is it 'just yuppie bling'? Whatever benefits such technologies bring and however helpful they are, I wholly agree with Bruce Weinstein's view: Our society has devolved into a mass of turned-on, tuned-out, and plugged-in technophiles. Whatever distinction used to exist between public and private life is all but gone. Waiting on line at the grocery store or post office used to mean striking up a conversation with the person in front of you. Now it involves blurting the intimate details of one's love life into a cell phone for all to hear, or scrolling through a playlist for just the right song, or checking our e-mail. By 'our society' Bruce meant, Americans or the West; but as it is, now, the World is linked and intertwined so much more closely than ever before that it is all: one World and one society. All webbed up by the Internet, other electronic devices and the many 'i's
In the late 1990s, here in Hadhramout, the ‘Pokémon’ cartoon TV series became such an enormous hit with children and mothers that, the local religious leaders had to intervene. As it was: every evening – children, and most mothers, were glued on TVs; even during the time for prayers. Worse, the ‘Pokémon’ toys, stickers and other related merchandise, were selling so much and so fast that the local stores selling them could not keep up with the demand. In all this, the men, including me – were detached. In fact, I could not understand what all the frenzy was all about. As the adulation for the Pokémon cartoons, toys etc. , especially Pikachu, became too intense and so much time and money was being spent on that, religious leaders started preaching regularly, intensely too, about the danger of turning the Pokémons in to figures of worship. And within days, the Pokémon fever – abruptly - ended; store owners selling Pokémon stuff, incurred huge losses. And now? Children here, as most around the world – are crazy about PlayStation; but not as much as they were, with Pokémon.
I still remember at how: PlayStation 3 was longingly awaited for, in major urban areas around the world; and how the ‘Harry Potter’ books and movies are impatiently waited for. Strangely, Harry Potter has no fans here at all. Of late, for the last few years, there have been the many ‘i’s. There is the iPod, CNNs iReport, the iGoogle and now? The long, feverishly awaited: iPhone. All aptly named. Aptly named, in that – we now live in a world, in an age, where the ‘i’ , the self, is supreme, overrules and overrides; more than at any other time in the past. Instead of: people, family, friends and live pets - robots, toys and gadgets which can cost thousands, are what interests most; including, children. Children are being brought up and indoctrinated in to this ‘i’ culture. A culture that distances emotions and feelings, except for the self. A frozen, anaesthetised self.
Many, are now most happy to spend hours each day on the Internet; another ‘I’: the biggest one. Most people in urban areas now communicate, not directly with each other, but through electronic means. Most too, spend much of their time with one electronic device or another. Parents and their children are no longer as close as they were before; couples too, are not as close as couples of old used to be. In short – people, especially in urban areas, are most happy and choose to be - alone. Alone, with an electronic device or gadget. No wonder, the number of divorces and children on drugs are fast increasing; and most marriages, particularly in urban areas, are simply there by name, and not real.
In all this, if one really thinks hard and deeply – are we happier or more at peace now than people of old? Are all the hypes about a movie, a book, a gadget - honest and true? Or do we just get entrapped, and then move along with the masses? For any movie buff who loves American films, 'The Godfather' is truly a great movie; but is the iPhone truly as useful and as worth as it is said, it is or is it 'just yuppie bling'? Whatever benefits such technologies bring and however helpful they are, I wholly agree with Bruce Weinstein's view: Our society has devolved into a mass of turned-on, tuned-out, and plugged-in technophiles. Whatever distinction used to exist between public and private life is all but gone. Waiting on line at the grocery store or post office used to mean striking up a conversation with the person in front of you. Now it involves blurting the intimate details of one's love life into a cell phone for all to hear, or scrolling through a playlist for just the right song, or checking our e-mail. By 'our society' Bruce meant, Americans or the West; but as it is, now, the World is linked and intertwined so much more closely than ever before that it is all: one World and one society. All webbed up by the Internet, other electronic devices and the many 'i's
Comments
I never got the fascination with Pokemon. Transformers I understand. But Pokemon's just badly drawn!
Having seen a friend with an iPhone, I can affirm that they are very cool, and do a lot of helpful stuff- way advanced beyond anything else out there. But also way too expensive for my tastes.
And I completely agree with your primary point- the lonlieness and individualism that has arisen with our advances in technology. I remember riding the bus a few months ago where the guy was talking quite loudly, and very explicitly, about his love life to a woman, in language that would get him arrested if he was saying it directly to a kid, though there were children present. I am amazed as I look around the bus, or wait in line, at how many people now have iPods in their ears- far more than once had walkmans or hands-free cell attachements- and how little opportunity there now is for discussion on the bus or walking down the street because everyone's listening to their own private music.
This is really deep and thought provoking (as are all your posts/issues you raise.)
I disconnected cable and got rid of the TV in my home, and I can tell you it has sheltered us so much from many of the ads and relentless drive to mindless consumerism. That said, even the internet is another form of "i"
I love this sentence: "A frozen, anaesthetised self." It's so true and scary.
Thank you for sharing.
Maliha - thankfully for Hadhramout and most of Yemen, we are still a long way to reach where you are; at least we take notice and observe sunsets and sunrise, the stars and have time for each other. What scares me most now, is the way robots have become so popular instead of pets; and people are willing to pay a fortune to have them.
I used to be a Pokemon fan. I remember obsessively watching the television show and playing the Game Boy game...and now that I look back, it was a monstrous waste of time.
J.A - technology is very good and helpful, but it's getting us destructed and selfish more and more; many people (most?) too, use them wrongly. Take the Internet for instant: such a potent, useful tool, if used positively and constructively can be of great benefit. But is that the case? How many do really use the Internet in positive, constructive ways?