Is it necessary that you film every sub-par opening band on your iPhone? No, there is no chance that one day they'll be famous and you'll be able to pull up your little video and say "I totally knew they'd be big." Stop it. Is it essential that you "check in" to the restaurant where you're dining with someone you see every day? Again, no. And do you need to take 47 photos of your big night out to prove that you weren't just watching My So-Called Life reruns all weekend? Well, that's up to you, but I'd still venture to say that the answer is no.
It seems to me that people are increasingly sacrificing the enjoyment of an experience for the sake of capturing it for other people to see. I say this in the wake of standing behind a wall of smartphones recording the entire set at a gig I was seeing. Or rather not seeing, thanks to the sea of arms of the crowd's amateur videographers. I just don't get it. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but isn't the point of going to a show the drinking and dancing with your friends? Both of those are pretty hard to do when you've got one arm up in an immobile salute to preserve the quality of your video (I use the term 'quality' loosely).
I know I should be less bothered by the actions of other people, but it's annoying. And more to the point, I don't think I'm just imagining that all the seconds taken up by technology are eroding our ability to simply bask in the pleasure of the moment. The check-in is becoming more pertinent than the meal. The text message, more interesting than the people you're with. The photograph, more urgent than the merriment. And in an effort to capture it all, I fear we're at risk of missing everything.
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Leaving comment as proof of having read said blog, because the author once chided me for simply enjoying her writing silently.
ReplyDeleteBrava.
More seriously, I love the last paragraph. Word.
PS Captcha was Bummull.
I do totally appreciate knowing that you read it (and liked it)!
ReplyDeleteHi Lex, I LOVE this post. When you're checked into foursquare or twitter (in the presence of others), you're checked out of the real world.
ReplyDeleteI think you would enjoy reading: The Age of Absurdity: Why Modern Life Makes it Hard to be Happy. Foley's chapter on detachment affirms your POV. I'm about to reread it... review: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/21/the-age-of-absurdity-foley
my concert-going brethren and I had the same insight last evening while seeing Foreign Exchange in philly. there must have been at least 5 people in the crowd of maybe 100 who were in the "i'm def gonna watch this later" pose with their phones to capture literally every second of the 2 hour show while their significant other stood largely motionless and embarrassed at their side. these unfortunate videographers can't dance or anything, heavens no, for fear of overly shaking the camera and ruining the perfect clip of something they'll never have a chance of enjoying as much as the show they're pretty much missing out on. it all seemed consistently senseless to us dancy concert enjoying folk. those silly statues those. I for one have been known to snap a handful of pics if something intensely visually stunning is occurring, but I'm careful to avoid the massive fucking up the live experience for myself and others. unless of course you were at one of the last Daft Punk shows and videotaping them on their pyramid of earth shattering awesomeness, in which case thank the heavens for you and your desire to capture the moment, even if it meant you missed out on it, because otherwise I'd have no idea that level of techno-electro-glory was even possible or attainable, even by a couple of robots.
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