Commercials and the Demise of American Society

The more I post on here, the more I begin to realize how specifically I notice oddities in my media usage. Almost always I have a conscious thought about something on television that disturbs me, and rarely do I talk about my direct use of media. I am addicted to my cell phone and my iPod (though I use my iPod to draw inspiration from the music for my paintings, drawings and ceramics pieces) and I am on facebook every chance I can get. I know that I am slave to my technology, but I don't think coming to terms with this makes a difference. I suppose that I could actually cut down my "screen time" but when I'm trying to make the grade in college while networking elsewhere, I need to be able to check my email as often as possible and use other tools to get ahead in both school and the workplace. I realize this has nothing to do with facebook, but I don't see myself falling off that wagon.

So now that I've explained all that, I'm going to talk about a commercial I saw on TV. To me, commercials seem to exude every negative stereotype of America. Sometimes the commercials are for the SPCA, but entertainer Sarah McLachlan is the one endorsing them anyway. I recently saw a commercial for CommonSenseMedia.org that struck me as strange. With a name like Common Sense Media, you would think the site could give you guidance on how to effectively use media, as the commercial illuded to after stating statistics about how often kids stare at screens per day and setting paranoia in about where all the information comes from. The add aims to capture the interest of caring parents, concerned with what their kids could be seeing on the internet. Here's the fun part: CommonSenseMedia.org is not by any means opposed to media. It is a website that, though including an "education" section, is meant to entertain parents and kids alike. If the aim is to get them away from the screens, how does having them play "educational" games help if it is also online?

XBox Replaces Real Play Time

So I'm sitting in my room at home watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Even on top of the fact that an incredible amount of attractions in the parade are television actors or characters, the commercial breaks really grind in the reality of the parade as a money making scheme. An American favorite, the parade seems to do little but perpetuate the cycle of watching television.

But that is not what I came here to talk about. In class we talk about television, cell phones, the Internet, but we rarely touch on video games. We've gone from Atari to XBox Kinect and slowly but surely, video games have put real athletic activity on pause. The most disturbing part of my Thanksgiving morning was the realization that now, with the new XBox Kinect, there is no need for kids to play outside. There is no controller to remind them that they are attached to a television screen. What happened to the days when kids would play soccer with each other outside, on grass, with a real ball and real teammates to see who came out the victor? Well, no need to worry about your kids' safety, parents!! They're playing games inside. Aren't you proud?

Crackberry Infiltrates Rumspringa

So since I've hurt my ankle and have been far less mobile than I'm used to, I've been watching a lot of TV. That's not to say it's more appealing to me now, just that it's more distracting than simply sitting with my foot up unable to move. Anyway, last night before I went to sleep, I caught part of a National Geographic documentary about the Amish and their weddings. It was very interesting and educational. In the Amish tradition, at 16 years old the young people of the community go out into the "English" world. This time out of their community is calledRumspringa. It is a time for young people to see what they're missing on the outside, fine a husband or wife, and return to the church to become official members before God.

Fascinating unto itself, I very much enjoyed the documentary until the kids began talking about what they would miss when they went back to their traditional communities. One boy said he would miss his laptop, but miss his Blackberry more since it's with him always. What I heard when he said that was that America has done such a good job at advertising and selling people lifestyles, that even the Amish, those who are without the ads, the newspapers, the magazines and all electronics, can get sucked into something like a Crackberry in just a short time out in the "English" world.

This boy won't miss traveling or seeing life on a more global scale. He won't miss the new friends he's made and the new life he has set with his girlfriend. No, he will miss his Blackberry by his side at all times. The only redeeming factor of this boy was that he still wanted to re-enter the Amish community even though he would have to give up the things we take for granted every day. I feel that in order to excommunicate yourself from your family, you would need a better excuse than a light-up paperweight, but even still, I don't know if I could do it now that I'm this deep into technology, could you?

The New Generation

I've decided that I need to come to terms with the fact that I am no longer part of the new generation. Technologies will progress and mediums will shift and I will forever struggle to catch up. Progress is a great thing, but one thing that is not so great is the way kids are growing up as slaves to technology.

Four days per week I babysit a six-year-old girl. Her mom is adamant about her only watching a few minutes of TV per day, but this morning when I showed up at seven in the morning, she wanted to go on youtube. She likes to go on there to see how other kids are playing with their American Girl dolls and can sit in front of the computer all day. She is constantly distracted from normal conversation, especially when she is in front of the computer. What kind of world is it when youtube comes before reading, writing, and homework for first graders?