How did Adam Curtis’ “The Trap” relate to our New Media discourse? Well, maybe you all noticed the power struggle that occurred at the beginning of the class period last week. If not, I will remind you. Mushon was experiencing some technical difficulties and asked the class if anyone was willing to sacrifice their computer so that the course presentation could go on. As I remember, the students with computers on their desks were myself, Jayme, and Maggie. We all shot each other glances as to who would give up their computer, and after a long period of awkward silence, Maggie gave in to the pressure and volunteered her MacBook Pro. She almost made it out of the classroom scott-free, but towards the end of the period her computer gave her away: a Mariah Carey fansite that she had minimized popped up. Everyone laughed for a bit, Mushon didn’t recognize the voluptuous singer, and then class continued. Don’t worry Maggie, what would have popped up on my computer would have been much more embarrassing. But I digress.
In “The Trap,” Curtis constantly touches on the fact that we are living in a society built on backstabbing and competition. “HUMAN BEINGS WILL ALWAYS BETRAY YOU,” says the documentary in a creepy font with a background reminiscent of the MTV 90s horror/reality mash-up “Fear.” It goes on to mention spouses involved in power plays, public servants only invested in self-interest, friends manipulating each other in order to get ahead, and so on. If you want to read more about how depressing this is, Lynn hit it spot on in her post.
Where does New Media come in? Well, who can we trust with our deepest, innermost thoughts in a time when even our BFFs are out to get us? New Media. The opening to the documentary offers us the following solution after informing us that we cannot trust human beings- “YOU CAN ONLY TRUST THE NUMBERS.” If someone has a thing for stuffed animals or Mariah Carey, they don’t have to explore these interests in a public space- they can enjoy their own hobbies in a fetching cloak of anonymity through the internet. Why embarrass yourself on a treadmill in front of that hottie from your Calc class when Wii Fit offers you a personal trainer again, to be used privately? Why awkwardly undress at the doctor when you can perform a quick self check-up on WebMD? Think you might be gay? Why ask your politically conservative best friend when you can create an anonymous online identity and ask others in an impersonal message board?
New Media helps us avoid our competitive and judgmental fellow human beings by offering us private spaces in which we can indulge in our secret fixations with a guilt-free atmosphere. Whether it be alone in your room, or anonymously on a message board, new media offers us the best kind of friend- one who is programmed to keep our secrets, and one who will never judge us.
5 Comments
Things I love about this post:
- Mariah Carey
- briefs
- reference to “Fear”
- the fact that MTV has a page for “Fear”
- the fact that you linked to it
- Using new media as a way to evade paranoia caused by game theory.
- Mariah Carey (she’s too much woman to only be listed once)
I decided to comment on your post because of the Mariah picture. The colors excited me so I was automatically drawn to your entry. (She’s a treat for the eyes AND the ears.)
This entry reminded me of something funny I witnessed in one of my classes last week. A girl had her laptop open in class and she kept going onto this site. It was called “furry friends,” or something. I tried not to be so invasive, but from what I gathered, it’s a site where people post pictures of cute and furry animals, I guess. My eyes widened and automatically I thought, “what a weird, weird person.” But who am I to judge, right? I’m sure some of the “guilty pleasure” sites I regularly visit seem very strange to some people. Admittedly, I visit perezhilton more than I should. But yeah, I definitely agree 100%. New media enables us to do what we please in the privacy of our bedrooms.
I like that Mike touched upon the fact that, using new media, people can retain anonymity while looking at pages such as WebMD or sites that would be considered “sensitive.” To run with that idea, the internet provides a place for both self-expression and deception. If you take the game Second Life (there’s a Wikipedia article on it!), the user is entered into a world where they can create their own avatar. Especially in a medium that’s an “alternate reality”-type of game, you never really know who you’re talking to (or who knows what else). A balding, overweight, middle-aged man with psoriasis can present himself as Kitty, the Catholic-school-girl-gone-bad, complete with blonde pigtails and plaid skirt. The internet becomes a place for people to explore themselves in ways not previously available before the technological boom.
1. (Please see 1st comment as to why I adore this post).
2. My computer is my best friend. His name is Tucker. I call him Tuck. He doesn’t judge me. Not for the fact that I’m on Facebook too much, not for the fact that I like being invisible on iChat, and not for the fact that I had a shoplifting problem (I used to pirate music. After much counseling my problem is under control).
3. LOVE the Wii Fit reference. I know people who need to work out and look good before they can go to a gym. “Hell na, I’m not going to be seen in a gym with this gut!” I wonder what the future holds for gyms. Perhaps one day soon It’ll be a meet market for pretty people with six packs and perfect calves.
4. It’s interesting because we can’t even trust the numbers because of human beings. When we give human beings the responsibility of recording the numbers they get inflated (reference to quota system).
Okay, basically I find this post awesome. So, everyone knows that I love Mariah — apparently others agree with me: Mariah Carey rocks. And you should totally be proud to be a Mariah fan if you agree with me. So, now it’s all out in the open and we can go on our merry way.
As for the rest of what you said (errr what else did you say? I kept getting distracted by the part about Mariah) about being anonymous online, I wonder how the medium will change as everything becomes more and more public. It used to be a “should-I-or-shouldn’t-I” thing when posting your photos online, let alone both your first and last name together in the same place. If I open my web browser and browse Facebook, my friends (and co-workers and family…) know that I was online today and what I did, so saying I was too busy to do such-and-such is no longer a good excuse. Privacy issues have become a huge concern, since everyone LIKES being anonymous — see the Facebook Lexicon debacle.
Also, since it’s appropriate, I find that the new Google Chrome now offers an invisible mode so that you can browse your favorite forums for whatever your guilty pleasure is — say stuffed animals — without it appearing in your browser history, cookies, etc. is much in this same vein.