My memories of growing up include our backyard, the creek, skinned knees, puzzles, lots of books, and very little television. While I'm not sure what adverse effects technology is going to have on our youth if the intake isn't controlled, I was just marveling at the difference even 10 years makes when it comes to how a typical American child goes through childhood. My niece is 6 - she runs the TV and the cable box for her mom. She also is getting her very own laptop very soon; this will be in addition to her Leapster and her Nintendo DSI. While I remember being "bored" during my childhood, if something doesn't catch my niece's attention within the first few seconds, a "this is sooo booooooorrrrrrrrinnnnnggg" is sure to follow momentarily. I think this is a cultural critique because it highlights the differences that are expected in creativity and ingenuity when it comes to entertainment for children. With video games, the creativity is provided for you. Also, it's easier for people to play single-player games with the advent of video games, so children aren't socializing as much. I really like the phrase that I ended on ... "There were many games of imagination and improvisation." It seems so happy because of the tone of voice and the happy music, but I think it seems more scary to end on that because of the past tense usage in the phrase. It makes it seem like the days of imagination are over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqjucBm4z_Y
PS - I don't know why the video is so small. It looks fine in Pro because I expanded it like the directions said, but it always came out of Encoder looking like this, no matter what I tried. After several hours, I just decided to post!
I love this one. This is such a great idea. This is something all of us that are living right now can relate to. I also remember playing outside, hula hoops, balls, chalk, friends, games! Now games and fun have evolved into mostly sitting with a piece of plastic in your hand while staring at a screen. What happened to actually running around and trying to tag someone that just said "you're it!" ?
ReplyDeleteI think this could hold up to fair use. It says something about our culture, how it's changed, and it would definitely start a thread of comments. Good job. I'm a fan.
I think this is a great idea. It portrays how lazy children in America have gotten. And I believe that I am no exception to this. As much as I like to be outside and play sports, there are many days where I would rather surf the internet or just put in a movie.
ReplyDeleteIf this mashup were to appear as a commercial without your explanation, I may have gotten a bit confused. It was kind of like the channel was randomly being flipped from a 50's time period to a flying object. Though I fully understand the point of it, I may not have right away.