1 post tagged “the times”
Technology is good... sometimes.
I had the privilege to witness this new-fangled BlueRay DVD at a Best Buy. Unfortunately, I was only able to watch it for a minute or so before my eyes started to hurt. This BlueRay nonsense and the "other new DVD" the HD-DVD are meant to be played on High Definition televisions with the super state-of-the-art sound systems. Most of which are things that the normal person wont have nor will they ever have. At the same time, I must admit, these things look good. REALLY good. Every single detail on the screen is crisp and flawless. The problem is, it looks too good. When I say my eyes began to hurt, I mean just that. Movies and television aren't supposed to look that good. I don't want to see every pore in Johnny Depp's face. I want to see a good fucking movie. Which of course brings us to the state in filmmaking today. Movies aren't about story or acting. It's about High-Def, action-packed, blow-em-up, fun. Sure, I love movies with mindless action and violence, why would I watch so many horror movies? But I just want to see a fucking movie. I don't give a shit if it looks better than real life, I don't want movies to look better and more colorful than real life.
Of course, as new technology is created, the old technology is pushed off the shelf. Technology just moves too fast. In my opinion, the 90's were the peak of entertainment technology. I miss cheap videos that you could just put in to a VCR and enjoy a good movie. The movies were better back then also, no one was worried about how good the movie looked, we just wanted to see a movie that was fun.
It's not just movies either. It's music too. I admit, I still have vinyl records. Yes kiddies, there were other things we used to listen to music on that weren't CDs. They were big, black, and round and you had to flip them over half way through to listen to the rest of the album. Before that there were even things called 8-Tracks that people would listen to in their cars. I admit, I'm too young for the 8-Track, but they're still cooler than all those iPods. Truth be told, I actually really like CD's. I don't want to see them go either. Everyone listens to music digitally, and these days, even bands are starting to make their albums available online with bonus tracks as a bonus for getting your digital music. Tower Records is closing, the whole company. Sure, they could be over-priced at times, but they still had a good selection of music and movies that you probably couldn't find anywhere else. It's a real shame.
The problem I see, is that with technology advancing faster and faster, everyone is forced to adapt when it's not time to adapt. Movies are made quicker and released within a few months on DVD. Bands release music on CD and online, even offering online exclusive to keep themselves viable. The faster technology advances the faster things need to get made. Thus, the films we watch aren't as good as it was 10 years ago. The music we listen to isn't as good as it was when we had to wait for their next CD. Technology has taken the art out of music and film making and made entertainment all about looking good and flashy when really, no one actually cares how good the music will sound on a stereo system they don't have, or how good a movie will look on a TV they'll never own.
I miss the 90's for so many reasons. Our news was better (O.J.!!!) because no one cared about how trashed a celebrity got. The music was better and rocked harder because music was about MUSIC, not about having new music every month online to tell people that you really are still a band. The movies were better because you didn't have to worry about making the movie look good and you had to have a sense of ingenuity to do something new rather than rely on CGI. I miss putting that new CD in my stereo and actually holding the phyisical album artwork in my hand, and reading the lyric sheets as I enjoy the music. I miss the cartoons and TV shows that had story arcs and kept you coming back for more to find out what happens next (a few exceptions to the amazingly random shows on today like Family Guy, Aqua Teen, Futurama, Spongebob). I miss putting a video tape in and falling asleep to a shitty movie. I miss putting $5 of gas in my car and actually being able to go somewhere. I miss being able to go to a movie for $6. It really wasn't that long ago that the cost of living allowed us to earn $7 an hour and actually be able to get to work, and do stuff. When $20 could get you through a day.
I wish more people felt this way. But people just seem to let prices go up for no reason while their wages stay the same. People seem to like paying $20 for a movie and $6 for a bottle of beer. If there are people that feel the way I do, they don't really say anything, they just keep moving on. I for one would rather discover the secrets of time travel than and go back to the way things were than keep going on our current track. Who's with me?
