Maybe I'm Just Nostalgic, but ...

Is the television experience really that much better? 

It really is hard to decide what I enjoy better when it comes to movies and television. Whilst on one hand, movies can be unique, concise experiences that have great graphics and great sound quality, when experienced in the theater, television series have the advantage of being more in depth, and having more time to develop characters, and show everybody’s side, not just the main character.

All these ideas are discussed in the essay, Story or Spectacle? Why Television is Better than the Movies by David Charpentier. He does make a good claim when he brings up the importance of character development, and how a story is that much more effective if we can sympathize with the characters in the film or show. (313) Of course, a longer running time also allows producers to create a character that is more complex, giving us a bigger scope the universe the writers created.

However, for me, watching T.V. shows or movies isn’t something I do by myself. It’s a big inconvenience for me when something is more than a few hours long, as I don’t have the time to afford to watch them. Generally, when it comes to T.V. shows, I get bored with trying to watch it religiously and am unable to continue if I’m watching by myself. That’s where I enjoy movies more. There’s something so engaging about going to see a movie with my friends, where we can all buy popcorn, and laugh about jokes or things that happened together. I also enjoy the large format of the movie and the great surround sound. There is something so intimate about enjoying it together. I appreciate it because it is so much easier for me to enjoy a movie with other people. The problem these days is to find something really worth watching, as movies have become quite predictable. But finding a movie that I really enjoyed thoroughly is one of my favorite things. It is incomparable.

(img_src: https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/04/the-future-is-transcendent-a-review-of-her/)

Anarchy and the Appeal of a Post-Apocalyptic World

The American dream reimagined is not as we had imagined. 

Of course, it'd be nearly impossible to disprove the popularity of Zombies. As mentioned in one of my previous posts, zombies are quite popular for a number of reasons, in that we can relate to the struggles of the characters to stave off the workload of the everyday person. But, is there another reason we romanticize being hunted down and killed by the billions by a hoard of the undead? Rob Cantor in his essay The Apocalyptic Strain in Popular Culture: The American Nightmare Becomes the American Dream believes there is another reason for our obsession with these kinds of situations.

In his comparison of the zombie apocalypse to the re-establishment of traditional American values, we can see a direct connection. With the fall of a central government allowing for reconnection of a tight-knit family, and the ideology of fighting for yourself and those you love, it’s easy to see why humanity can be so enamored with the fall of humanity. This love is easily seen in The Walking Dead, a T.V. Series that even goes so far as to create a situation where an organized government was the enemy.

Pictured: A man in control of zombies, through the integrity of a fence.

I am reminded of a problem I was posed in my American Government class that stated the students would have to live in either one of two countries. There was Anarchy-land, which, as stated had no laws whatsoever, and thrived completely on the collaboration of the people inhabiting it, which definitely resembles a wild west type scenario, and then Order-land, where citizens were safe and were taken cared of financially and nutritionally, but they had no choice in any matter of their lives, right down to their clothing and job choices, which is more reminiscent of an extreme communism country. I am neither surprised nor disappointed that many people chose to be free and fend for themselves. If we are that obsessed with a zombie apocalypse taking down the government, I’m sure the idea of just being out there without the zombies seems like a dream.

(img_src: http://io9.gizmodo.com/5148637/10-tips-for-surviving-the-zombie-apocalypse)

Click Flix

Will our children even get to watch Television?

Of course, this seems like a silly question, but with the increasing success of Netflix, it is certainly something that is considerable. Certainly, people will still watch their entertainment on screens? Hard to say as well, with the rapid progression of technology, and the ever expanding horizon of what is possible. For now, let's go back to today, and back to Netflix.

Pictured: The company who is innovating streaming.

The way that we watch T.V. and movies have been influenced by the rise of Netflix, which is outlined in Ken Auletta's essay, "Netflix & the Future of Television". The instant availability and larger selection certainly beat the archaic act of waiting for a T.V. show to start at a certain.

However, this can come at a cost. Whilst Netflix does give you more power than before, with its successful triumph as one of the top streaming services worldwide, with great power comes great responsibility. Now, while the audience may be able to watch what they want when they want it, the audience now has to regulate themselves further. They must decide how long they’re going to watch a show. This can lead to extra-long binges of a T.V. series.

At least, the audience does get to choose. Another advantage, if you’re patient enough, is that watching movies at home, on Netflix, is much cheaper than going to a movie theater. And while you may not get the entire ‘movie experience’, I personally do not believe that seeing it in the movie is much better with a good stereo system and screen.

Perhaps regular old movies will be regarded the same as ‘adult films’ of the past. Where it is ridiculous to think that you actually had to go out to watch it, rather than to have it available readily. I look forward to a future that gives people more accessibility and choice in their media.

(Image Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netflix_logo.svg)