Kidd
As a marketing major, I absolutely loved this article. Using the template of warfare as a guide, he lays out the "battle" between the consumer and the business men in pursuit of their attention and money. Despite what most business people believe, or more accurately claim to believe for fear of angry stares and comments, companies are in the business of making money. There is nothing more then this goal and all are other actions, despite whatever fanciful and 'righteous' labeling they might be adorned with, are set to assist in taking as much from "the enemy" as possible and making them dependent and loyal to the business.
From a personal opinion, I saw no problems what so ever with how Kidd labeled both the students he was addressing or the consumers he was teaching them to how to manipulate. This is business without the facade of the business' employees being mentally upstanding. For clarification, I am not endorsing stealing, lying, or cheating the customer in any way. It is morally wrong and the lawyers and judicial system are designed to negate that as much as possible. I am merely stating from a Realist perspective, that Kidd's publication skips over what people want to be thought of, to what salespeople really think as they sit across the table and smile at you.
Hickey
Hickey utilizes his article to showcase how mankind triumphs and seems to find a way to break the rules while remaining inside their limitations; through the example of Julius Erving's shot against Kareem. I especially liked how Hickey discussed how rules that are meant to be helpful and civilized eventually become governing and controlling; "the liberating rule that civilized us yesterday will, almost inevitably, seek to govern us tomorrow, by suppressing both the pleasure and the disputation". He seems to strive to convey that as a society we need to be ever vigilant about who creates these rules and for what, and to recognize when they switch from being conducive to pleasure and instead taking a place of governing.
As Hickey talked about the development of basketball, the message became blurred to me. Was he trying to specifically hype up the magic that he perceives as basketball, or the threats to it that are a result of rules and will eventually change it. Yet in both the beginning and conclusion of the paper he resumes a stance of individuals and groups triumphing over these hurdles and coming out on top and 'free'. I believe he was referring to the freedom that we can have within the guidelines and using basketball as a metaphor for his viewpoint. His change in presentation though clouds his otherwise convincing argument for me and I feel it detracts from it.
Weschler
Weschler talks about how animators are starting to control the power of 'Him' and maintain control over the physical and emotional state of a creation and the response of the audience through the manipulation of the pixels on the computer screen. I find this interesting as he began to talk about how unsettling the animations were due to their realism and believability. It showcased how well artists and engineers were able to break down the composition of human emotions into muscle groups and bone structures along with their interaction to produce the desired results.
I began to feel unsettled as well when he went on to talk about how faces and emotions were the "Seat of the Souls" and therefore beyond the reach of manipulation by men. As he further progressed in his article, the exploits of the animators took on a different light for me. While I watched animated movies in the past I always used to think that it was a sign of progress how far those such as PIXAR had come. Now, I wonder if perhaps we have gone too far, become too clever for our own good and are beginning to cross the line of what should be done in regards to perception among society and the possible negative effects. Technology is already accustomed to being accused daily for the downturn of society and the ever rising rich/poor differentiation and alienation amongst individuals. Now with the future ability to watch movies solely created and acted in by pixels generated by a computer in place of a living, breathing individual, I fear we might be hastening the electronic divide that we are already dealing with.
No comments:
Post a Comment