It’s
crazy how much of the world around us is digital: TV, video games, phones,
tablets, even watches! In many ways, these objects make our lives so much
easier and allow us to become so much more advanced as compared to our
ancestors. However, the human mind is becoming so dependent on the virtual
world, it can alter our perception of what is real. The other day, while at the
grocery store, I noticed a toddler, sitting in the grocery basket, with his
eyes glued to his phone. This makes his mother’s life a lot easier, as she
doesn’t have to constantly watch him. However, the toddler is already exposed
to the digital world at such a young age. Being exposed to this so young, makes
the digital world an almost inseparable part of the child’s life. Due to this dependence,
the digital world has the ability to influence human beings, even though
digital characters, shows, etc. are not technically “real.”
On the surface, this doesn’t seem
like that big of a deal. After all, the digital world is a daily part of all our
lives. However, as the Black Mirror episode, “The Waldo Moment,” portrays,
since the digital world is so present in our everyday lives, it can blur
peoples’ distinction between real life and digital media. The character Waldo
is so loved by his fans that he gets second place in a real political election.
While he didn’t win the entire thing, at the end of the episode, he is able to
start a riot among the crowd because of how much power he holds over the
people. While it seems extremely obscure to think that real human beings would
vote for a fictional character, “The Waldo Moment” explains how this concept
isn’t that absurd.
People enjoy video games and TV because they are an escape.
If you’re tired of everyday life, it’s easy to hook up your gaming system and
go get lost in the Victorian world of Assassin’s Creed for a couple hours.
During the politician open question panel, Jamie uses the real life complaints
about politicians to give Waldo more credibility and support. He calls out
Gwendolyn, explaining how she’s dishonest because she is only using the
campaign to boost her career. While Waldo is a digital character, his fictional
persona is what causes him to hold so much power over the people. They like him
because he isn’t a typical human being. On top of this, he is a TV character
that everyone is exposed to because of peoples’ dependence on the media.
This episode presents the scary possibility that, due to
dependence on the digital world, people could prefer virtual reality to “real”
reality. In Robert Nozick’s “The Experience Machine,” Nozick explains how
“plugging into an experience machine limits us to a man-made reality” (Nozick
122). He mentions how human beings would not be content with living out their
wildest dreams within their mind while hooked up to an experience machine
because they would not be able to physically take part in the experiences or be
their own person (121). However, “The Waldo Moment” displays how peoples’
dependence on virtual characters, shows, and games can blur the lines of
reality. By putting their support in a virtual character, the people are not
displaying their preference to real life but to fiction.
While the digital age helps
makes our lives tremendously easier, it is becoming all we know. The voters in “The
Waldo Moment” did not find it weird to vote for a fictional character because
of how regularly fictional characters are in our lives. In Plato’s “Allegory of
the Cave,” the prisoners only know life in the cave. As time progresses, more
and more younger children only know digital media. While helpful, this could
also easily display the virtual world as reality.
I have to say, my favorite thing about this post was the ending. I definitely think that you raised a great point - how younger children only know digital media. When we were all younger, you couldn't find toddlers glued to cell phones. Now, if you go out to a restaurant and look around, nearly every toddler has some sort of digital device. Now, this definitely isn't knocking them, but I can't help but wonder if this makes people more acceptable of everything they see on the device? You hear so many stories about "fake news" circulating (e.g., celebrity death reports) and people automatically fall for them. Do you think the digital world could be contributing to a world where we barely question things? After all, in The Waldo Moment, everyone KNEW that Waldo was just a character but no one truly stopped to think, "Wow, am I really voting for a cartoon?"
ReplyDeleteVery well-thought out post Teresa! I must admit reading your post made me kind of sad. I think it is a bit frightening how reliant and attached many of us are to the virtual world. It seems that too many people are seeking refuge in virtual reality. I personally think this causes us to become detached from true reality and one-another. How often do I see people oblivious to what is going on around them completely absorbed in their phones! It is all too common for me. I feel a consequence of this (which I believe we are already seeing) is that we will become more anti-social, which is obviously not good since we need social interaction.
ReplyDeleteIt is also funny how when I watched "The Waldo Moment" I saw myself pulling for Waldo to win in the beginning. However, when he started getting more and more votes, I realized how absurd it was to be pulling for a fictional character. I didn't realize like you said Teresa how weird it was. I guess sometimes we don't realize how absurd something is, until it smacks you in the face.
I also watched The Waldo Moment and it caused me to think how many similarities there were between that episode and how life is currently. It made me realize how influential main stream media is on the public. I mean think about how many people believe testimonials of famous people, and how people think that just because they are famous they are credible sources. In The Waldo Moment the character they believed in was a cartoon as opposed to an actual person but the point still applies. For the most people believe what they want to hear regardless of the source (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, news media).
ReplyDeleteI love that you brings up video games and TV as an escape in your post. As someone who often uses video games and even books as a way to distance myself from reality sometimes, this really struck home. I never even thought before that some people might never want to leave the fictional world they immerse themselves in. But, now I can see how it would happen. After all, fictional worlds are usually designed to be "better" in the sense that somehow all extreme problems end up being worked out in one way or another. It's scary to think that media has become so strong, like it was in "The Waldo Moment," that people would ultimately choose it over the physical when it comes to important decisions.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how you talked about how much exposure we have to fiction and virtual/digital space, especially when it comes to the new generations now being raised in a totally digitized world--aka the toddler on the ipad, such a common scene these days. But I do wonder how much of The Waldo Moment meant to criticize fiction, rather than the personas we take online. Waldo is a crude persona, but still a facet of Jamie to some extent--exaggerated for laughs, and for the popularity inherent in our internet humor. People like this ugly side, like this caricature so much they vote for it. This seems telling of how often people make themselves into characters online, one-sided or crude versions of themselves, for entertainment and popularity. So as much as Waldo is fiction, he was still originally a part of Jamie, and what does that say about how we treat people online? We treat them as near-fictional caricatures, rather than multifaceted humans, making it easier to laugh or to tear them down--and we adhere to that, taking on our own "Waldo" to become popular, to more easily insult others, just for the fun of it. Rather than blaming Waldo on our exposure to fiction, why not blame his popularity on our love for the fiction inherent in our online presence?
ReplyDeleteI hope, in the very distant future, that when I become a mother, I don't use technology to distract my children. I don't want them to be so dependent on technology and media that they can't think for themselves when they grow up. However, the way the technology is advancing, one day we'll all have chips in our brains that all we have to do is think one thing and every social media and search engine will bring up everything pertaining to that one thought. This has become our reality. Waldo is real to us as well. Day to day I hear people carrying on conversations about the shows they watch and, I'm guilty of this too, they make them sound so real, as if that character is their best friend and they're going to have lunch together later. It's insane to think about really. That though we've come so far, we're still so behind in thinking that a fictional character is our new best friend.
ReplyDelete