Images Matter

Cyber culture continues to perplex the s#*t out of me.

I remember as an undergraduate getting into my first “Flame Wars” with online participants from Usenet as part of a New Media class (obviously I wasn’t assigned to flame with others, but it just… you know… turned out that way). I kept struggling to figure out whether the uninhibited behavior online was a result of the anonymity that the internet affords, and whether the behavior was a reflection of our “truer” selves, or an exaggeration. The people with whom I flamed continually stood upon insults that adhered to what I call the “Unholy Trinity”. That is, forging every insult in terms that could be reduced to the following three words: bitch, fag, and nigger. When they called you out, you were either a racial, sexist, or homophobic slur.

Was this behavior a reflection of the ability to express their true sentiments without any serious consequences, or were they just throwing the extremes because the internet is basically a Holodeck where people (almost) never get hurt?

Or does it matter which is the case? Perhaps the real issue is that the behavior is here, it is continual, and we still don’t know what this type of behavior has in store for us.

Which brings us to the Scary Maze Game.

There is apparently an online prank-game (one of many) in which a participant tries to negotiate their way through a maze, only to be startled by a frightening, Exorcist-like face on screen, accompanied by sudden loud screams. I fell for a comparable like prank online, and it left me a few pounds lighter in the colon I can tell you.

But what’s even more horrifying, is the phenomenon of people actually RECORDING video of their small children falling for the prank and freaking POSTING the video to YouTube. One of the more saddening videos can be viewed here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_-U9PBiA8c

My heart breaks when I watch the look on this little girls face. So much so, that I posted a comment on the page, stating that I hoped her startle reflex becomes exaggerated and she kicks the parents in the genitals the next time they try to surprise her with a hug. I know…I don’t really hope her startle reflex becomes exaggerated.

But get this, I actually got a response comment asking me to basically lighten up. If you read the comments on the same page provided in the link, you’ll find it’s pretty evenly split between those that have similar feelings to mine, but with just as many people claiming how uptight the others are and that it’s just plain funny.

I really really hope that somehow digital culture enables us to “play hard”, rather than show our true selves. That the coldness and cruelty that I observe online is only a cyber-phenomenon. But somehow, I find it hard to believe that continually playing hard doesn’t translate into actually being hard, that continually expressing ourselves without consideration for either consequences or other’s feelings doesn’t terminate in an actual set of de facto values. Actions do speak louder than words… even when they’re just words.

Peace

Like it or not, we have markedly entered the age of the image. In this age, the image will be lingua franca, coin of the realm, pick your metaphor. Why this is of supreme importance to anyone online is that the image is the de facto “truth” regardless of what any futuristic time machine DVR with automatic focus will provide. You can scream bloody murder and hold your seventh press conference if you and your publicist can afford it, but it may better serve you to “grok” the above mentioned fact… the image, and concomitantly, its coverage, will be held as the bottom-line.

Why is this “grokking” so important?

Well, for one, you don’t have to let Keith Olberman break your heart.

I had really fell in love with Keith Olberman during the Bush II Dynastic realm, if only to be able to witness someone put that spawn of Asmodeus, Bill O’ Reilly, in his place. But beyond that, his writers and researchers appear to be top-shelf, his delivery is very clever, and he was a welcome respite from what had become an Orwellian nightmare for me.

But that ended today.

MSNBC has shown that they are just as biased as those fascist-tinged mannequins at the FOX propaganda channel.

To my broken-hearted shame.

I watched Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi jerk, stutter, and obfuscate her way through the question of “If you were lied to then…” (as late as Feb 03) “… why did you tell us as recent as last month…” (Apr of 09) “…that you had not been lied to?” (this question coming from CNN’s Dana Bash)

I don’t care what anyone says… my gut tells me Pelosi was lying to Bash.

Now I understand that this doesn’t take away from the Bush administration’s culpability in the entire “torture” story.

BUTTTTTT…

It does show IMHO that EVERYONE was complicit in those early days after 9/11 when we were apparently willing to excuse anything to get that JACK BAUER edge on our perceived opponents. It seems that the DEMS are scurrying to the (Non-Complicit) torture holes, while the REPS are forgetting that they implicitly ENCOURAGED torture while stating that those of us who disagreed were TRAITORS.

Back to “grokking”

Keith Olberman, my now, somewhat less than perfect hero, is willing to forego the footage of Pelosi stuttering and side-stepping her way through questions, for an edit that shows a very brisk DENIAL from Pelosi.

And we come back to the “image”…

You can force, manipulate, comment, and “Head-Talk” an issue to death if you like…

But for those of us who are addicted to the latest and “freshest” “image”…

John Ford can blow us… you’re all had.

Peace be to all of you,
atheisticmystic