Rick and I were talking about movies and television shows the other night, and made an interesting discovery. It seems that we've gone through quite an evolution in our entertainment, even since our childhood. Remember the days when the Dukes of Hazzard tried to stop robberies and Boss Hogg from embezzling money in Hazzard County? Now the League of Assasians threaten to kill innocent people and terrorize a city if a killer of one of their own isn't handed over, and it takes a vigilante hero a fight to the death to neutralize the threat. Cars jumping over ravines doesn't have anything on the archery and hand to hand combat of twenty first century drama, does it?
No doubt, the world has changed, and our entertainment has changed with it. It's darker, more sinister, and more real and in your face than it was once upon a time. Blame it on the degrade of society. Blame it on Generation X pushing the envelope further and further as we brought the cartoon heroes of our childhood to television and the big screen in live action roles. Blame it on the media showing real life war carnage on our computer screens and televisions for the sake of "keeping us informed." Blame it on shorter attention spans, or needing bigger and better to get our attention, on our fast paced world or becoming desensitized to the horrors of reality. Blame it on what you will.
We say the world has changed, but I wonder if that's so, or if we've become more used to the darkness of reality. No doubt, the world has seen plenty of darkness through the many wars we've experienced over time, and we've always been able to cause horror with our flawed human nature. The ugliness of humanity and reality aren't new. Just read The Bible and you'll see that. So why does it seem like the world is darker now? Is it really darker, or have we lost our fear and now we choose to deal with this horror head on, even in our fiction and entertainment? Once upon a time, comedy was an escape and a big hit on prime time. Now I'm hearing that comedy is losing ratings, and the dramas are turning up the numbers these days.
Reality may not have really changed that much, but fiction has. It seems we've seen an evolution as how we portray the world through it. Perhaps the mirror more accurately reflects what is now more than ever. All I know is that it makes writing both easier and harder than ever before. On the one hand, you have to be able to punch them in the gut hard and quick to grab their attention. But on the other, you don't need to look too far or dig too deep to figure it out.
That's all today. In closing, I'd like to leave you with the excerpt I promised in my last entry. Behold, I have set the debate in motion, and it's (literally) going to blow up the world. Enjoy, and have a great week!
Chapter 11
“Protect our tech!” the people on the screen chanted on the midday news cast, shaking fists in the camera and bobbing signs through the streets.
“You can’t deactivate our nanotech! That’s a death sentence to millions of people!”
“Shutting down our technology isn’t the answer! How can we fight an interstellar threat by reverting society back a century?”
“This is paranoia! Safety isn’t worth undoing a century’s worth of progress!”
“Our technological advances since the late twentieth century have been humanity’s greatest achievement. How can we even consider throwing that away just because there are aliens out there?”
“Are there aliens out there? How do we know this whole thing isn’t a hoax by the Eastern Factions to scare us into hiding in caves?”
A pretty red-headed anchor replaced the image of angry protestors on the screen, peering in the camera with striking green eyes. “That’s just a sample of the protests taking place on streets throughout America today after The President suggested a ban on non-essential technology in his speech to the nation last night. The revelation of an alien presence on Earth followed by a worldwide failure of nanotech has Congress, the medical professions, and the Space Authority alarmed and on high alert. Although there have been on further instances, a team of medical professionals headed by Annaliese Kerner-Boyce, psychiatrist and wife of Kerner Boyce, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, is working with the United States Space Authority to research the nanotech failure and the recovery process in the patients most affected. Until that research is complete, the President has suggested a ban on non-essential technology to ensure there are no further instances of failure or compromise of our technology. The proposed ban would include nanotech treating non-life threatening illnesses and injuries and would place strict limits on the use of computers, phones, and operational machinery and systems. The only systems exempt from this ban would be life-sustaining nanotech, emergency personnel communication and data devices, and regulation of basic functions such as electricity, water, food distribution, local transportation systems, and health care services.”
“The ban has plenty of opposition in Congress, as well as on the streets. Senator Boyce has publically opposed the ban, siting that it’s impossible to obtain the research needed by the team his committee formed if limitations are places on the use of technology. Other Senators and House Representatives have been on the national news networks this morning calling the President’s proposal ‘paranoia,’ and ‘a knee jerk reaction to something that we don’t even know is a threat.’ So far, the resistance in the Capitol is holding, even though the President stopped short of threatening to sign an Executive Order on the ban. The riots recently quelled in the wake of the revelation of an alien presence are springing up again, this time over threats to ‘pull the plug,’ as some have come to call the initiative. Protests have also been mounted online, with a petition urging the President to drop the ‘Pull the Plug’ ban already registering nearly a billion signatures. There’s no word from The White House on reaction to the speech yet.”
“Stay tuned to KRTB in Phoenix, Arizona, for the latest on this developing situation.”
“Very interesting,” Hailey mumbled, as she tapped the window closed on her computer and laid it on the table in the kitchen of her lavish condominium. She carried her coffee mug to the bay window in her den, staring at the desert sunshine and smiling. They didn’t call it the Valley of the Sun for nothing. The summers might be brutal, but the desert has a beauty of it’s own that can’t be denied. It was a shame she would have to leave it, for a little while at least. Oh well, it was a necessary sacrifice. You can’t take over the world if you won’t leave your home.
Her revere was broken by the chime of an incoming message. She walked back to the kitchen, sat her mug on the table, and picked up her computer, smiling at the incoming message. It was a good thing she checked the news when she did. Otherwise, she might have been completely surprised by this incoming message, requesting her participating in a study headed by none other than Annaliese Kerner-Boyce. She scanned the message, tapped “accept,” laid down the computer, and picked up her mug for another sip of coffee.
“Oh yes, it’s been far too long. I’m coming back, and this time I’m the one with a surprise for the Kerners.”
No doubt, the world has changed, and our entertainment has changed with it. It's darker, more sinister, and more real and in your face than it was once upon a time. Blame it on the degrade of society. Blame it on Generation X pushing the envelope further and further as we brought the cartoon heroes of our childhood to television and the big screen in live action roles. Blame it on the media showing real life war carnage on our computer screens and televisions for the sake of "keeping us informed." Blame it on shorter attention spans, or needing bigger and better to get our attention, on our fast paced world or becoming desensitized to the horrors of reality. Blame it on what you will.
We say the world has changed, but I wonder if that's so, or if we've become more used to the darkness of reality. No doubt, the world has seen plenty of darkness through the many wars we've experienced over time, and we've always been able to cause horror with our flawed human nature. The ugliness of humanity and reality aren't new. Just read The Bible and you'll see that. So why does it seem like the world is darker now? Is it really darker, or have we lost our fear and now we choose to deal with this horror head on, even in our fiction and entertainment? Once upon a time, comedy was an escape and a big hit on prime time. Now I'm hearing that comedy is losing ratings, and the dramas are turning up the numbers these days.
Reality may not have really changed that much, but fiction has. It seems we've seen an evolution as how we portray the world through it. Perhaps the mirror more accurately reflects what is now more than ever. All I know is that it makes writing both easier and harder than ever before. On the one hand, you have to be able to punch them in the gut hard and quick to grab their attention. But on the other, you don't need to look too far or dig too deep to figure it out.
That's all today. In closing, I'd like to leave you with the excerpt I promised in my last entry. Behold, I have set the debate in motion, and it's (literally) going to blow up the world. Enjoy, and have a great week!
Chapter 11
“Protect our tech!” the people on the screen chanted on the midday news cast, shaking fists in the camera and bobbing signs through the streets.
“You can’t deactivate our nanotech! That’s a death sentence to millions of people!”
“Shutting down our technology isn’t the answer! How can we fight an interstellar threat by reverting society back a century?”
“This is paranoia! Safety isn’t worth undoing a century’s worth of progress!”
“Our technological advances since the late twentieth century have been humanity’s greatest achievement. How can we even consider throwing that away just because there are aliens out there?”
“Are there aliens out there? How do we know this whole thing isn’t a hoax by the Eastern Factions to scare us into hiding in caves?”
A pretty red-headed anchor replaced the image of angry protestors on the screen, peering in the camera with striking green eyes. “That’s just a sample of the protests taking place on streets throughout America today after The President suggested a ban on non-essential technology in his speech to the nation last night. The revelation of an alien presence on Earth followed by a worldwide failure of nanotech has Congress, the medical professions, and the Space Authority alarmed and on high alert. Although there have been on further instances, a team of medical professionals headed by Annaliese Kerner-Boyce, psychiatrist and wife of Kerner Boyce, who chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, is working with the United States Space Authority to research the nanotech failure and the recovery process in the patients most affected. Until that research is complete, the President has suggested a ban on non-essential technology to ensure there are no further instances of failure or compromise of our technology. The proposed ban would include nanotech treating non-life threatening illnesses and injuries and would place strict limits on the use of computers, phones, and operational machinery and systems. The only systems exempt from this ban would be life-sustaining nanotech, emergency personnel communication and data devices, and regulation of basic functions such as electricity, water, food distribution, local transportation systems, and health care services.”
“The ban has plenty of opposition in Congress, as well as on the streets. Senator Boyce has publically opposed the ban, siting that it’s impossible to obtain the research needed by the team his committee formed if limitations are places on the use of technology. Other Senators and House Representatives have been on the national news networks this morning calling the President’s proposal ‘paranoia,’ and ‘a knee jerk reaction to something that we don’t even know is a threat.’ So far, the resistance in the Capitol is holding, even though the President stopped short of threatening to sign an Executive Order on the ban. The riots recently quelled in the wake of the revelation of an alien presence are springing up again, this time over threats to ‘pull the plug,’ as some have come to call the initiative. Protests have also been mounted online, with a petition urging the President to drop the ‘Pull the Plug’ ban already registering nearly a billion signatures. There’s no word from The White House on reaction to the speech yet.”
“Stay tuned to KRTB in Phoenix, Arizona, for the latest on this developing situation.”
“Very interesting,” Hailey mumbled, as she tapped the window closed on her computer and laid it on the table in the kitchen of her lavish condominium. She carried her coffee mug to the bay window in her den, staring at the desert sunshine and smiling. They didn’t call it the Valley of the Sun for nothing. The summers might be brutal, but the desert has a beauty of it’s own that can’t be denied. It was a shame she would have to leave it, for a little while at least. Oh well, it was a necessary sacrifice. You can’t take over the world if you won’t leave your home.
Her revere was broken by the chime of an incoming message. She walked back to the kitchen, sat her mug on the table, and picked up her computer, smiling at the incoming message. It was a good thing she checked the news when she did. Otherwise, she might have been completely surprised by this incoming message, requesting her participating in a study headed by none other than Annaliese Kerner-Boyce. She scanned the message, tapped “accept,” laid down the computer, and picked up her mug for another sip of coffee.
“Oh yes, it’s been far too long. I’m coming back, and this time I’m the one with a surprise for the Kerners.”
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