:) A Modern De-evolution

Imagine if you will a large, dark cave deep in the Indonesian forest. A prehistoric man sits watching his offspring vigorously begin to rub a pointed rock against one of the cave walls.  He looks on as his son draws the outline of an animal that unfortunately for it, was killed for food earlier that day. His son finishes the outline and begins to fill in the prey with charcoal. After a few final touches the son looks back at his father, illuminated by the light of the fire. The father gets up and walks over to his son, he takes the charcoal from his son’s hands and begins to draw two dots with a with a line curving upward underneath, his son smiles and runs to eat his inspiration by the fire. What would you imagine the Prehistoric man’s message was to his son? If I were a betting man, I would put all my money on happy. You must be wondering why I am mentioning this as if it was something of significance, I mean; communication has become significantly more advanced since those days, right? If you said yes; you’re right. If you said no…you’re also technically right.

First, I want to marvel at technology in the 21^st century. There have been so many breakthroughs that have changed the world. Electricity for one, Silicone, broadband…I could go on, but I’m pretty sure you get the idea. Things have become so advanced that most of us don’t really realize how far innovation and development has become. The first cellphone was debuted in 1973, it has taken us a little over 30 years to be able to swipe left on that weirdo on Tinder. Not only has it given thus that bit of fun, it has also improved and revolutionized how we communicate with each other on a universal scale. Conducting business across nations has become as easy as clicking one button. I bet you’re saying, “Yes, we get it technology is ‘cray’ old man, let’s get to the point,” well, here it is; We have come full circle. From those cave painters 35,000 years ago in Indonesia, to that “Bye Felicia” meme you sent to your recent ex-girlfriend via whatsapp.

We are quite literally cave painting in the clouds. With every meme we send, in lieu of an actual message with an explanation of your feelings, we have resorted to sending emoticons, emojis, gifs, images and music in order to communicate with each other. Which, in my opinion is actually pretty cool.

Many people will be quick to judge and say that using these things instead of actual text will dumb down our species; I say that it doesn’t have to. Education is always a personal endeavor. If you don’t want to learn anything new, you won’t. What need to shift our focus from shaming a particular type of communication because it seems juvenile, to the desire for education and growth. Now, the reasons I’ve joined the rebellion, are simple, I’ll just list them to avoid rambling,

1     It allows a person to convey a real emotion.

There won’t be any miscommunication when someone makes you happy and you send them a gif of Carlton from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air dancing the “Carlton Dance.” There might be if you send the word “Yay” and forget to add multiple exclamation points.

via GIPHY

2      It promotes creativity.

Someone tells you to fuck off and instead of blind anger and a reactionary response you may regret, it gives you time to think and be creative with your answer. If you want it to be a series of emoji’s that tell a story, or the song “Fuck You” by Cee-Lo Green. It gets your brain moving and distracts you from a possibly harmful decision.

3      It’s fun as hell.

I don’t know about you, but I laugh my ass off when I find the perfect gif for any particular situation.

via GIPHY

I feel those are really solid reasons to appreciate the new wave of artistic communication, and as you can see, I was able to maintain this entire essay without the use of an emoji or emoticon…except the one in the title.

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Ghostbusters, Back To The Future, Star Wars CONVERGE

A few weeks ago I photoshopped my recently purchased Back to The Future & Ghostbusters Lego sets onto an image of Mos Eisley and posted it as my Facebook coverphoto. My friend D.J. commented asking what these two movie franchises would be doing on Mos Eisley. I decided to take on the challenge and write them into a fan-fiction-saga of sorts. Read it after the jump.

 

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Dawn of the Superhero

In recent years we have seen a surge in the production of superhero films. Marvel’s “The Avengers,” “The Dark Knight,” and “The Dark Knight Rises” have grossed over $400,000 domestic, and sit among the top 50 highest grossing films of all time (not adjusted for inflation). This statistic is no fluke because, as I was delightedly researching superhero movies, I found that in 1978 Superman the movie was released and became the second highest grossing film in that year behind Grease. Talk about foreshadowing right? Well, after reading that particular bit of information and learning that in the next five years there will be 11 superhero films released, I asked myself, “Why is it that people keep coming back to Superheroes?” and “Will greedy film studios ruin the future of superhero movies by flooding the market with them year after year?”

 First, I’ll address the reason why people keep coming back. This is no mystery or surprise in any way. The reason why people flood to superhero movies every year is simple, superhero movies are awesome. Superheroes have been an important part of our culture since 1933 when the first comic book format publication, “Famous Funnies,” was introduced. Since then, the United States has produced the most titles in terms of quantity. Today, comic book sales reach about $418 Million a year, so obviously the market for comic books is massive. The captivating story lines, amazing abilities and positive messages provide great source material for new interpretations of these characters. The Dark Knight Trilogy is a great example of what these characters are capable of being. The Dark Knight was the first comic book movie that didn’t necessarily feel like a comic book movie, which tells me that these characters are capable of being more than just comic book characters. That makes it much easier to adapt to the look and style of the era. In my youth Batman and Superman were campy and almost parodies of themselves. While I enjoyed these movies, it never seemed like they would ever be good enough to warrant an Oscar nod, until of course Heath Ledger changed that and added a whole new dimension to superheroes making it easy for children and adults alike to be entertained.

The question of whether movie studios will take it too far is yet to be seen. There have been many superhero flops, but for the most part these movies are still attracting huge crowds and sometimes breaking records. There is always a possibility that studios can over-stay their welcome but as long as my generation and those that follow continue enjoying these storylines and characters, and studios continue to evolve their productions with the times, the longer I will accept these movies as actual films instead of just comic book movies.

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