Realistically...

With all the hype over the new Batman flick "The Dark Knight" (which I have no intention of seeing anytime soon), it's hard not to think about how much time we spend avoiding reality.

Movies, books, television, video games, music, all aids in our frantic escapism from the real world. We even create alternative realities for ourselves; daydreaming constantly about the things we desire, instead of actually reaching out for them. It all sounds very pathetic to me, but even more pathetic is the fact that I'm dependent on all those unrealistic things that make life livable, and I'm not entirely sure why...

The best answer I can think of is this: because these things have been so easily integrated into our lives and society under the guise of 'entertainment.' And it's scary to think of how quickly that happened. Only books and music have been around long enough to be understandably ingrained in our culture, film has been accessible for 90 years at best, television only 50, and video games barely garner 25 years.

So, what the hell would we do if Hollywood went on a permanent strike, gave up, and threw in the towel? What if Xboxes were confiscated and burned, and books became scarece again? Oh, and God forbid if we had to find means of making our own music?

And that leads me to the biggest problem of all, if we're too busy depending on other people for our entertainment, and playing silly games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band instead of picking up a real guitar with strings instead of buttons, how will our generation create ... anything? So few people play instruments, or write (and read, for that matter) anymore. The TV world is plagued by horrid 'reality' shows that take absolutely no talent to produce, and young Hollywood is overridden by pitiful scripts and even more pitiful actors/actresses (note, I say 'young Hollywood'... there ARE still a lot of good movies being produced just not with anyone ... fresh). Even the video game industry is going down the tubes, as 80% of the people who study videogame design flunk out within the first year (playing video games≠homework).

But this isn't a 'call to arms' it's just a 'call to think.' You don't have to run out and start auditioning for movies or learn to play the banjo (but kudos to you if you do), just remember to thank the next person you meet who DOES do things like this; artists of all sorts (even the bad ones) are becoming scarce, and to reference an old Martha Stewart phrase: that's not a good thing. ;)

<3amber