The Second Skin documentary made me see another side of the virtual world that I had never seen before. I was surprised to read the opening quotation
"These computers on our desks are turning into portals to other realms of existence... realms that will one day be preferred to earth" -Edward Castronova. I was surprised that people would actually prefer a virtual world to earth but after watching the documentary I see it is true. I think the thing that most surprised me about the documentary and the virtual world were the relationships that were built within them. Some of the players would say that "it takes your head away from everything else." The 9-5 does not exist for most of these online players. A study showed that 1 in 3 women gamers date someone in the virtual world, and that they feel like it is a place where it is safe to get intimate. That really surprises me that people believe the virtual world is a safer place to get intimate when you do not know who is on the other side. I was also surprised by the companies that are run in China where employees are called gold farmers. These people play these online virtual worlds and sell things in the virtual world to make money. I think a quote that was said to sum up the whole documentary was the company was "taking advantage of consumption fever in the US." These virtual worlds just further show the rate at which consumption fever is taking over our lives.
In Culture Jam the quote that appealed to me was "We, the people, have lost control. Corporations, these legal fictions that we ourselves created two centuries ago, now have more rights, freedoms and powers than we do. And we accept this as the normal state of affairs." This quote show the over-arching implications from both the book and the documentary. Corporations are taking over our lives and creating a non-stop over consumption in the US. Theses corporations have control over what we see on tv, what we see in stores, and what we see when we drive. They grab our attention and get us consumed by these virtual worlds they create and the products we buy.
It's scary to see that these virtual worlds are becoming so realistic.
I was surprised by the amount of relationships that were made in the game worlds as well. With the amount of time the players put into these games I guess it's not too difficult to start building relationships. it's just weird that it could be anyone on the other side yet they still decide to go out.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised as well at how much people said they open up more in the gaming world than they do in real life and that they feel it is easier to form relationships with people. It's as if some people live their entire lives in the virtual world, and it's kind of scary that this can happen.
ReplyDeleteIt is scary to see how much control the corporations have over us. You don't really realize it until it is laid out in front of you like in Culture Jam, but advertisements are everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that they spent more time on the game then actual work, or sleeping makes me kind of sick. Also when they said that they took their sick days to play the game I just thought that was way to much.
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