Groucho Marx said it best when he quipped, "I find television very educating -- every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." To be sure, the valiant maestro of Vaudeville understood a truism that seems to be at the root of our current great leap forward. While we pay a great deal of lip service to the alleged benefits of entertainment, in the end, what we are actually seeking is a kind of release.
The urge to plunge into surreality -- or irreality, if you like -- is as natural as hunger. Above all else, we want to become something else. We seek catharsis by any means necessary. This means, by and large, that we wish we were like the people we see in the movies. To be sure, there is always some element of envy at work when we watch 35mm film projected 60 feet high. We desire to be like "them" -- you know, those special people (though I use the term with tongue firmly planted in cheek).
There is something in the collective group-think that makes entering the very fantasy we have paid in excess of $20 for two hours of time and a few boxes of sugar-coated biscuits, so desirable. Just to take our minds off things, as it were. To forget all our troubles and cares and find solace in a tale that has been told since time immemorial. What will this tale entail? A bit of romance, a dash of daring, and the thrill of victory are all that we require -- perhaps not in that order.
While the promise of Roddenberry's holo-deck may be a few decades away (I'm being generous -- in all likelihood it will be perfected in five years), there are some technologies that can make slipping into your favorite film a reality. I should add the the caveat that by entering I mean superimposing and by film I mean only a short clip. Green screen technology and software developed by companies like Yoostar have made playing in a scene opposite Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca a feasible reality.
Though, for now, this slipping into the realm of the fantastic takes a bit of doing and pinch of imagination, it is surely a harbinger of the new realities that await us as a species. To be sure, the definition of entertainment itself will be rewritten or perhaps the notion of being entertained will be done away with all together. Perhaps being born in 2030 will mean being born into a realty chose by your parents. Perhaps a black a white world set circa 1940? The future is just a green screen away.
The urge to plunge into surreality -- or irreality, if you like -- is as natural as hunger. Above all else, we want to become something else. We seek catharsis by any means necessary. This means, by and large, that we wish we were like the people we see in the movies. To be sure, there is always some element of envy at work when we watch 35mm film projected 60 feet high. We desire to be like "them" -- you know, those special people (though I use the term with tongue firmly planted in cheek).
There is something in the collective group-think that makes entering the very fantasy we have paid in excess of $20 for two hours of time and a few boxes of sugar-coated biscuits, so desirable. Just to take our minds off things, as it were. To forget all our troubles and cares and find solace in a tale that has been told since time immemorial. What will this tale entail? A bit of romance, a dash of daring, and the thrill of victory are all that we require -- perhaps not in that order.
While the promise of Roddenberry's holo-deck may be a few decades away (I'm being generous -- in all likelihood it will be perfected in five years), there are some technologies that can make slipping into your favorite film a reality. I should add the the caveat that by entering I mean superimposing and by film I mean only a short clip. Green screen technology and software developed by companies like Yoostar have made playing in a scene opposite Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca a feasible reality.
Though, for now, this slipping into the realm of the fantastic takes a bit of doing and pinch of imagination, it is surely a harbinger of the new realities that await us as a species. To be sure, the definition of entertainment itself will be rewritten or perhaps the notion of being entertained will be done away with all together. Perhaps being born in 2030 will mean being born into a realty chose by your parents. Perhaps a black a white world set circa 1940? The future is just a green screen away.
About the Author:
A taste of the world that's to come can be sampled via a Yoostar ensemble. What will your world look like? Press play and behold.
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