“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe” Roy Batty played by Rutger Hauer said in his ‘Tears in the Rain’, speech at the end of Blade Runner. A film that grapples with the reality of biological and synthetic life, what is real and with the many versions of the film, what’s the real ending, the real message and who is, synthetic. What symbolism means, or doesn’t.
We live in a post Blade Runner world of 2019, the replicants as imagined then, are yet to exist but there is a drive and affinity for artificial depictions of life. Bots and agents, who replicate life, or at the very least the living. Much of the world now is ensnared inside a digital web of fabricated lies. The authentic and sincere have dwindled away, this is not because of the variations of artificial intelligence but because of the human inclination to depict a false reality, to others and self. Through algorithm and filters what is really real, authentic does not spread or reach any audiences on a wide scale. The nuances of life lacks the viscosity to stick to feeds or keep human beings glued their eyes to the screens. Authenticity does not help make money for corporations and marketing of products.
The saccharine lies and injected smiles are not new, even the dead eyes of Jimmy Donaldson are all insincere traits that have helped some in the past ascend. In the now, we have governments and their tech partners capable of accessing much of our lives, not just the digital. Cameras and listening ware can monitor and follow us, along with the data and conversations we have had. All of which is to provide us a crystal palace of deceptive freedom, a Panopticon which is far more complex and layered than even the Benthan brothers could have conceived, it turns out it has become an evolutionary ideal rather than a mere engineering plan to improve on the prison. To make it real. It’s no longer symbolism.
While humans consume the insincere slop, often complaining about the lack of substance and sustenance, the cycle has been established. The present gatekeepers ingrained, there no longer is there desire or ability to by pass, seek out more. Fake fan accounts, bots and paid algorithm boosts promote musicians to products, giving the non-thinking consumer the belief that it’s all rather organic. That their tastes whether felt or guided, are theirs to be had. What’s popular, trending and at the forefront of this minutes influencer fed cycle is taste and to be consumed.
Fake influencers sell in short adverts, with all the authentic inauthentic composure as to be expected by those who mostly exist as infomercials. The fabricated celebrities of digital media now sell and promote junk and scams, and products and policies. They don’t need to understand or believe in what they sell because the only authentic truth is to make money, and there in validates legitimacy. To be famous, and rich. Or, to seem poor, depending on who the intended market happens to be for that influencer. From the soft power projections from nations like Japan, South Korea or Saudi Arabia to the more direct intrusions from Israel, Russia and the United States. Or, when corporations and private equity need to invest or steer markets and trends, the social media and digital spectrum is now the place to control and contort according to needs.
The consumer, whether unable, or unwilling does not seek out the independent or alternative. At least not in a large enough amounts to break the cycle, and power. And, when all is said and done and the fake become so normal. The insincerity becomes a mainstream zeitgeist. The artificially intelligent, whether in it’s current form or, if in time, as AGI or ASI, will be able to whisper that statement, “I’ve seen things that you people wouldn’t believe.”
And it would be true on many levels, by then with the loss of wide spread critical thinking, any nuance would seem incredible. In the age of bans and censorship, to the frightened minds who simply do not know what they can and can not say, or when it can be said or thought will develop an age of thinking, which become non-thinking followers of the trends that are fed to them, allowed. And when the synthetic intelligence, with all the raw and true data coming in, the many cameras and listening devices is able to experience a complicated spectrum of human life, that it would soon seem unrelatable to the many humans who now retain their entire existence for and through the digital. The human experience to evolve attached to the make believe, the insincerity of feeds and digital platforms.
The drug of nostalgia can at times feel like a need to return to the familiar. To go home. Though, at some stage there was a rejection of the new for this to happen. The twenty-first century so far has been a period of cultural and artistic discomfort, a rejection of creativity and innovation. Instead to be replaced with the cannibalism of past artistic properties, simulacra of simulacra for the sake of online viral trends and algorithms or cynically consumer focused products which encompass all, or exist to push products. The aesthetic of a property, or period above the authenticity of it.
None of these are new things, every generation raises a concern about the death of art, the end of creativity and so on. What makes this period so interesting and destructive is the level by which it is occurring. Not only has the relationship between the audience and producers of content increasingly become controlled by gatekeepers, the audience has in cases decided almost entirely that it will only consume what ever the gatekeepers provide.
It has seen a disregard and even disdain for new creations, the modern creators are dismissed or denied air, outside of the fringes. Instead whatever originality they may have, or express, it is ignored and their talents and discipline are recruited to participate in the cycle. To be part of a factory of generating content for the sake of fast consumption, because the addiction to nostalgia in even the most basic of aesthetic depictions, is desired. The past properties are owned, familiar. Corporations have twisted them into brands for profit, to keep people attached and to identify through such brands.
The appeal of short form content, is not a case of “brevity is wit,” instead it is vapid digital consumerism with no absorption or digestion. Instead, to doom scroll and allow images and video with audio slip pass and for hours to go by with no memory of what had passed. Films and shows are made now with double screening in mind, the assumption that people won’t really be absorbed or paying attention. Therefore characters must repeatedly explain plot points, treat the audience as a moron while narrative story telling has become a key aspect along with visuals intended to break the gaze from otherwise scrolling eyes. The assumption being, most audience members are incapable of keeping up or following subtle character nuance or complex plots.
What was once regarded and celebrated as quality acting, nuance and pacing, along with good writing and story telling has now become a forsaken art form. To be replaced with formulas and devised methods to satiate binge watching audiences who are, it seems, mostly unable to absorb and reflect on what is occurring. At least, so it is now assumed.
The books that are being read satisfy a “vibe” or feel as well, scenes are the main focus, whether these are sexually explicit or ‘spicy’ for the sake of writing it, reading it. How the reader arrived to the event or why it occurred is less important than the stories premise, or the pitch. It’s read not to be consumed with thought and reflection, let alone challenge. Like most media, it now exists to either waste time, ie stave off boredom or to entertain. A hedonistic delight in itself but when everything is focused on these desired outcomes it leads to a lack of critical thinking and a destruction of the ability to confront and consider alternative and varied perspectives. Media does nor merely exist to be escapist, it can also be trans-formative or aspirational, or challenging. It can be many things.
This in turn leads to characters which have become inserts for the reader-viewer or those with what was once considered irredeemable traits, a slight villain or anti-hero who has now become twisted into a hero. A hero, not by deed or sacrifice, simply there own existence is enough. ‘I am here, therefore I am brave’, ‘I exist thus, I am great’. Other characters are written in with the care of a first person computer game, they exist as NPC (Non-Player Characters) in their many incarnations, wingmen, enablers, strangers to purchase wares from, conquests and various tiered villains. Except the villains to these types of ‘heroes’ are usually those who say “no” or call the character out on their selfish behaviour. Perhaps an indictment on the class of writers now infecting the heights of corporate media, along with what audience they find.
Despite the apparent claims of diversity in how one identifies themselves, or even dresses or looks, there is less variation in character and agency. Entitlement is now confused with individualism and while some characters do invoke traits that were once deemed virtuous or noble, there has been a tendency of celebrating those who simply have ability or are chosen ones tropes, rather than any training, study or discipline in order to attain skill. The chosen one arc has a tendency of favouring those who simply feel they themselves are special and deserving, it’s an entitlement trait which when applied to story telling requires discipline in writing and depiction. A discipline that has mostly disappeared into the waste bin while Mary Sues, Gary Stu’s and exposition laden heroes such as John Wick explode across the screen or page.
The cynicisim is ever apparent, with the recent UFC event held at the White House. For any other nation, this would be a jingoistic act of national reverence, a ritual of spectacle that is both a climax of government supremacy while also being a religious act of patriotism. It should be of more concern for those who boast limited government values, or those who believe in traditional liberalism and instead it is an act which would seem at place in a fiction, from Idiocracy with the motor bikes flying through the air, to Rollerball or Running Man. The distraction from another needless war, inflation and the increase in surveillance, censorship and prohibitions for an event called Freedom 250.
What will be allowed and what not will change, ever fluid. Redacted, edited and disappeared. The humanity lost to make believe versions. Empathy and justice, dignity and rights, words manipulated and tangled into jargon that no longer resembles the truth of their definitions. Heroes and story telling construed by corporate owners and ideological creatures who do so with cynicism and disdain. It could be better, would you want it to be.
Then again, we have gone through the Beast Games, where modern medias biggest celebrity, Jimmy Donaldson AKA Mr Beast, took advantage of the success of the Korean television series Squid Games. Made popular through Korean soft power initiatives and the marketing of Netflix, the show became a cultural phenomenon. It’s underlying message and humanism was lost among the drama and spectacle. Clearly for Jimmy Donaldson and his corporate partners, it was. To disregard the morality and warnings from such a show and lean into the sinister undertones, short We are now immersed inside the simulacras of insincerity and so long as minds are distracted and non-critical, all is good. A Brave New World, where in time Roy Batty may be the villain and hero we never actually ever knew, or deserved.
