I was recently directed to “The Magus” by John Fowles. It’s a book that you’ll either love or hate, but its significance isn’t in its merit as a work of fiction. Many people on the outer rim of new media’s entertainment circles look to this book as the genesis of a new kind of theater. I’ll dive into this a little more in other writings, but for now let’s focus on the book’s take on things.
While the book calls it the “meta-theater” at one point and the “godgame” at another, the purpose is simply to destroy a person’s sense of what is real and what is not. On a certain level this can be fascinating as you unravel the web of lies and deceit in the quest to find something real or some purpose to it all.
This is accomplished via a variety of interactions with people pretending to be someone acting as someone who is pretending to be someone else. Every time you think you’ve discovered the “real” person, you’re in fact looking at a carefully crafted fictional character concealing yet another invented character. The hope is that you become emotionally attached to one or more of them, at which point they betray you, regain your trust, and betray you again.
Etcetera.
The twists and turns in the book are such that you will not be able to put the book down until you are finished. In part this is because every time you think you know where the story is going it veers off wildly in a new direction, compelling you to seek out the ending.
Unfortunately, the author felt that since the point of the whole thing is to leave a person with no sense of what anything means, he leaves the book up in the air in order to give the reader a proper sense of eternal bewilderment. Picture Romeo and Juliet, but with the curtain falling as Romeo discovers Juliet unconscious and is in the process of deciding to kill himself… but you never find out if he does, or what happens to Juliet.
Oh how droll. How avant-garde. How … completely disrespectful of your readers.
But I digress… the good, the bad, and the ugly of “The Magus” by John Fowles follows.
*SPOILER WARNING* – Do not read any further if you’d like to avoid having details of the book revealed.
That was courtesy of Magrathean I believe. Good guys.
Next, DiVAS – Episode #3.
Lastly, Georgia Tech. & Ludwig Maximillian U. bring us some mixed reality goodness in two videos that, together, I’m calling “Second Life’s Invasion Of Reality“.
Why am I posting a bunch of potentially offensive videos from a guy making political statements I don’t completely agree with and I’m not interested in discussing?
Sean Bedlam is what new media is all about.
He does two extremely taboo things in his videos: he swears (taboo because science has shown that some sounds emitted by human vocal chords, called “swears”, hurt people somehow), and he states a strong political opinion (taboo because, obviously, you shouldn’t… uh… opine…).
Let’s face it: we’ve allowed censorship to run amok in the mainstream media. When I can turn on the TV any day of the week and watch hours of back-to-back beatings and murder on CSI but we’re still talking about Janet Jackson’s 2004 Superbowl nipple, we have a problem. I’m not saying I’m a plug-my-fingers-in-my-ears-and-chant-”censorship is wrong” kind of guy, but when we ban sex (something we all like in our lives) from TV, but are cool with broadcasting violence (which we really DON’T want in our lives) perhaps we all could use a big kung-fu kick to our sensibilities. People haven’t felt like they can say what’s on their minds for ages.
(Oh, and yes I censor comments on my blog whenever they tick me off. Yeah, ironic, I’m a hypocrite, get over it.)
Looking back through the past bunch of decades we’ve dealt with this problem in a variety of interesting ways. In the 60′s people actively rejected social norms and called it “being a hippie”. By the 80′s people saw that wasn’t necessarily a long-term plan for them and instead tried to buy into the dream that television was selling them. Somehow this resulted in massive commercialization and shows with detectives that drove sportscars but still couldn’t afford a decent razor. This was followed by the 90′s, Generation X, and a bunch of people with an uneasy feeling that while everything probably made sense, they weren’t in on the joke.
Now we have the new media. Blogs, podcasts, message boards, virtual worlds, and yes, free video for all. Sean’s videos are a great example of what happens when the media is finally divorced of “institution”. People say what’s on their minds, at long last, and we’ve discovered that things don’t make sense and never did.
So, now what? Are we any less neurotic? Are we any more free? Has any of this changed a damn thing?
My gut tells me that while it’s all fascinating, the change in Who We Are (in big-concept caps) hasn’t happened quite yet. Let’s give it another decade. Even with all of the analytical tools and instant delivery of ideas across the globe that we have at our disposal, only hindsight remains 20/20.
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Oh, and about what Sean’s actually said in these clips… hell, it would take about four dozen blog posts to cover it. I gotta go do some stuff though… so… you write ‘em.
So I’m flying along, minding my own business, when *POW* I get smacked by Gwyneth Llewelyn‘s tag. Now I have to write eight things about myself, and tag another eight people to do the same. It’s like one of those horrible chain letters I generally hit “reply” to with a bunch of angry comments. I’ll start it with: “Chain letters are one thing, but you actually expect me to participate in an old worn-out blogmeme? Why you…”
Except… well… it’s Gwyn. In Second Life’s blogosphere she’s like everybody’s awesome cool aunt that you wish you had more time to hang out with. Seriously, are YOU gonna be the guy to tell off your cool Aunt Gwyn? No, I didn’t think so. Guess I’m screwed.
THA RULEZ for the “Eight Random Facts Blogmeme”:
Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
Hooboy… alright, let’s give this a shot. Why the hell am I feeling nervous? Weird. Anyhow. Here: Continue reading ‘TAGGED!’
