Children of the Screen

In her essay, Children of the Screen, Hannah Baylon asserts that people are completely controlled and exhausted by media and advertising. She claims that media dictates the social and cultural norms which in turn drive and control people. She advocates an upheaval of this system to regain human ingenuity and creativity, as well as our true identities. While I agree with and support the majority of her claims, I do not believe that being a “child of the screen” is all bad.
There is no doubt that television and advertising drives people’s actions. Commercials have become increasingly sexual since the “sexual revolution” of the 60’s. These commercials, combined with clothing manufacturers producing clothes with less and less fabric, have had drastic effects such as skyrocketing teen pregnancy. However, events such as the upcoming Super Bowl, which drive and promote these commercials, bring people together. In thousands of households this weekend, people will be joining for food, laughs and a good time, albeit around the TV. Humans are by nature social beings. In ancient Rome, people would gather in the coliseum to watch the gladiators. The only difference now is that more people can partake and it allows people to entertain in their own homes. This is far from the nightly “vegging out” that Baylon uses as evidence. Though the nightly “vegging out” does occur it is not to say that the TV is strictly a bad thing.
There is also an element of media that promotes creativity. That element is known as the “viral video” which can be found on YouTube. Though riddled with silly videos of people immolating themselves or imposing other various pains and ailments upon themselves, there are many creative and useful videos. Many people can find how-to videos for things that have nothing to do with screens, like learning to play the guitar, or change the oil on a car, or make chainmail out of wire. These videos allow people to discover the innate creativity and brilliance that Baylon claims we have faded away from.
Though Baylon makes many good and true claims, I do believe that she does not recognize the bonuses of being a “child of the screen”. I would support a revolution and a break away from media wholeheartedly as it is destroying our culture and our human identity, but I wouldn’t say that we need to erase it completely.

Dorian Grey

Literature and film is often created not only for entertainment, but also to relay a moral message. The Picture of Dorian Gray is one such film. In this film, the main character Dorian Grey is painted by an aspiring London painter named Basil. After the portrait is commissioned, Dorian is influenced by Basil’s friend, Lord Henry, to make a wish to trade his soul for everlasting youth. His wish is unknowingly granted by a statue of a cat (also an Egyptian god), and as time goes on, he does not age. Starting with leaving the woman that loves him, Dorian starts down a long path of cruelty, vice, and sin. With every act the painting becomes older and distorted and hideous, a reflection of his soul. He hides the painting and becomes consumed by making sure that no one ever finds it. By the end of the movie, after committing at least two murders, he realizes the error of his ways and tries to destroy the portrait, and in doing so kills himself.
One can glean several messages from watching this film. The first thing that one can learn is that beauty is not just skin deep. Beauty also has to do with one’s personality and one’s actions; in essence, one’s soul. The portrait of Dorian showed the man beneath the skin, the man without his social mask. His portrait was ugly because of the terrible actions he committed and the way he treated other people. Had he stayed the same old Dorian, a man of good attitude as well as good countenance, then the portrait would have been the same handsome man it was at the time it was commissioned. One can also learn that it is unacceptable to trade the soul for anything, especially youth or beauty. It wasn’t until Dorian made such a trade and was lead to a life of hedonism by Lord Henry that his soul was corrupted. By trading his soul, Dorian opened the door for cruelty and vice, something he was not prone to by nature.
My favorite scene from the movie was when Dorian was getting into the coach after leaving Gladys, Basil’s niece. As he hesitates and contemplates what he has done and then speaks to the driver, the camera view shows his head through the circle of the coach driver’s whip. This foreshadows Dorian’s imminent death and links to the previous scene when the sailor had a rope tied into a small noose, leading the viewer to believe that Dorian would indeed be strangled, perhaps even by the “dead” sailor.

Image 18

The case of image eighteen is a peculiar one. It is a portrait of an old man and an old woman, sitting in what one could assume to be their living room. They are proper and formal, but are not arrogant about it. This can be evidenced by the way they are sitting, especially the old woman with legs together instead of crossed and hands placed daintily on top of her legs. However, she is smiling, which shows that she is not only content, but also polite. The old man is dressed in a suit, but is not stiff and uncomfortable. They are from an era of respect and self respect. They respect their house which is tidy and clean and the books on the lower shelf are put away and orderly. There are flowers on the table and a small mirror for reflection, perhaps to look upon days gone by.

The old man is reminiscent, looking through some sort of old book or photo album. He is perhaps disappointed with his situation in life or in some of his decisions. He sits distant from his wife, not sharing his thoughts or actions with her. This could be either out of formality, or perhaps because he does not love her as he used to. The woman is selfless and patient. Throughout her life she has had to wait upon her husband. She has also had to be strong, especially emotionally, as he has been distant at times, evidenced by them being seated apart from one another. The old man was not malicious in his negligence of his wife, but rather was too focused on other things, such as work and finances. However, they have endured through thick and thin, together.