In Rushkoff’s Present Shock, he warns about the collapse of the narrative. He begins with the premise that stories are important because they “create a sense of context” (Rushkoff 13). In fact, historically, all cultures told stories. These stories help with cognitive organization and create a feeling of comfort and relative security. For example, our knowledge of history helps us put the present in perspective and thus, comforting us. However, as technology and new inventions began to infiltrate our world further, our narratives couldn’t keep up. This phenomenon then contributed to the narrative collapse.
Traditional linear stories create a character that the audience identifies with, gives him a problem, and then has him find a solution. Classic examples include Star Wars and Dora the Explorer. With the creation of the remote control, switching channels became easier and more “worth it”, yielding television’s lost ability to tell stories. Shows, like Beavis and Butt-head, “were some of the first to speak directly to the channel surfer” (Rushkoff 23). The remote control allowed “today’s television viewer” to “move from show to show, capturing important moments on the fly” (Rushkoff 22). As time went on this effect was only amplified.
In 2015, people often fulfill their need for entertainment through Youtube videos. These videos have come to take the place of shows. Instead of watching a “traditional” story, viewers will simply watch someone talk to them with jumpcuts to more “action” scenes. These videos lessen the sense of loneliness. Further, videos are often short, ranging from 5-25 minutes. A viewer can watch a quick video, and then move on with their life. Plus, because these videos don’t follow a tradition story arc, they can be about anything, leaving endless possibilities for content, and creating a show/channel that will continue for a long time. Also due to the lack of a traditional linear arc, a person can take up watching a channel or video at almost anytime and still understand.
Rushkoff explains, “the new challenge for writers is to generate the sense of captivity, as well as the sensations and insights, of traditional narrative— but to do so without the luxury of a traditional storyline” (Rushkoff 31). With many Youtube videos, the audience is captured and enjoy the speed as the Youtuber jumps from one topic to another. Further, the on-demand aspect, as well as a general lack of commercials contribute to the presentism aspect of this type of narrative. People cram everything into the present into small spaces of time, and that is exactly what Youtube videos do.
Today, it is commonplace to have stories that do not follow the linear story arcs of traditional narratives. In Latin class, our textbooks are from the Cambridge Latin Course. With these textbooks, we learn the language through a series of stories. But even these stories do not always come with a linear arc. We could be reading about Salvius and his murder plots and all of a sudden jump to the soldiers Modestus and Strythio and learn about their antics, and then go back to killing the king.
The jumps in the stories we read and write add spontaneity to them and keep the audience interested and engaged. Although Rushkoff claims this creates the collapse of the narrative, I am not entirely sure it is all that dramatic. We continue to tell stories, but we find new ways to do so.
The jumps in the stories we read and write add spontaneity to them and keep the audience interested and engaged. Although Rushkoff claims this creates the collapse of the narrative, I am not entirely sure it is all that dramatic. We continue to tell stories, but we find new ways to do so.
Works Cited:
Rushkoff, Douglas. Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now. Print.
I never realized how strange YouTube really is. We watch these videos, usually three to four at a time that have nothing to do with one another and less to do with ourselves. There is no context for the videos, we just tune in to watch one girl talk about makeup for ten minutes then watch a video of puppies playing with each other. There is no metanarrative or even a narrative at all. There are very few stories being told and yet we are so captivated by these videos that we spend time of our real lives watching other people's lives.
ReplyDeleteI believe I agree with Nina--there is something very different about today's short, post-narrative "bytes" of entertainment.
ReplyDeleteThere was a show on in the early nineties called "Short Attention Span Theater" and I always think of this phrase whenever the subject of YouTube, or Generation Google, or what have you comes up. You're right, these are new ways of telling stories, but I think at a certain point the medium/form really does alter the message. As Rushkoff points out, stories with no end have a very different effect on the reader or viewer than the classical tradition of beginning/middle/end.
Do you have chunk missing at the end of paragraph 2? It starts, "As time went on this effect" but there seems to be something missing!