I was initially drawn to this work of art by the way it brought social media to life. I want to study it more because I think it is making an interesting reflection on the priorities of youth today and from where they derive their self-worth. The street art/graffiti depicts a young boy bawling with a cell phone in his hand. And floating above his head is the orange Instagram trademark notification box, only, the boy has zero notifications.
The picture was painting by a Vancouver street artist who goes by the name of I <3 (iHeart) and is titled “Nobody Likes Me”. There could have been a range of purposes for the piece but its effect on me is the highlighting of how society obtains its self-worth from social networks. I think it is very effective in showing this. By indication of the young boy, I would assume the youth of this generation to be the audience. The art assumes that all youth take part in social networking, including very young children. The cultural time period seems to reflect the 21st century in it’s attention to social media, specifically Instagram. The tone is one of turbulence and desperation. I looked up a list of genres and Speculative seemed to be the best fit from that list. A little bit of pathos and logos are represented. Pathos because you can plainly see that the child is obviously in distress and emotional. And logos because if you recognize that the orange rectangle above him is from Instagram, you can logically conclude that he is crying because he has no notifications. Which is, in a greater extent, an introspective comment on society.

Lenny Abramov boards the UnitedContinentalDeltamerican airplane back to New York City. Eager to engage in one of his guilty pleasures and secure a method to win over the heart of his beloved Eunice Park, he opens up a book. After reading just one, short passage he is interrupted by the rude remark of a neighboring passenger, “Duder, that thing smells like wet socks.” Not only that, but he observes that many other passengers are giving him obscure looks because of the book in his hands. Once the ancient relic is once again concealed in a carry-on, the spectators plunge right back into their electronic devices. Following suit, Lenny does as well.

This passage is a true testimony to the state our present circumstances have elevated to. Everything is electronic. Why write a letter when you can just text? Why meet up to do the project, when visual calling is a thing that exists? Though the increase in modern technology has connected us to one another globally, it has as well detached us from close relationships locally. Even Lenny’s treasured books have become digitized. The world of Kindles and Nooks have made the presence of physical books futile and environmentally harmful as it “kills trees”. I must admit that I am actually reading Super Sad True Love Story through the Kindle app on my smart phone. This scene has made no exaggerations in its claims to our over-digitized society.

Side Note: I do not have the class textbook yet, so I am not sure of what format I was supposed to follow.

In the present violent and chaotic world we live in, incalculable crimes are taking place day in and day out. Innocent lives are being taken or forever altered. Wouldn’t it be a miracle if this could somehow all change? The airplane surveillance proposed in “Eye in the Sky” sounds like an answered prayer. In a matter of seconds, complex crimes that could have otherwise never been solved could be figured out and brought to justice. This idea may seem like an invasion of privacy but should, in reality, pose no threat if there is nothing to hide. The ramifications of this ingenuity could bring about an altogether safer environment and brighter tomorrow. There could be an end to the dreadful 5 o’clock news stories that make leaving the house a nightmare. If we have the technology to saves lives, why not use it?

The naysayers of this innovation argue that the loss of privacy is just too great a price to pay. Technology this advanced in the wrong hands can start off being innocent but develop into something less than desirable rather quickly. As stated in the podcast, “There [is] no way you could trust government with this volume of information.” Putting this much power in the hands of the government would begin to actualize the, formally thought, fictitious world of Orwell’s, 1984. It is also possible that criminals would simply adapt and learn to work their way around the new system, such as committing murders in more heavily congested locations to avoid being seen/tracked. Though it seems like a brilliant safeguard, a handful of lives saved in the expense of countless other lives does not sound like an ideal tradeoff.