Storyline
Look around you. People appear to be permanently glued
to their electronic devices.
Heads bowed and eyes transfixed, our society has been
hijacked by these dominating technologies.
In
less than the span of a single lifetime, we have
advanced from rustic computers the size of buildings to
extremely capable mobile devices that fit in the palms
of our hands.
We
haven't even stopped to catch our breath.
That's
precisely was 'Stare Into the Lights My Pretties' aims to
do.
This
engrossing and ambitious feature-length documentary
outlines the progression of our computerized world, and
examines its consequences to this and future
generations.
We've become fully enveloped in a screen culture.
The
average person spends more time staring at a screen on
any given day than they do sleeping. This has
drastically altered the way we interact with others,
conduct our personal and business affairs, and
experience the world in general.
These stimuli are all about shallow sensation,
distraction and instant gratification.
What
they often fail to provide is context, metaphor or
meaning. They are changing the way we learn, and the
lessons they're teaching don't incite critical thought
or require a prolonged attention span.
In the film's view, 'screen culture' has also empowered
corporate and government interests with the ideal
narcotic with which to control us.
Your
Google searches offer these structures an unprecedented
glimpse into your thoughts, desires, political leanings
and other defining characteristics. Everyone from
advertisers to politicians have used this data to modify
our behaviors and make us subservient to their cause.
Online surveillance constitutes a major threat to our
basic right of privacy.
Yet
many users have accepted this intrusion as a 'necessary
evil.' Once we willingly relinquish our rights, and allow
our lives to become fully immersed in the fantasy
fulfillment of our machines, then we have lost our
capacity for empathy and autonomy.
On a technical level, 'Stare Into the Lights My
Pretties' is top-notch; its ambient scoring and
inventive editing style give the film a mesmerizing
pull.
The
filmmakers pose moral and ethical questions that
couldn't be more timely or profound.
What
kind of world do we want to live in, and do we have the
willpower to change it?
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