Project 2



Infatuation with virtual worlds, such as social networks, and video and computer games, has the potential to undermine the actual world in which we live. People become enamored with the excitements and impossibilities that can only exist in these worlds separate from our own, and forget that such vessels are simply forms of entertainment. They become more than games and websites, they become ways of life, obsessions, and even addictions. In comparison, the actual world becomes a mere afterthought. In short, we are losing touch with reality.
      One premise of our argument is that these virtual worlds, while abundant in information, have little or no relevance to actual every day life.  They are shallow imitations of certain aspects of life that are often unrealistic. We compiled a couple simple statistics to stress the staggering amount of video game and social network usage we see today. This data helps emphasize that every moment thousands of people are embarking on virtual adventures, not realizing that they are contributing to the decay of appreciation for the natural world.  These statistics are placed between video segments in which actors portray real life representations of these virtual worlds to make the point that technology will never be able to replace real life. We also made claims in the forms of bold white text that slowly expands in the middle of a black background. Emphasizing all these words ensures that people will walk away with the messages we are trying to convey.
       The first skit is about Facebook. It emphasizes the awkwardness of potentially being friends with complete strangers. Taking Facebook out of context and placing it in a real-life setting forces one to notice how blatantly unnatural it is. Notice how the green shirted “Facebooker” chooses to omit explaining to the whole world how he has met his new friend. This emphasizes how impersonal such sites actually are; they are not about making real friends, rather they are about having more friends than everyone else.  A lot of people, especially in the younger demographics, truly believe that the more friends you have on Facebook, the cooler you are; so much for quality instead of quantity. Both videos show how impersonal Facebook and other sites are; no one is actually having quality interactions with one another. Friends, events, and personal interests are all sorted through mindless clicks. The statistic placed between these video segments states that Facebook and Youtube account for 68% of all website traffic. This forces the viewer to come to terms with the fact that regardless of how shallow such sites are, people cannot get enough of them. The internet used to only be a tool to assist is in the real world, a helpful resource that aided us in day to day real life activities. Now the majority of its use is to avoid real life situations for a safe virtual haven, and to stay there as long as possible.
Our next statistic states that on average, the time spent per week playing video games by “gamers” is 18 hours. This lengthy amount of time, almost a full day, is devoted to escaping the real world for a more favorable one; one in which killing massive numbers of people is more than all right, it is congratulatory. The gamer in the video segment appears ecstatic; he looks as if it is the happiest moment of his life. Then he begins to fire at his many opponents with barely a second to breathe between each shot. What is unreal is that this is where the game’s appeal lies: in its violence.  When so many people are spending so much time embarking on faux-murder, it is not a wonder why so much violence takes place. These games fuel human animosity that may have been previously dormant. Additionally, playing an average of two and half hours of video games a day is far too much time to be wasting away. Video games offer an exciting system of play where there is constant growth and excitement at accelerated rates. In comparison, real life may at times seem stagnant, boring and mundane. However, there are irreproducible experiences that go along with life that can never be recreated in a game world, and by playing games for this long every day, you will be sure to miss out on some of them.
After this violent scene, we inserted text that says, “Don’t let the real world pass you by”. Following this is scenic footage of beautiful fog setting in over forests, serene mountains with streams snaking through them, and a scenic country hillside. This is our world, the world people neglect every time they sign into a video game or onto a social networking site. Our desire is for people to open their eyes, leave their computer or television and go outside. There is an entire world of opportunity that is not fueled by shallow human tendencies like faux popularity and violence. Everyday there is an exciting world waiting for you, not through your computer screen, but the window right next to it.
As a group, our aim was for the viewers to be dismayed by the stupidity and pointlessness of such virtual worlds by presenting comical interpretations of them intertwined with eye-opening numbers. The laughter is supposed to be accompanied by amazement, even disillusionment. The mindless content of such games and sites certainly contributes to apathy and personal stupidity. When so many people are embarking on virtual adventures so often, we can only worry about the fate of mankind. In the future, will there even be a natural world? Or will it have been replaced 100% by virtual imitations of the world and its people? Certain science fiction movies appear to think this way, such as the hit movie “The Matrix”. The main idea behind the movie is that the world we think we have been living in this whole time is actually virtual. The real world exists somewhere else outside this one, we are just plugged in as if logged on to Facebook. Throughout the movie the characters deal with the conflict of living a simple life in the matrix, blissfully unaware of the real world, or leaving to confront the horrors and conflicts that await you when you unplug. During a certain scene the traitor of the movie, Cypher, meets with the enemy agents to cut a deal. He sells out his friends in exchange for them letting him live a worry free life in the matrix. He chooses to have his memory erased so that he can pretend that the virtual world is actually the real world. Hopefully technology will never put us in a situation as frightening as the one described in the movie but there is one thing that will always be true: the virtual world can never truly replace our wonderful planet Earth.
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