Assignment 2: iwrite--Amir Abou-Jaoude

Reading this week's prompt, I am reminded of a 1964 film by the Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, called Red Desert. Antonioni apparently conceived of the film while driving to his hometown, Ravenna. En route, he saw that the woods that had surrounded the area in his youth had been replaced by huge smokestacks and factories. For his first color film, he decided to comment on an increasingly industrialized and technological society. The film tells the story of a woman (played by Antonioni muse Monica Vitti) who becomes increasingly alienated in a world filled with technology. As the film continues, however, the audience realizes that it is not the technology that is alienating her, but rather her inability to connect with the people in her life.

I think that it would be foolish to pretend that smartphones, tablets, and computers have not shaped the world that we live in, but I don't believe that the impact of these technologies can be evaluated in a simple "good or bad" way. It is very easy to become nostalgic--to acknowledge that while technology has made our lives easier, it has also been detrimental to our ability to communicate with others. Instead of actually talking to a person, we send them a text or an e-mail. If only we had been alive twenty years ago, we would have been able to connect with the people around us.

I believe that this view is very naive, because it overlooks what real communication is. Communication is not just talking to someone, but being able to listen, understand, and connect with others. A face-to-face conversation, then, is not always true communication. When speaking to someone in person, we can talk about the weather, math homework, or weekend plans. This is not communication. This is small talk. It is also possible to lie to person during a face-to-face conversation. Non-technological communication does not always entail honesty. Maybe technology has made it easier to evade having honest discussions, but those conversations are difficult to have in the first place. In the future, with or without technology, it will still be challenging to communicate meaningfully.

In my opinion, technology does not change the relationships we have with each other, because a powerful connection with another person and true communication transcend all the texts in the world. Ultimately, technology can be both a help and a hindrance. If technology is used to avoid conversation and to talk only on a superficial level with a person, then it can be harmful. Still, if these new inventions are used to further real communication and connection with others, then they can be beneficial, and technology can be a powerful agent of expression. As a film lover, I am reminded of the movies. Cameras, projectors, and film stocks are technologies that are just over a hundred years old. Yet, throughout the history of cinema as an art form, directors have been able to communicate personal and powerful visions on strips of celluloid. While Red Desert may be about people living in a technological society that cannot connect with each other, Antonioni, utilizing technology himself, was able to communicate powerfully with his audience.