An Ode to the Unreal

The nature of film is to enchant. Is it a keen and desperate tool to beguile and communicate. Of course, that is a problematic pairing. While communicating, it has the propensity to beguile. We seem most receptive to the messages if we are made to watch, rather than read. In essence, then, it shapes opinions and discourages free thought. To be sure, this is a subtle manipulation — something akin to a kind of shadow play.

We think nothing of framing conversations in terms of a movie. Moreover, we draw heavily on a shared cinematic subtext, enabling the closest of chums to pepper ad hoc portions of film dialogue throughout their conversation, regardless of topic. This line of thinking is nothing new, of course. The subtle effects of cinematic language are so endemic we hardly notice them anymore. There is a strong case for the emergence of a kind of non-sequitor vernacular, where anything can be said and everything understood.

Why settle for the florescent-lit, pock-marked “real” world when you can interact with a professionally lit, beautifully cast other world? Of course the question is rhetorical, but we seem set, as a species, on a crash course with reality. What will the future hold in store for us? Something virtual. Of course, with the ascendancy of the cinematic thought structure there is an ever-increasing desire to transcend mere reality and jump into something a bit more exciting.

What will the future hold? Even now, the signs of pushing the bounds of reality are firmly entrenched. As Web 3.0 and HTML5 stand poised to deliver a faster, more seamless Internet, companies like Yoostar and the like are propagating new ways for us to escape. To be sure, with the proper equipment it will be more and more possible to escape the bounds of this humble reality, indeed, this planet. But I digress.

The future of home entertainment, not to put too fine a point on it, will be the promise of escaping the confines of your home. Presently, interactive game consoles and streaming videos are the baby steps towards total, virtual bliss. The promise of not only gaming a console, but participating in an actual (forgive the pun) film will be too tempting to deny. The future, it seems, will be the unreal.

The future of entertainment will be, in fact, you. Thanks to innovators like Yoostar, the need for celebrities and actors alike may fall by the wayside.