The Age of Video

We are living in the age of video. This present generation is the first which, at least for those living in the first world, may have video records of all of their lives, from their first gurgles in their mothers’ arms to the onset of puberty, from nights out with their friends to when they themselves go forth and multiply. Thanks to the technological advances in cell phones with embedded cameras, we are now all on video.

Previously, it was bad enough that our parents would drag out photo albums for visitors of days out in the park at the age of three, ice cream dribbling down our chins. This current generation will have to endure the indignity of watching themselves throw tantrums and crying fits over lost balloons or dropped lollipops. How could you look your date in the eye after they’ve seen you smear chocolate cake all over your face at your 4th birthday party?

Or most likely, it will help them find their Inner Child. No longer will the words of psychologists seem like so much spin when they can see the issues inherited from their childhood right there on the screen. See? My parents really did love my sister more than me…

For better or for worse we have all made become video stars. Most of us in the first world are filmed on camera a hundred times a day and though closed circuit cameras in banks aren’t likely to make it to the Sundance Film Festival, we nonetheless learn a certain familiarity before the glass eye of the camera.

Familiarity, of course, breeds contempt and there have already been victims.

Across the world there have been stories of teenage girls and guys filmed making love by a clandestine camera. After their lover circulated the video to all their school friends, they had little choice but to leave town. Will we all start checking the room for hidden cameras the next time we stumble home with someone on a one night stand?

Or consider the phenomenon of slapping in the UK. All keyed up with the power of technology, British teenagers took to walking up to strangers at bus stops and slapping them across the face and capturing the whole incident on their mobile phones. Random and gratuitous violence has so much more appeal when you can enjoy it later in the comfort of your own home. Yes, you say, but is it art?

Perhaps we’ll all eventually get used to being on camera and not think anything more of it. In ten years time, video streaming may be so fluid that only eccentrics will make phone calls on an audio only basis. The cosmetics industry, at least, should see a rise in profits as everyone becomes more conscious of their appearance, knowing that no bad hair day will ever be forgotten again.

Probably it’s all for the best. Taking media into our own hands must surely be a positive step forwards, the video camera a new tool in the hands of the masses, equalising the playing field of entertainment, just as the invention of the rifle gave the average peasant a fighting chance once again.

In all likelihood we’ll all soon have our personal profiles online, complete with a video resume – possibly professionally produced. Dating and employment sites will make a video appearance a prerequisite to even being considered and we’ll all take acting clases just to know how to learn the value of poise.

It just seems a long way from Buster Keaton and Chaplin, that’s all.