“Strange Thing Happens”
Scene: Walking along a nondescript street in New York City; a woman is passing out fliers…I ignore her…I continue looking down at my phone…fingers typing away…music blasting from my iPod. I stop suddenly in my tracks…I almost walked into a light pole. I walk into a corner store…buy a bottle of water…swipe my debit card and keep moving….iPod still in my ears…fingers still texting away. I have walked16 city blocks and bought a bottle of water and not once have I spoken to or even acknowledged anyone’s presence. End Scene.
Sound like a portion of a screenplay? The above “scene” describes a typically Saturday morning for me and tons of other New Yorkers. Living in New York City one, at first, is enamored by the lights, the energy, the millions (it seems at least) of people walking the streets at any given time on any given day. But, the longer you live here, the longer one acclimates to a New York lifestyle, one begins to realize how truly alone and empty New York actually is. But, what makes this bustling city seem desolate? I would argue that, amongst other things, this lack of social contact is due to the age of technology.
The Pew Research Center recently released a study noting that texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends with one half of teen texters sending 50 or more texts a day. This is the youth of today; the youth of New York, this is the state of our future.
Writers Martin Toro and Alexander Khudokon explore this social disconnection in their upcoming film: “Strange Thing Happens.” The film, beginning in black and white and slowly progressing frame by frame into saturated color, starts with a young man walking through a massive building searching for someone. We are not sure who he is searching for or why but, we are brought along for the desperate search. What is interesting about this scavenger hunt is that this male character, seemingly searching for personal and social interaction with someone, simultaneously shuns those that attempt to engage him. Watching this scene made me think of texting and the other ubiquitous forms of social media.
When we post status messages on our Facebook pages or send out random messages via Twitter, what are we yearning for exactly? What are we expecting? I believe that we are hoping for a comment back, a like button hit, a reply @. But if it is instant feedback is what we desire when we utilize social media, would it not be more instant if we picked up the phone and called a friend (assuming of course they answer their phone) or meet a friend for coffee (or cocktails for the more city savvy) Our search for instant communication, our quest for constant social interaction forces us to shun the most instant and gratifying form of communication: face to face interaction.
This phenomena or slight obsession with social media and its effects on true social interaction is does not lay solely in my head or in the frames of “Strange Thing Happens.” The New York Time’s reports that, with the prevalent use of technology as the primary form of social contact, today’s youths may be missing out on experiences that help them develop empathy, understand emotional nuances and read social cues like facial expressions and body language.
Watch this teaser clip of “Strange Thing Happens” and note the atmosphere. Aside from the perfect mixture of music, movement, and lighting, notice the people in the background. They are not speaking…not even looking at each other. Is it because they have all grown up in the age of Facebook and Twitter and have forgotten what it means to socially interact? Ask yourselves while watching this teaser…is this strange thing bound to happen…is this strange thing our new New York?
Strange Thing Happens a film dedicated to Firasz from Alexander Khudokon on Vimeo.
