• Primary Blog Question
  • When compared, the two film clips help illuminate a key question for this course: How has our relationship to technology changed over time?
• Secondary Blog Questions
  • How has film technology changed?
  • How have we changed as film viewers?
  • How has our understanding of time evolved?
  • How does fiction/science fiction impact our relationship to technology?

Our relationship to technology has become one of dependence.  Noting in the first film, the main character arrives to the dinner ready to share with his colleagues of things that he has seen.  He is not as dependent on technology to relay that information to them and there is still an atmosphere of collegiality and conversation.  In the second film, the character has to deal with a dilemma and begins to, in the fashion of Bill Murray’s “Groundhog’s Day,” relive his experiences by making very small changes within the fabric of time.  He comes to the revelation that he cannot change the unfortunate circumstances to his situation in the past, so he travels to the future.  Our society has become so dependent on technology and how we can improve technology that we don’t take the time to enjoy what we currently have.  I have seen businesses and even people shut down because the “system is down” or “my computer is running slowly today”  Technology and humans within society have entered into a marriage that is truly “’til death do us part…”  It is sad that our real human to human marriages cannot last this long.

Film technology has changed in many ways between the two movies.  The use of special effects, Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), and even methods of cinematography have enhanced our movie going experience.  These areas have to change because society has changed.  As singer/songwriter India Irie sings, “The only thing constant in the world is change…”

As film viewers and movie goers, we have become much more analytical in our viewing because so many films rely on complex storylines, multi-layered characters, and nearly impossible situations.  Our brains tend to work overtime attempting to “figure out” what is going to happen next and how the characters are going to get themselves out of the situation given they particular flaws or deep rooted insecurities related to past situations.

Our understanding of time has changed as well – in that we don’t tend to think about it as much.  Because many people live in the moment, rarely do many people think about what happened in the past and how that affects what will happen in the future.  Society is aware of the concept of time, but thinking about time travel and even what people will do tomorrow is lost.

Science fiction and fiction give us a glimpse into what could be.  It is awesome to watch and think about and acts as a muse for scientists, engineers and researchers to explore the possibilities.

DM