The interwebz have changed our world as everyone knows at this point. Within it's labyrinthine depths, the internet has spawned a new digital universe that is parallel to (and entwined with) the physical one we inhabit. Entire cultures and subcultures have sprung up in this homegrown alien landscape. Their raw energies have breached our own culture and changed the face of entertainment, politics, socialization, and... grammar. I grit my teeth here with such intensity that Jared Leto can hear it from across the room.
Everyone knows about the powerhouses. Google. Youtube. Facebook. These are the phenomena with mass equivalent to an PHP moon. Even in the real world we can feel her server side processes dynamically altering the HTML tides of our lives. My, that was an unwieldy analogy.
Something that fascinates me is a single facet of the youtube effect. Namely what I see as the unintentional creation of a new new wave. A (very) brief history: in the late 1950's through the 1960's a maverick group of french filmmakers and critics formed theories and films that flew in the face of convention. These iconoclastic auteurs questioned everything that had come before essentially tore down the ruling class of the filmmaking world.
Today we can watch dark jedi Tom Cruise killing Oprah.
The old gods of cinema are no longer sacred thanks to a new generation that has grown up with cameras in their phones and wifi connections. We have a veritable army of kids with film studios in their laptops. They are untrained, uneducated masses with power, and they play without restraint in a chaotic digital landscape.
15 years ago King Leonidas would have inspired awe and fear in the populous. Today he break dances in a bear suit and guns down Chunk with a tommy gun. Or is that Captain Picard? Then again, everyone seems to want a piece of Chunk, even Jack Bauer.
Youtube new wave. Where you can watch Korben Dallas fight Neo. Neo fight Robocop. Robocop fight The Terminator. You can watch Simon Pegg gun down Charlize Theron (and just about everyone else), or, if you're among our female viewership, you can watch the touching story. of two star-crossed lovers. Didn't notice those homoerotic undertones the first time you watched Back To The Future, did you?
Hitler raves about his stolen car. Obama gangster raps (badly), and badgers dance to techno raves of "don't taze me bro" and Christian Bale cursing out his DP. Both of those albums would come with the parental warning sticker for sure.
Sure, it's mindless entertainment. Internet memes that will be remembered only by the truly hardcore geeks. To me though, it has the spirit of irreverence that I find when watching À Bout De Souffle. These people are taking the movie icons of a generation and turning them into unwitting puppets. The parts of a film that used to make you hold your breath without realizing it are reduced to 2 minutes worth of comedy on your lunch break.
It's part of something much larger for sure. This is a transition to the future, but I love what it is right now. Youtube new wave.
