Are political events and large-scale disasters now the only form of collective experience?

[constant escape]

The Situation could be more of a stimulant.

You mean more stimulating a title than"spectacle"?

 

[WashYourHands]

Let me consult Debord’s glossary.....I think smoking is involved

 

[constant escape]

Let me consult Debord’s glossary.....I think smoking is involved

Already taken care of my end.

 

[version]

Already taken care of my end.

Is that you, Corpsey?

 

[constant escape]

...I don't think so.

 

[boxedjoy]

They're weirdo recluses

yeah next time just @ me please. I haven't seen any Marvel movies, they don't seem like something I would enjoy, the insularity of the universe created around them feels too deep and self-reverential even before you factor in that movies aren't really a thing I've done.

 

[boxedjoy]

I think in purely practical terms the days of "collective experience" are over for two reasons:

a) the expectation that society operates on a rolling, 24/7/365 basis. I missed the royal weddings because I was working and my colleagues and I had to go back to watch it to keep up with cultural conversations. I didn't see any of the inauguration yesterday because I was at work. I don't have time to keep plugged in with the stuff I like and the stuff that's important and live a life full of work and social committments. So it's really easy to miss stuff. I've seen the Bernie-in-mittens memes but I couldn't tell you anything about what was said or done yesterday.

b) audience fragmentation. Back in the 90s there were four TV channels and unless you paid a premium cable/satellite package that was it. So if you were sat in the house you had limited options. If you wanted to find out the local news you had to sit through the 30-min package which dealt with everything. Now you can choose your source in an active way and ignore the information (and perspectives) that don't interest you. This isn't completely new (ie people buying a newspaper to reflect their views) but in 2021 it is certainly easier to eschew that which doesn't seem appealing.

 

[boxedjoy]

yeah next time just @ me please. I haven't seen any Marvel movies, they don't seem like something I would enjoy, the insularity of the universe created around them feels too deep and self-reverential even before you factor in that movies aren't really a thing I've done.

also for what it's worth I think RuPaul's Drag Race, which I really adored in the early days, has also done this - you can't just be a casual fan and pick up the plotlines from one self-contained episode, everything is so meta and it becomes exhausting to participate in any level of fandom

 

[version]

You see that with sport too. It's nonstop and doesn't even require games to be played. There's just as much drama, sometimes more, off the court/pitch as on it.

 

[yyaldrin]

I think in purely practical terms the days of "collective experience" are over for two reasons:

a) the expectation that society operates on a rolling, 24/7/365 basis. I missed the royal weddings because I was working and my colleagues and I had to go back to watch it to keep up with cultural conversations. I didn't see any of the inauguration yesterday because I was at work. I don't have time to keep plugged in with the stuff I like and the stuff that's important and live a life full of work and social committments. So it's really easy to miss stuff. I've seen the Bernie-in-mittens memes but I couldn't tell you anything about what was said or done yesterday.

b) audience fragmentation. Back in the 90s there were four TV channels and unless you paid a premium cable/satellite package that was it. So if you were sat in the house you had limited options. If you wanted to find out the local news you had to sit through the 30-min package which dealt with everything. Now you can choose your source in an active way and ignore the information (and perspectives) that don't interest you. This isn't completely new (ie people buying a newspaper to reflect their views) but in 2021 it is certainly easier to eschew that which doesn't seem appealing.

on the other hand, some of the really big netflix shows were some sort of collective experience. i remember getting really fed up by everybody talking about game of thrones when that was on some years ago.

 

[version]

on the other hand, some of the really big netflix shows were some sort of collective experience. i remember getting really fed up by everybody talking about game of thrones when that was on some years ago.

That was HBO, not Netflix. It's also the one referred to as the last of the "water-cooler shows", i.e. the last show more or less everyone was watching.

Game of Thrones May Be the Last True Water-Cooler Show. Is That Such a Bad Thing?

As Game of Thrones comes to end, there may not be another show we all watch together. Is that a bad thing?

time.com

 

[luka]

Last One till the Next One.

 

[version]

Maybe, but the landscape's changing. Trump was arguably the successor to GoT.

 

[boxedjoy]

I've managed to not see any GoT or that thing with the tiger murderers - not through active avoidance, just inertia and scheduling

 

[WashYourHands]

Count your blessings.

 

[version]

We haven't really even been collectively experiencing the pandemic tbh. Someone who thinks it's all a big hoax is having a completely different experience to someone who thinks it's genuine.