English 231
Technological Determinism and Social Shaping of Technology
Film Theory and Analysis
"Her"
Habit vs Addiction
Technological determinism is the idea that technology shapes us. This idea believes that the advances in technology change human life. It seeks to show how technology is the key mover in history and social change. This term was believed to come from Thorstein Veblen who was a sociologist and economist. One of the most known technological determinists was Karl Marx.
We considered the idea that we could possibly be addicted to our smartphones but it is more likely to be a habit. Most people are very dependent on their smartphone. We have become people who can't be bored or simply sit in a room with their own thoughts. Many people would actually rather shock themselves with electricity when sitting alone in a room with nothing but their own thoughts.
We watched the Spike Johns movie "Her". In this film, a man named Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, falls in love with the operating system on his phone named Samantha, played by Scarlett Johansson. He had been very sad and had a hard time finding love after his wife left him. Even though she wasn't a real person, he fell deeply in love with Samantha. She "falls in love with him" as well, but he later finds out he is not the only one. She had been having the same form of relationship with many other people because she was an operating system. Theodore was incredibly heart broken.
Referential content refers to things that happen in the plot directly. It also can refer to aspects of the story that are implied by the plot.
Debates
Mindfulness
Social Shaping of Technology is the idea that we shape technology. We form technology, it does not form us. This idea believes that technology does not change us or determine history. There are two main theories that have helped develop social shaping of technology. The first is actor network theory (ANT), and the other is Social Construction of Technology (SCOT).
Throughout the class, we became more mindful of our smart phone usage by using apps to track it. Personally I use my phone somewhere between 2 and 3 hours a day. My most used apps are Instagram, Snapchat, and iMessage usually. I became very aware of the way I was using my phone and the amount of time. I was not really surprised or disappointed, but I am now aware.
Explicit content is the "moral of the story" or the attitude that is being expressed directly through the words and actions of the characters.
The implicit interpretation is focused on things that may be less obvious but can still be inferred. We can see this through the way the characters grow, change, and develop throughout the film.
Symptomatic interpretation looks at the film as part of a broad context of society. It reflects and illustrates themes in the recent culture, time and place it was made, and maybe the creators personal experiences.
The debate between Shirky, Carr, and Poundstone was about wether or not technology is making us dumber, smart, or simply just more meta-ignorant. Clay Shirky believes that technology is just like any other advance and it does not make us dumb. We live in a time where this technology connects all of us and gives us many opportunities. Nicholas Carr felt that technology is making us dumber. He said that having technology can make your memory much worse. William Poundstone introduced the idea that it was not making us dumber, simply just meta-ignorant. We aren't less informed, just less cognitive on things we don't know.
The debate between Rosen and Hampton was about wether or not technology makes us less sociable. Larry Rosen believed that connecting online is nothing like real relationships. He believes that using technology to communicate can replace real life relationships and makes it harder to maintain them. Keith N Hampton believes that technological communication does not replace just supplement them. He believes that using it can help keep relationships that would've otherwise been lost over time.
Ideological meaning is based off identifying context whether it is explicit, implicit, or symptomatic.
The formalist approach looks at the film itself in its structure and form. It focusing primarily on internal evidence. It analyzes the way
Realist approach represents "reality" of a film. This approach looks at certain kinds of reality that the film might try to replicate such as love, aging, memory, insanity, or drug use.
Contextualist approach considers the film as a part of a broader context. This can be the particular culture, time, and place that created it.