A 3-D BOOST!

A Note from Another Dimension 

Detroit Free Press 04/04/2010, Page A22

Welcome to the virtual non-lives of young people By CHLOE SMILEY “Look!” my young friend Rebecca exclaimed, “I’ve got glasses that make everything look 3D! How sweet is that?” I paused for a second, and then asked her to take off the glasses. Rebecca complied. I asked that she look around. Rebecca did. “Do you notice anything?” I inquired. She shook her head. “Rebecca, dear, the whole world is in 3D. I am a three dimensional person. Those ripoff glasses that cost you two payments of $19.99 plus shipping and handling are three dimensional,” I said, taking a step back to miss the falling debris after her cranium explosion. While this incident might have left Rebecca picking up her shell-shocked brain, it left an even more lasting impression on me. This new generation has not grown up with a real childhood, but a virtual one. It is a generation that would rather see the movie or play the videogame than actually experience real life. This generation has grown up around the idea that “playing” involves sitting or lying down while your eyes track movements on a screen and your brain turns into a bowl of lumpy oatmeal. If this generation comprises the leaders of tomorrow, I am genuinely frightened. I gathered firsthand experience dealing with this apathetic age group as I baby-sat my neighbor. Upon arriving at the house, I was greeted with the sight of a 12-year-old watching the Food Channel. Once the show ended, I told her that I had some ideas for the evening. I went for my best activity: cookie making. The dismissive “Nah, I don’t want to” almost broke my baby-sitter’s heart. However, when I peeked into her room and saw her playing “Cooking Mama,” I almost laughed out loud. She would prefer moving a mouse around with an end product of completing a level than actually cooking and having homemade chocolate chip cookies. The fact that anything was picked over chocolate chip cookies clearly demonstrates that priorities are not right in this generation. While they have no practical skills to their name, they have successively completed all 50 levels of “Cooking Mama.” I’m not going to exclude adults from this obsession with living in the virtual world. For many adults, TV sets must be bigger and better and bolder so that entire rooms are dedicated to a single screen, and all who enter must pay homage to its splendor by fixing their eyes upon it. There must be surround sound so it feels as if you are actually there. That way it’s too loud for any real communication to interrupt the show. And don’t forget HD. Norm Samat, the director of ABC’s “Monday Night Football” HDTV feed, said, “You almost get into a trance looking at HDTV pictures, because you really see more.” In the same article, it is stated: “When watching TV on a 16:9 screen, you use your peripheral vision, which truly makes you feel like you are a part of the program.” Being part of a program is great, but why don’t you get up and actually live? If you are looking for drama, listen in on a group of four or more girls. If comedy is your thing, go to any public place and watch awkward adolescents try to be cool. It’s pretty darn funny. There are videogames in which you can pretend to be a ballerina — go take a dance class. You can pretend to be a chef — go to the kitchen and actually cook. I’ve seen games in which you can pretend to baby-sit, be a gymnast, a teacher, etc. — go do those things! Then there’s the father of them all: th e much beloved Sims games. In these games, you can pretend that you have a life. Which, if you are playing the game, you don’t have one or at least aren’t really living it. Before you know it, there will be games in which you pretend to go to school, pretend to graduate, pretend to go to college,pretend to get a degree, and then pretend you haven’t wasted your entire life. | CHLOE SMILEY, 16, IS A JUNIOR AT CLARKSTON HIGH SCHOOL. THE FACT THAT ANYTHING WAS PICKED OVER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES CLEARLY DEMONSTRATES THAT PRIORITIES ARE NOT RIGHT IN THIS GENERATION.