I cannot say exactly how many times I have heard people complaining to me how much certain things annoy or upset them, like horror movies or certain kinds of reality TV programs or the evening news. Sometimes people even complained to me about how much they hate social media, yet they have every form of it on their phone and will even check it when I am right there in front of them. Hmm.....I have to say that I see a few problems with this kind of behaviour.
I have a real problem with people saying how much certain forms of media disturb them when they actually have a lot of power to control the amounts that will actually filter through to them in the first place. Don't like horror? Cool then don't watch it. Don't like the horrible stories on the news? Well there is an off button that you can click if it is affecting you too much, so use it. Not enjoying social media platforms? Well, just delete your accounts. No-one is holding anyone to ransom on any of these issues, you do not have to watch or participate in any of these forms of media if you find them disturbing, but for some reason people feel like they do have to and it's annoying as hell to me.
Free will people, participate or don't, watch or look away, this isn't the set of the movie A Clockwork Orange, no-one is holding your eyeballs open with toothpicks and insisting that you watch, you actually don't have to watch anything that you don't want to do. You don't ever have to watch things that you don't like and you don't have to subject yourself to things that upset you, and just for the record, you are not going to get martyred for enduring Facebook or Instagram, so just delete your profile if it gives you the shits.
It's normal and fine to not like certain things or to not want to be subjected to continual media propaganda or political hype all of the time, but what I don't get is, why does anyone feel like they need to? Just look away, switch off, choose not to be a cog in the machine if that makes you feel better, just do whatever makes you happy. Just don't look if it offends you, and move on. Whatever you do, just do me a favour and don't keep on thinking that anyone actually cares if you don't like to watch certain things, because they don't care, they really just don't care at all. And trust me when I say that no-one is ever going to think that you're a legend for watching the nightly news or posting on Facebook if you hate it.
And while I am on a rant, can I just say that checking your social media or using your phone when you are with me is never going to garner favour because I really don't like it. I find constant phone check-ins as socially inept and rude as helicopter parents. I am a pre-tech aged person, therefore the allure of devices are limited for me at best. I can still hold really excellent conversations and I do not need to have my phone out on the table when I am around people. My phone is not my security blanket, I functioned for many years without it and guess what? I survived! And I could live without a mobile phone again in a heartbeat because I actually believe that their existence has been detrimental to proper social interaction overall anyway.
Also, I do not care two shits about your social media goings on, I really don't, so please don't include me or subject me to your online fodder when you are around me. I value face to face, non-interrupted conversation when I am with a person. I do not leave my house to look at other people's phone screens, I could stay at home and look at my own if that's what I wanted to do. I spend time with people for their company, not their crafty use of mobile phones. Sure I like the odd meme, who doesn't? But if you are on your phone for more than 10% of our interactions, I'm not going to be enjoying it, just saying.
However, why should you care what I think anyway? Well, truth be told you shouldn't, do whatever makes you happy, my opinions on phone usage are irrelevant because odds are if you are the type of person who would use their phone that often, then we probably wouldn't hang out together anyway.
Let's be honest, the bottom line is that I don't have to endure anything that offends me and neither do you, so if it offends you, I say just look away.
I have a real problem with people saying how much certain forms of media disturb them when they actually have a lot of power to control the amounts that will actually filter through to them in the first place. Don't like horror? Cool then don't watch it. Don't like the horrible stories on the news? Well there is an off button that you can click if it is affecting you too much, so use it. Not enjoying social media platforms? Well, just delete your accounts. No-one is holding anyone to ransom on any of these issues, you do not have to watch or participate in any of these forms of media if you find them disturbing, but for some reason people feel like they do have to and it's annoying as hell to me.
Free will people, participate or don't, watch or look away, this isn't the set of the movie A Clockwork Orange, no-one is holding your eyeballs open with toothpicks and insisting that you watch, you actually don't have to watch anything that you don't want to do. You don't ever have to watch things that you don't like and you don't have to subject yourself to things that upset you, and just for the record, you are not going to get martyred for enduring Facebook or Instagram, so just delete your profile if it gives you the shits.
It's normal and fine to not like certain things or to not want to be subjected to continual media propaganda or political hype all of the time, but what I don't get is, why does anyone feel like they need to? Just look away, switch off, choose not to be a cog in the machine if that makes you feel better, just do whatever makes you happy. Just don't look if it offends you, and move on. Whatever you do, just do me a favour and don't keep on thinking that anyone actually cares if you don't like to watch certain things, because they don't care, they really just don't care at all. And trust me when I say that no-one is ever going to think that you're a legend for watching the nightly news or posting on Facebook if you hate it.
And while I am on a rant, can I just say that checking your social media or using your phone when you are with me is never going to garner favour because I really don't like it. I find constant phone check-ins as socially inept and rude as helicopter parents. I am a pre-tech aged person, therefore the allure of devices are limited for me at best. I can still hold really excellent conversations and I do not need to have my phone out on the table when I am around people. My phone is not my security blanket, I functioned for many years without it and guess what? I survived! And I could live without a mobile phone again in a heartbeat because I actually believe that their existence has been detrimental to proper social interaction overall anyway.
Also, I do not care two shits about your social media goings on, I really don't, so please don't include me or subject me to your online fodder when you are around me. I value face to face, non-interrupted conversation when I am with a person. I do not leave my house to look at other people's phone screens, I could stay at home and look at my own if that's what I wanted to do. I spend time with people for their company, not their crafty use of mobile phones. Sure I like the odd meme, who doesn't? But if you are on your phone for more than 10% of our interactions, I'm not going to be enjoying it, just saying.
However, why should you care what I think anyway? Well, truth be told you shouldn't, do whatever makes you happy, my opinions on phone usage are irrelevant because odds are if you are the type of person who would use their phone that often, then we probably wouldn't hang out together anyway.
Let's be honest, the bottom line is that I don't have to endure anything that offends me and neither do you, so if it offends you, I say just look away.
OBSERVANCE
Release Date: 2015
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 90 mins
It isn't easy to make a film about one character holed up in a dingy apartment and keep viewers interested, but Observance is evidence that it can be done. Directed by Joseph-Sims Dennett, this Australian psychological horror delivers an unsettling and hypnotic leap into the rabbit hole of depression, paranoia and grief that will have you squirming in your seat from it's dark imagery and gross happenings.
Parker, a private investigator that is struggling with his losses, takes on a lucrative surveillance job that requires him to observe a women in an apartment adjacent to the one that his employers have set up for him to use. A series of escalating and bizarre events surround the women, and even the derelict apartment that he is staying in appears to harbour something sinister. Before long, Parker struggles to find sense in the strangeness of it all and the week long job starts to become overwhelming.
Much of the film is rendered with an unsettling green over-tone that makes everything seem sickening and grim and the sparseness and isolation of the main characters in the movie certainly adds to it's overall feeling of doom and gloom. The cinematography here is excellent with loads of extremely good visuals throughout to break the bleak interior of the apartment, which added a much needed extra layer to the overall effect of the movie.
The final act made me gasp in shock and as with all movies that focus on breaking down the mental fortitude of the main characters, I felt empty and disturbed when it ended. There is a strong David Lynch vibe to this movie that cannot be ignored, some parts feel like horror, some parts feel artsy and other parts are just completely undefinable, but the chaos and calamity of it all certainly makes it a very interesting and unsettling viewing.
FINAL SAY: Stop watching.
3 Chilli Peppers
Release Date: 2015
Rating: MA 15+
Running Time: 90 mins
It isn't easy to make a film about one character holed up in a dingy apartment and keep viewers interested, but Observance is evidence that it can be done. Directed by Joseph-Sims Dennett, this Australian psychological horror delivers an unsettling and hypnotic leap into the rabbit hole of depression, paranoia and grief that will have you squirming in your seat from it's dark imagery and gross happenings.
Parker, a private investigator that is struggling with his losses, takes on a lucrative surveillance job that requires him to observe a women in an apartment adjacent to the one that his employers have set up for him to use. A series of escalating and bizarre events surround the women, and even the derelict apartment that he is staying in appears to harbour something sinister. Before long, Parker struggles to find sense in the strangeness of it all and the week long job starts to become overwhelming.
Much of the film is rendered with an unsettling green over-tone that makes everything seem sickening and grim and the sparseness and isolation of the main characters in the movie certainly adds to it's overall feeling of doom and gloom. The cinematography here is excellent with loads of extremely good visuals throughout to break the bleak interior of the apartment, which added a much needed extra layer to the overall effect of the movie.
The final act made me gasp in shock and as with all movies that focus on breaking down the mental fortitude of the main characters, I felt empty and disturbed when it ended. There is a strong David Lynch vibe to this movie that cannot be ignored, some parts feel like horror, some parts feel artsy and other parts are just completely undefinable, but the chaos and calamity of it all certainly makes it a very interesting and unsettling viewing.
FINAL SAY: Stop watching.
3 Chilli Peppers
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