Rediscovering the Joy of the Hunt
I can remember a time when life felt pretty simple, at least from the perspective of a five or six-year-old boy. Back then, the world seemed so vast, so full of endless possibilities, untainted by the inevitable troubles we all face as we start to grow up. I have fond memories of those younger years, the curiosity and mystery that defined my childhood as I tried to find my place in the world. Like others, many of my happiest memories are from those early years—discovering new things, places, hobbies, and media, getting into trouble along the way but always learning, growing, and having fun.
Some of the best times I had when I was young were from discovering all sorts of amazing and relatively unknown, at least unknown to me, media and animation, and just going with the flow and giving it a chance. The joy of sneaking out into the living room to channel surf late at night while everyone else was soundly asleep was unlike anything else, the sheer excitement of what I might uncover that evening. This is how I stumbled upon gems like the HBO Spawn series, the Dead Leaves anime, Cyber City Oedo 808, and countless other forms of media I probably should not have been privy to at the time, but that left a lasting impression on me all the same. Sometimes it was like unearthing buried treasure; other times less so, but no matter which, it was always fun and exciting, an adventure to be sure.
Cyber City Oedo 808, © 1990 Madhouse Studios/Discotek Media
We now live in an age where everything is at our literal fingertips, an age of millennial media consumption. If we want to know something, our natural instinct is to "just Google it," or summon our AI with phrases like, "Hey Siri.” This convenience, while undeniably useful, has stripped away some of the mystery and joy that came with finding and just simply enjoying things on our own terms. As great as it is to have access to information about any TV show or movie at any time, I think it sometimes spoils the excitement and satisfaction we get when we go in blind. It's like when planning out your itinerary for a vacation, if you end up planning every second of it—things start to get a little mundane and boring.
The unknown allows us to chart our own course through murky waters and allows us to discover things for ourselves and feel and think all on our own, without all the input and thoughts that come from the collective voice of the internet there to color our perceptions and opinions. Many times unintentionally, if we go in after reading countless reviews or seeing people talk about something on social media, we begin forming opinions prematurely, even before we’ve experienced it firsthand ourselves, we become influenced by everyone else’s critiques, except our own. By the time we actually sit down to enjoy the entertainment, it loses much of its impact.
Looking Back with Nostalgia
In the past, a lot of the mystery and satisfaction we experienced came from discovering things on our own—TV shows, movies, games—something almost unheard of in this age of technology and online communication. Anything we could ever want to know now, is right there for us, whenever we want it, especially when it comes to entertainment. Hear me out though: I would argue that whether something is subjectively good or bad, when you discover and consume entertainment on your own, without all the noise and chatter that comes through the internet, you’ll walk away with a much more satisfied feeling than going in, regardless of whether it was enjoyable or not.
Blockbuster, © 2013 CNET
I already briefly talked about how my guilty pleasure was discovering all kinds of things I shouldn’t have been aware of through late-night television, but like many others, I also fondly remember a different way we would come to discover the unknown. Like others my age, I remember waiting impatiently for the weekend to come so we could go down to our local Blockbuster, sometimes Hollywood Video too, and browse through what seemed like a near-infinite supply of media, movies, and video games. Video games, movies, this was our chance to find something to entertain us all weekend long, and whether we found something amazing or not, we made due with our choices and enjoyed every second of it. This was long before the advent of streaming services, where now we can instantly switch to something else if we don’t like what we see in the first five minutes. Back then if we rented something that sucked, it was tough luck for us, we either made the best of it or threw the tape or game to the side and ended up playing outside the rest of the weekend, making fun of our poor decision the rest of the time.
I remember once renting a VHS tape from Blockbuster of a strange-looking cartoon called “Dragon Ball.” It featured a pig in clothes transforming into different things and kidnapping women to do his chores—a bizarre yet fascinating introduction to what would become a cultural phenomenon. At the time though, it was just some weirdly titled cartoon with a strangely intriguing VHS cover, but the thrill and overall entertainment came from never knowing what we were going to find, not usually the content itself. The excitement was in the uncertainty—the gamble and the pure, unfiltered experience of discovering something new.
The Adventure We Forgot
Today, the thrill of discovery has been significantly diminished by the convenience and benefits the internet and vast communication network offers us. With just a few clicks, anyone can look up anything they want, any film or television show, and know instantly if it’s something that may appeal to them. Reviews, trailers, critical analyses, and video essays abound, all offering detailed insights and opinions. You don’t even need to really watch the movies or play the games anymore; you can digest the entire plot of something in a bite-sized format, saving time you would have otherwise wasted being entertained so you can do, “other things”, I guess? Almost seems like people are too busy now and moving so fast, myself included, that they don’t actually have time to slow down and actually enjoy something, they need to consume it as fast as possible so they can move on to the next thing.
Diminishing Attention Spans, © 2018 griffonwebstudios.com
This is partially due to our diminishing attention spans that consuming shorter-formed content has afforded us, why watch a three-hour masterpiece that gives us maybe one long drawn-out hit of dopamine, when we can watch dozens of shorter 8-minute videos in that period, all offering the same rush we would otherwise only get once. As I already mentioned, why actually spend the time to watch or play something when we can get the cliff notes version in 15 minutes? It’s like when in high school or middle school, we’d get assigned a book report, who wants to actually spend the time to read something when we can have fun and hang out the entire weekend and then read the summarized version and quickly knock out the report on Sunday. I got to have my fun, the teacher got to have her report, and everybody wins, except I realize now, I ended up missing out the experience of actually reading the book, it wasn’t so much about the destination, but the journey as they say, that’s where the entertainment and actual enriching portion of something comes from, not the finish line.
My goal with this blog post isn’t to throw shade at influencers or YouTubers—there are a lot of incredibly talented content creators out there who make really good content. I myself indulge in and enjoy plenty of these online reviews and deep-dive videos daily. My point is to say, that we don’t need to watch a deep dive or look up all the reviews and info about something every single time though. Sometimes it’s ok to go in with little to no information, and still have a pretty great experience, regardless of the quality of the content.
As convenient as technology and communication have become, there’s something to be said about living in a world where we didn’t have everything we needed or wanted at our fingertips. There was a certain charm and joy in consuming media you knew nothing about. The rapid dissemination of information across the internet through social media, blog posts, and deep dives quickly dispels any air of mystery or excitement that may have previously existed when it comes to entertainment, and kind of removes much of the joy we once derived from exploring and discovering things on our own. The digital world we now live in has absolutely enhanced our ability to connect and share information, but it’s also introduced a certain level of detachment. Things somehow almost feel less personal than they ever have, conversations are often reduced to nothing but impersonal text messages, social media interactions, and fleeting digital exchanges. The depth and authenticity of face-to-face communication and consumption of media—movies, games, and books have been somewhat eroded by the convenience of these virtual connections.
Before the internet became an absolute necessity, part of the joy came from going into something with as little information as possible and figuring things out on your own, experiencing things firsthand without all the complications, politics, and opinions that come with the net as we know it today. The entertainment came not from the actual entertainment itself, but from the thrill of the hunt to find great content, the camaraderie of shared secrets on the playground or at the water cooler, and the hope of uncovering something extraordinary along the way!
Finding Joy in Both Worlds
I’m sure every generation feels the same way—they look back and think how things were simpler and better, “back then”. We all think things were better when we were younger, viewing the past through rose-tinted glasses and wondering why we had to grow up. There’s nothing wrong with this; it’s a natural part of the human experience. Some things are never as good as we remember them, while others probably are better. Maybe this is what I’m doing here, but my intention was never to paint the past as better than the present. It was simply to say, go in blind every once in a while, you don’t need to know every little detail or what the rest of society thinks about every movie or show out there.
Technology and communication have fundamentally changed the way we interact with each other, and how we consume entertainment as a whole, but they have also brought new opportunities and conveniences into our lives. Let's appreciate the advancements the world now offers us while also cherishing the simplicity and mystery the past gave us.
Enjoy all the social media platforms you want, have fun, and laugh as your favorite YouTuber or influencer roasts whatever the topic of the week is. Just don’t forget to unplug every once in a while and enjoy the excitement and mystery that the non-connected world around you also has to offer. Embrace it, just don’t end up losing yourself in it, venture out and seek new and exciting things to watch and play on your own, without the guidance of the net. Form your own thoughts and opinions on your own terms, who knows, you might end up finding you like things you otherwise may never have given a chance, and just possibly, have a bit of fun on the way!
Comments