Distraction Vs. Concentration
May 1st, 2008 Mhiggin6
In class today we discussed the concepts of distraction and concentration when it comes to film and video games. In the reading there was a quote that asserted that individuals who study and contemplate art are somehow on a higher level than those who allow themselves to be entertained by film. This struck a chord with me, because this same quote was in a reading that I had to do for Comm302, a mass media class. In that reading, the author went a bit further by suggesting that the MTV generation is on a lower intellectual plane, because instead of interpreting music they allow themselves to be told the message through a music video.
I think that in these cases arguments can be made either way. Listening to music and watching a music video, or looking at art and then watching a movie, are both cases where there is a great deal of contrast. With video games, I think that the line is a little bit more fuzzy. In more abstract games, like Tetris, there is very little that you have to do and they are ‘distracting’ in nature. They still require a certain amount of attention and concentration on the part of the player in order to be considered ‘games’ however. RPGs present a whole new realm of gaming that allows players to assume a different persona, and make decisions that allow gamers to influence the outcome of the game.
When playing a video game you have to make decisions and you often assume a role. You are not passively watching a movie or a music video. You have to interact with the media. Many of the activities that can be performed during the games are not possible to perform in real life. They allow you to assume a new role.
In the case of video games, I have to say that a great deal concentration must be applied to enjoy the distraction.
Entry Filed under: Game Log
1 Comment
1. sgrimes | May 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 am
In my experience, each generation thinks that their successors are more brutish and less intellectual, lacking in the literary refinement and discriminating taste necessary to truly be seen as fine critics and great stewards of the sciences. If this actually held true, we should all be drooling idiots who can’t manage to put their pants on one leg at a time, much less produce brilliant movies like Memento and Crash, or Large Hadron Colliders.So while I do find much of the content on MTV rather vapid and unstimulating, I can’t bring myself to bash the techniques used. Manic pacing and jump cuts do lend sort of an attention deficit feel to most videos, but I don’t think that’s necessarily spelling out the meaning of the music–that’s still open to the interpretation of the viewer. Suggesting that music is cheapened by video is like suggesting that books are cheapened by being recorded on tape–just because there’s an additional media layer doesn’t cause irrevocable harm to the art.I don’t find any sort of disconnect between concentration and distraction. I often concentrate very hard on staying distracted (which is probably why I’m doing this so late, but that’s beside the point). Really, any sort of distraction requires a degree of imagination, and imagination inherently implies concentration–if you want to have any fun with it, that is. All entertainment is distracting, but it still requires a lot of concentration to get anything out of it. Very rarely is media designed solely to titillate the basest impulses; even pornography has some plot or context to it. Video games, while a unique medium for a variety of reasons, are not so far removed from other media as people might suggest.