As I explored further into Huxley's book,
Brave New World, I began to notice many parallels between that world and ours. The most apparent one was that the people in
Brave New World shield themselves from reality like we do. In their universe, they do this by taking doses of the drug, soma. Soma is a hallucinogenic that temporarily makes the user happy no matter what the situation is. In
Brave New World, they turn to soma when ever they feel the slightest bit uncomfortable or sad. One of their repeated chants in the book is "a gramme is better than a damn", which is what they live by. I find this similar to the act of selfie taking in our world today.
Have you ever wondered why we see millions of smiling faces online when there is a great chance each person wasn't happy when they took their selfie? Selfies, in my opinion, are just a way to distract whats really going on in someone's life. Like soma, selfies hide the true feelings of the user. Why do you think we say "say cheese" before pictures? Why do we feel the need to smile in them even if we aren't happy?
-- Ayah League --
Ayah, this is an interesting comparison. I understand your point about selfies being a form of hiding a person's true feelings; however, I believe selfies can also be used to boost a person's mood. When someone is feeling upset, the simple act of putting on a smile can positively affect their emotions. Posting a smiling selfie despite feeling unhappy could be a way for a person to garner support. Family members and friends might comment on their post which could possibly make them feel less isolated within their own emotions. Of course, they could easily skip the middle man and just text their relatives for comfort. Maybe they have Cricket Wireless, and their phone service is unreliable. I'm not sure if your question about saying "cheese" was literal, but I believe saying "cheese" is so our mouths will stretch into a smile for photos.
ReplyDeleteYeah I see your point about boosting self esteem. For the question about saying cheese, it is to make us smile, but the question wasn't literal. It was more of a, "Why is 'say cheese' the go to phrase, what if I don't want to smile?" type question.
DeleteThe comparison you make is very interesting and has really brought some good insight on the subject. In response to your question, I think we often smile because most people want to remember happy memories -- not the ones filled with sadness or anger. With a picture or selfie, we are able to capture moments in life. Most people like to capture happy moments, so they "say cheese" which makes people look like their smiling so they can then capture the happy moment (even if it may not have been happy for the person smiling in it).
ReplyDelete"Why do we feel the need to smile?"
ReplyDeleteIt is said that people who are feeling down or is hurt feels better when they smile. Also in personal experience it does increase someones mood. It doesn't completely change your mood but it definitely makes you feel just a little better than what you were.
I agree with Emma on this because the comparison you made is something I would've never thought to be a parallel between the book and our society and it's very interesting. I think like Tricia said, it puts us in a better mood. It makes you feel better in that moment that you take the selfie, and gives you that boost of confidence for the moment.
ReplyDelete