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Blocking
“There is war in Libya,” my 10-year-old son
says from the back seat of the car. “And this
evil bloke, uh … this Gaddafi who is in the
paper wants to stay the boss and shoots at his
own people.” It is quiet for a moment, then he
continues: “But most Dutch people got away.” “So?”
I say. “So, nothing,” he says and alerts his
sister to a ‘cool cyclist doing a wheelie’.
Later that morning I think about this as I drink
a cup of coffee. About the kids who know
everything. Via television, the paper, but
especially via social media. On Hyves any
subject can turn into a hype in mere minutes.
And ‘this bloke’ they don’t really take serious.
They make and send short videos that usually
show the lead players in compromising positions.
Gaddafi and humour: an odd couple. But with this
almost light-hearted way of looking, kids appear
to lay a sort of filter over the world. Maybe
because they don’t want to let it fully
penetrate, maybe because they are so engulfed
with information. So they apply selective
perception to be able to handle it all.
I notice that I increasingly do this too.
Shutting off a channel. If Twitter clutters up
with messages about a subject that doesn’t
absorb me at a given moment, then I block all
tweets that relate to it. Hashtag messages about
certain programmes can then be pretty irritating.
Farmer Wants a Wife (#bzv), for example: I could
follow it almost literally without television
via Twitter. Interesting? Easy? Or intrusive
instead? Depending on your mood and what you are
doing, you let the information come to you or
you block it off. Even ‘Gaddafi’ I saw come by
in a long flow of messages. I was being
interviewed just then about the launch of my two
books, so I let the info float instead. Was
something going on in Libya? But what? Later.
The day took flight, and I had no chance to
follow the news properly. It stayed fragmented.
Only late that evening, after getting home from
a meeting and opening my laptop, was I able to
read the events in chronological sequence. A
drink within reach, feet on the table! The news
all customised, at the moment that I choose.
But what lingered was the tone and appearance of
Muammar Gaddafi, his uncompromising look and
violent gestures. The subtitling could have been
left out. The news coverage in fact too. The man
who prefers to surround himself with stunning
female bodyguards, who puts up a tent even in
the garden of his Paris hotel, who fans himself
with cool air with a palm leaf, dictates his
message to the world in pure body language.
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Written on 23 February 2011 |
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