Category B Prompt B
Memes for Feed
Gabrielle Scott
Essentially, the chip that has been implanted in the brains of the characters in the book are computers. Whenever they walk into a store, information is readily available to them. They can chat via their chips, everyone can pick up an individual's feed, they can look up information, and they can send each other information, like memories. This best explains how advertisements are based off of what they are interested in and hope for. They are most certainly being watched by corporations from a database (Feedlink, OnFeed, American Feedware) Pg 40
When a strange man on the moon comes over to the group with Titus and Violet, he puts his metal handle to their neck and gives them a virus in their "feeds." They then malfunction and do things that they would not normally do because they lose total control, such as saying, "We enter a time of calamity" repeatedly. After "coalition of pity" comes to try and make their feeds malfunction, they need to be disabled. This clearly relates to the fact that it has transferred to humans, since instead of computers and phones being outside of their bodies, they are in their brains! Pg. 30
The group was bored and did not know how to cope with themselves when their feeds were temporarily disabled. They had gotten so used to them that they did not know what to do when they were left for hours without the ability to chat and shop online or have information at their fingertips. This can be compared to people who are addicted to their phones and cannot seem to go without them for a period of time. Pg. 31
This meme relates to the time that Titus begins to ignore Violet when she tries to talk to him and send him her memories. Later, when Titus goes to see Violet, he lies to her and says he had never gotten her several memories. Titus began to slowly read her chats, but then began to completely ignore her. He was so bothered by them that he just erased them without even taking a look. The memories seeping through began to annoy him. He feels bad, but he never wants her to know. Pg. 188
The major theme throughout the book is technology. Specifically, the technology of the feeds that are located in their brains. This can be compared to what we use today, which includes smartphones, computers, smart TV's, and many other electronic devices. Their feeds do all that the individual electronics we have do. They can watch shows and movies on it, listen to music, look up information, go shopping, see information about products they have looked at, chat to other people, listen to conversations with others via broadcasts, and find locations. While this is very convenient and many people in the book are used to the feeds, it can also be a hindrance. For one, since they are being told of products they like that relate to what they have seen, they are being controlled by what would be the government today, or as in the book, "corporations" (Pg.40). Second, as in Violet's case, it can stay malfunctioned and lead to death, since it is connected to all parts of the brain. The memes compare phones to their feeds, and the fact that viruses are usually found on phones and laptops. Technology is already familiar now, but extremely familiar in the future according to this book. This reason is why that while it is addictive and useful, having a chip in the brain can also cause problems. "Feed" gives us a warning that our addiction to technology can ultimately kill us.
I especially liked the meme about freaking out because you lost your phone because that's exactly how I imagined them reacting to their feeds being broken. They immediately fear of missing out on a dumb telenovela and they have absolutely no idea how to entertain themselves without their feed. But it really draws attention to how frightening similar our consumption of media is to their satirical dependence on it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think the comparison between smart phones and the Feed chips is very apt, especially as we've found ways to merge our smart phones with Apple watches, and smart cars, and smart TVs. It seems like we are probably one step away from merging them with our brains. The description Titus has of how people used to carry their tech around outside of their bodies, like keeping your lungs in a briefcase, speaks to our separation anxieties about our tech now. The one criticism I would offer is that you can adapt the memes using a meme generator so that they specifically speak to Feed. For example, you could change the "moment I lose my phone" one to, "when your Feed goes out," etc. You could even show the original one that speaks to our time and the updated one that speaks to Feed specifically to show the connections between the two.
ReplyDelete