spoken word – NZ Film Freak

I’ve written on this subject before regarding a fantastic poem called Touchscreen.

I came across this other spoken word video ages ago, but it came up on my newsfeed again today (how ironic!).

It’s made by Gary Turk, about how alone we can be despite having so many ‘friends’ online. I think this sums it up; how isolated generation Y is. Despite being so connected.

I have 422 friends, yet I’m lonely.
I speak to all of them everyday, yet none of them really know me.

It’s a chilling and upsetting observation. I can certainly relate. Seeing couples out, but staring at their screens in silence. Friends more concerned about checking how many likes their selfie has gotten rather than speaking to the person next to them.

When I was a child, I would never be home,
I’d be out with my friends, on our bikes we would roam.
We’d ware holes in our trainers, and graze up our knees;
we’d build our own clubhouse, high up in the trees.

Now the parks are so quiet, it gives me a chill
to see no children outside and the swings hanging still.
There’s no skipping or hopscotch, no church and no steeple,
we’re a generation of idiots,
smart phones and dumb people.

In Turk’s spoken word film, actors demonstrate miss opportunities that come about when no interaction takes place.

When you’re too busy looking down, you don’t see the chances you miss.

This unfortunate reality has been expressed a lot lately. Kirsten Dunst did a two minute film showing our lack of communication skills:

But just to cheer you up, here are a couple of funny (and creepy) videos about social networking in real life:

College Humor’s “Twitter in Real Life”. It’s hilarious.

“Following” people in real life…

Feel like forgetting your phone now? Although, I have to say there is some anxiety associated with not having your phone on you. Because you’re life never shuts off. What if you miss an email from work? What if somebody needs to get a hold of you? It’s such a foreign concept not to have that extension of your arm.

Nevertheless, this directly ties into my longing for the sixties.

Jodie.

This is a beautiful articulation of the differences between the societal expectations of men and women.

Lily Myers is a student who performed this spoken word poem in CUPSI 2013 – The College National Poetry Slam at Bernard College, New York.

I wanted to say: we come from difference, Jonas,
you have been taught to grow out
I have been taught to grow in
you learned from our father how to emit, how to produce, to roll each thought off your tongue with confidence, you used to lose your voice every other week from shouting so much
I learned to absorb

It is about a woman’s relationship with food, and how it reflects self worth.

I’ve realized she only eats dinner when I suggest it.
I wonder what she does when I’m not there to do so.

Maybe this is why my house feels bigger each time I return; it’s proportional.

The beautiful use of words. “the house feels bigger” rather than “my mother gets thinner“. The house feels bigger because her mother doesn’t think she deserves to take up much space. It is spine tingling imagery.

Fantastic! No wonder this has gone viral.

Jodie.

Tag Archives: spoken word

A Great Speech: Shrinking Women