Yamamoto: Story 3 (Sam Lindsey)

Date:5/14/2018
Author: Sam Lindsey
Assignment: Post #11, Yamamoto: Story 3

More and more, it is difficult to find pieces of media about technology (or even in general) that are positive or have an optimistic outlook or moral. It's much easier to find a dystopian piece about people on the run or a twisted society with an evil government. I think it's just what people want to watch that mainly drives the type of media we get and lately most has been sort of more pessimistic with morals or truths buried that we need to be looking out for. In saying all of that though, I do know have a few contemporary examples of optimistic pieces. First, an example often not seen in the series, is Hang the DJ in Black Mirror. I won't spoil the ending here, but essentially the story takes a modern look at dating and puts a spin on it. Again, the funny part about this episode is that Black Mirror is often filled with extremely pessimistic or warning/dark endings, so we think that this episode is going to be similar by the way it's sort of played out, but it ends up being super sweet. Next, is the movie The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Another love story, this movie is about a man who wants to have all his memories erased about a long time girlfriend he no longer wants to see... In the middle of the process he decides that he doesn't really want it done anymore and begins fighting against the machine. He and his girlfriend end up drawn to each other again and again even though they know nothing about one another. It's a really optimistic outlook on an otherwise very sad love story. Finally, a book that I recently read for my geography class called Growing a Revolution. Apart from many other books that deal extensively in end of the world doom and gloom with how we are treating our planets resources this book aims to take a shot at how we can fix it instead. It's all about ways in which farmers can more efficiently and effectively treat their soil so that we can have successful harvest for years to come. It's a positive outlook on a grim situation and one that I think we need.

It can be hard to pick and choose "happy" historical events or ones that show the gloriousness of human history because behind a lot of humanities greatest successes are some atrocious stories. The rise of industrialization is often thought of as a great period in human history as are the times before that with the discovery of America, but slavery and poor labor conditions are what drove those forward... In almost all ways I would have to say that the "space race" was a really great time for us as humans. Thinking back on the movie Hidden Figures, even those who were deemed lower class status because of the color of their skin helped drive us forward to the moon and pushed societal norms forward as well. Competition here was a good thing, not something to shy away from because we were pushing humanity as a whole forward (even if we did want to be the first ones to get up there!) Another event from our past that I would call glorious is the early days of the invention of the automobile. Being able to get from place to place without the use of horses must have been a wonder in itself. But again, we have the draw back of pollution, labor laws, and what the automobile would do to the world. It was a glorious time for us, but not the health of our world...