Cinemetropolis

From this city emerges a new generation of babies
Who came out of the womb, glued to the tube

These lyrics are from Cinemetroplis, a rap song by The Blue Scholars from Seattle, Washington. The song analyzes how reliant today's generation is on media, especially film and television. By close reading these lyrics and the title of the song, you can tell that the artist is relating cities to the movies and the film industry, hence the emergence of babies from this city. Todays generations are constantly exposed to television and movies from an early age, and it is clearly having an impact on their development and childhood. Instead of always going outside or finding other children to play with for entertainment, children stay inside and watch television, which is produced by a company that is in someway trying to influence them. Whether its with advertisements to  buy a certain product or something even deeper such as a certain way to think, whether on purpose or not, generations today are heavily influenced by what we see in the media.

While the Blue Scholars are obviously referring to a television when they reference being glued to the tube, this line can be close read to see that television is not the only source of media that can be accessed. With today;s technology, we can use our smartphones, computers and tablets to access television, news and movies, and it is so readily available that it can be very difficult to get away from it all. Despite some parents best intentions, children can always find access to these outlets through school, their friends, or even just walking down the street. It is possible that today;s generation will never experience what it was like to live without constantly being exposed to some sort of screen or media outlet. While this may seem like a good thing that this generation is always well informed and aware of what is going on, they miss out on some critical aspects of human development and social skills that are normally developed as children.

While we may seemed doomed as a civilization to always have these problems, there can be some hope for humanity. It is up to the parents and the older generations to see this problem developing and take preventative action. Parents need to be aware what kind of media and movies there are children are watching and being influenced by. They need to be sure to expose them to social situations besides just what can be done through screens and tubes. This is a huge undertaking, because many parents today are also constantly consumed by their screens and tubes. We need to realize that we are becoming too dependent on technology and media, and take a step back to some of our roots and just spend more time with our families not in front of a screen.