To selfie or not to selfie?
The photograph was fuzzy, but ironically, I clearly remember the moment of coming across it, and what was on it, as if it were just yesterday. It was a picture of a pale, blurry blob of a face, framed by jet-black hair tied in a low ponytail. On that face, lay an eager smile and two unfocused specks of flash in what appeared to be beady and squinty eyes. Two pale arms on the sides implied that the camera was already as stretched out as far as it could be. But all this happened a terribly long time ago, circa 1994, way before the ghastly concept of the selfie was born.
She was a niece of a family friend and I can still remember how my father did not try to hide how alien he felt towards the notion when he came across it plastered on her door. He asked incredulously, “you took a picture of yourself, yourself?” Mostly he was vexed because it was film gone to waste because of its blurriness, but I could tell there was also an undertone of disbelief, wondering how anyone could be so vain as to take a picture of themselves on a hand-held. Of course, back in those dark ages, hand-held film cameras needed to be at least 2m away from the subject and nothing screamed narcissist more than trying to take a photograph of yourself fully knowing it wouldn’t even come out clear.
With today’s selfie-taking population, however, taking dozens of photos of yourself within the space of five minutes probably doesn’t raise as many eyebrows as it once did. As technology would have it, the advancement of photo-taking has leapt significantly to the point that photographers are sometimes considered obsolete. Can’t go on that Tibet trip with me? Fine. Whatever. I have my selfie stick.
It’s great that the world is coming up with all these gadgets that make life more convenient. The problem is that the proper civilities that revolve around using these new products aren’t coming out fast enough.
As of Tuesday, Disney has now completely banned selfie sticks from its parks in the US. On Wednesday, the ban took effect too in its parks in Hong Kong and Paris, according to CNBC. This tallies it as another destination to ban selfie sticks within its grounds, alongside Wimbledon, the National Gallery in London and Coachella, among other places.
Sorry shutterbugs, but I’m with the Mouse House on this one. Their reasons are more than plausible, as their concerns lie with safety issues and preserving the visitors’ experience. Sounds like good news that you don’t have to get all worked up when someone’s phone and stick is blocking your view of Cinderella’s castle anymore, right? It seems a lot safer too to think that these sticks won’t be jabbing or wonking you on the head in congested areas in the park — or anywhere actually — thanks to careless users.
Simply banning the sticks from the rides didn’t work, apparently. Cast staff were telling people off to the point that it intervened with them playing their character parts in the park. Just last week, a visitor pulled out their selfie-stick while riding on the “California Screamin’” in Disney California, bringing along with it a 2-hour shutdown and probably a lot of internal screaming from a lot of other visitors at the park. If they don’t say it enough, I’ll say it again: it’s plain dangerous when people pull selfie sticks out on roller coasters that are running at 100km/hour. Some of these things obviously sound like common sense, but the fact that it has made headlines unfortunately means it isn’t universally understood yet.
As we develop more technology products and ‘necessity’ items, it’s crucial that we also start developing the manners that come along with using them. We’re probably in something of a transitioning phase now, but the future certainly sees us only becoming more wired and connected. Whether these objects of convenience are a blessing or curse, the new way citizens of tomorrow will lead their lives does call for clear guidelines, some of which must be black and white. Being more technologically-advanced should not correlate with us becoming more primitive.
The act of photo-taking carries with it a culture of its own that has evolved across the decades. It seems peculiar to think that Dad would probably have said: “don’t take photos of yourself with the hand-held” back in his day. But it’s even more ridiculous to think that today he would now have to say: “don’t hurt anyone while you’re taking photos”.
“Proper civilities that revolve around using these new products aren’t coming out fast enough.”