When it comes to pop culture, I am under no false impression that I am "hip" or "with it." My television viewings are limited to occasional episodes of Shark Tank and Friends, and while I enjoy listening to music, my die-hard fan days peaked in the 90s with NSYNC and Britney Spears. Therefore, when it comes to digital media in the year 2016, I tend to consume what is right in front of me; if there is a show on TV that I've heard is good, I'll watch it. If a song is on the radio, I'll listen to it. My entertainment preferences are very much a product of what is available at any given time.
What calls for this entertainment apathy? Is it a genetic predisposition? Or are my lack of passionate preferences a product of limited options? In "The Long Tail," Chris Anderson argues the latter. He explains that "many of our assumptions about popular taste are actually artifacts of poor supply and demand matching," and that the entertainment industry is limited by constraints of space, time, and resources. For example, the shelf space at Blockbuster is limited and therefore, so are its offerings. In his view, my favorite childhood movies were not Cinderella and Flubber because I truly felt connected to princesses or slime science, but rather, I "chose" those movies because they were placed at the center of the shelf at Blockbuster. Is this really choice? Such limitations prevent people from forming individual, unique interests as they are swept into the mainstream "hits" that everyone loves.
Until recently. With new developments such as Netflix and Pandora, popularity no longer determines profitability. Consumers can track down even the most obscure documentaries and most random artists, leading to an authentic discovery of self. While Anderson rejoices that we have "broken the tyranny of physical space," it means that places like Blockbuster also get shut down. The possibilities for human consumption are endless, which leads me to these final questions: can humans handle this kind of freedom? If given a vast array of options with no direction, will people still reach the same conclusion and fulfillment? Will movie theaters even exist in 50 years?
While I relish the opportunity to discover my own taste in music and movies through modern technology, I can't help but look back on my Britney Spears, Flubber-filled, Blockbuster days with nostalgia. The prospect of true entertainment is provocative, but will it enhance one's self-identity, or confuse it? Bind a community, or destroy it? These are the questions I continue to ask.
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