Prophecy from the twilight zone
Is there a time for all of us when the sci-fi projected future of our youth becomes a reality? The wheel goes around. We respect the creative vision of these cultural prophets. Orson Welles’ tanks, George Orwell’s ‘big brother watching’ spookily manifest with a surveillance camera on every corner, all normalised years ago.
An old future is again being made new reality and we are watching its manifestation.
Today’s auspicious reference points come straight from the digital world of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner – minus the replicants and flying cars (that bit seems more difficult to make a reality…). In our communal environments we are increasingly surrounded by the moving image – digital advertising on the underground, flat screen news at the airport.
My children no longer ‘watch the television’ they download content… or they make their own. They share their brand allegiances on social channels and advertisers embrace the individual’s choice. The young folk actually choose the ads from the brands they wish to watch and download them onto their devices. The ad was historically an annoying insert within the content or context – now it is the content or context itself…The brands we choose are integral to our identity and the ad is now an emblem or flag of allegiance. Brands and the identities they serve know no boundaries in a digital world and will erode and homogenise culture. The dark, digital genie predicted by the likes of Ridley Scott is out of the bottle and his prophesy is unravelling.
Where are today’s cultural prophets? Who are they and what are their visions? Answers in a meme please. hello@futurepositive.agency