Do you remember back in the late 70s and 80s that we seemed to have an overwhelming appetite for the mysteries of the universe? Ghosts, paranormal activity, spontaneous human combustion (remember that?). UFOs, crop circles. All these things were huge in the zeitgeist of the era, but now are much less now prevalent. I believe our deepest fears are often played out in the media we create. Art and music are like a collective dream we all have, which gets worked out in creative endeavour, film, TV, music, the arts. We have an overwhelming urge to explore in art, that which troubles our minds.
Back in victorian times, people were obsessed with magic and communicating with the spirit world. Did this speak of a generation that lived repressed, hard and sometimes short lives? A life half lived perhaps? Then no wonder they fantasised about a secret world that could possibly offer immortality.
In the 70s we became obsessed with visitors from another planet. Films like ‘Close Encounters…’ defined the box office, then we had Star Wars, ET, all alluding to dreams of a better society, of alien beings showing us the folly of our ways, and how to be more tolerant to others that didn’t look like us.
So where now? The volume of content to available to watch and listen to has multiplied by huge factors. Choice is much larger, we aren’t watching or listening to the same things anymore and every taste is catered for, most of it available for free.
If we can learn anything from the most popular content on say Netflix in the last 10 years, then it’s that we are currently obsessed with escapist fantasy, worlds we recognise but which are clearly not ours. The imagery is dream like, often absurd. We are maybe living lives so impossible that our subconscious minds want a playground that evades reality, even if the brutality depicted there is far worse and more dangerous than we experience in the real world.
I think in another 50 years we will have achieved a sense of detachment so profound that facts will have lost their importance. The only truth for many will be what you believe it to be. This is possibly scarier than anything we can depict.