technoculture314-09

I was watching an old episode of Gilmore Girls (yes, I like to watch re-runs of things. I live a sad, sad life, I know) and came across a little tidbit that I found quite interesting. Lorelai [Lauren Graham] tells Luke [Scott Patterson] that she would rather type out an email to her daughter Rory [Alexis Bledel], than even talk to her on the phone, because, she says, it hearkened back to the days of letter writing, and Charles Dickens and literature. [Season 4, Episode 80]

So. My question is. Is this actually the case? Is the typing out of a lengthy email the same as writing a letter? And is it preferable to talking to someone on the phone, or even face-to-face (or is this a personal thing)? At the outset, yes, email definitely does hearken back to the days when we wrote letters. Indeed, that was actually the original purpose of email, to be a faster system of mail. It eliminated the need of a lengthy address that people often forgot and it reached the intended recipient in minutes (if not seconds) instead of days (if not months).

But there seems to be a general resentment of this new way of communication. It's everywhere, for goodness sake! It may just be people and the media telling us what to think, but there has always been a romantic aspect to writing a letter; to imagining the person at the other end reading it and their expressions and emotions upon reading it. Indeed, many a great song was penned about distant lovers writing to each other...about a father at war writing to his family back home, expressing his concern for their safety, etc. Films like Amelie have elaborate sub-storylines about a lover pining for her dead/estranged other half and reading his old letters, reminiscing about what used to be. Even the Gilmore Girls scene from above continues this. Lorelai [Graham] continues that while writing an email, she always pictures Charles Dickens sitting at a table writing letters on sunny afternoons.

In addition to this, however, comes the idea of recieving letters. Unless they get lost in the post (which, considering modern postal systems is pretty unlikely) the recipient will almost always get a letter, but emails depend on internet connections, on file corruptions, viruses and the list goes on. The effects of a damaging email is instantaneous, while a damaging letter's effects are delayed (even though this could be a blessing or a curse). On the whole, however, it seems that with advancing technology, we see advancing problems.

Another question is our literature and literary heritage dying out with new technologies? Most people today would rather watch a film based (however loosely) on a book/novel than read the actual book (which, in most cases is better than the film). More currently, however, people now would rather download a film and watch it before it comes out than wait for the film to come to their countries. Internet versions and scanning means that buying a novel for the sake of collecting or the satisfaction of owning a good book (and thus supporting the author) is all but dead. However, the internet can also encourage novel-centred creativity. For example, after the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the rise of websites where adults, teens, tweens and everyone in between could post stories which imagined endings that were (in some cases, significantly) different to Rowling's manuscript. On the more extreme end, there have also been websites that, even today, continue to post Harry Potter erotic literature. Imagined erotic trysts between Harry and Hermione, Ron and Hermione (in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - yes, Moaning Myrtle, the puns there are astronomical), Ron and Harry, Harry and Draco, and after Dumbledore's coming out, between Snape and Dumbledore, Harry and Dumbledore; the permutations and combinations in people's imaginations were (and still are) endless.

So that was what I thought was interesting...Please feel free to further answer/contradict my questions/answers...