Beware of Hikikomori!

I’d like to narrow this chapter down to one specific quote: “In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes.” (Andy Warhol) His prediction certainly seems to be coming true. Since the advent of the Internet in conjunction with standard modes of communication (like television, radio, and magazines), hierarchal structures in entertainment and elsewhere are flattening out. Thomas L. Friedman, who wrote The World is Flat, spoke last week about how this same trend is occurring in the buisness world as well. Anyone and everyone can compete. As a result, the media, which has generally been controlled in the past by either corporations or governments, is now in the hands of the populace (or, I’d go so far as to say the proletariat). This level playing field has advanced all cultures worldwide one-step closer to a utopian society where everyone is equal. But is equality really a good thing?

In the animated movie, The Incredibles, Helen Parr tells her son, “Everyone’s special, Dash.” To which he retorts, “Which is another way of saying no one is.” If everyone is allowed his or her fifteen minutes of fame, then stardom will cease to be desirable; communal validation of self-worth will cease to be a tenet of our modern society. Instead of self-worth being determined through meritocracy, it’ll have to be engendered internally. The noted increase in narcissism in today’s youth can be seen as an unconscious reaction to the horizontal societal structure upheld by the Internet. As this horizontal structure clashes with Western ideals of individuality, self-discovery may even be forced into realms of complete isolation. In order to preserve self-worth, individuals may close themselves off from the rest of the world, neglecting the presence of others, while clinging to an illusory notion of uniqueness.

This trend has already started to take hold in Japan. Hikikomori are adolescent males who have completely withdrawn from society, basically refusing to come out of their rooms. I watched a whole anime series on this “sociological phenomenon” called NHK ni Yokoso! Although it may sound like an amusing prospect, locking yourself away in your room (in your parent’s house, no less), it is a serious all consuming form of depression. And if my hunch is correct, this new horizontal societal structure may have something to do with it.

“Yay!” for communists. “Boo!” for capitalists. Of course, then again I could be wrong about this whole thing and simply expressing my own fears of digital Maoism. However, let me warn you by saying that Jennifer Hudson winning the Oscar for best supporting actress is only a foretaste of the feast to come.