All Narratives (328)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 10 min
- Kinolab
- 1998
Truman, the result of an unwanted pregnancy, was the first baby to be legally adopted by a corporation. From this adoption, he grew up on the set of a reality TV show in a massive sound stage, completely unaware that he was constantly being filmed and watched by viewers all across the world. As an adult, he begins to suspect that something about his reality is very wrong, and confronts his wife about this perception. Sylvia, a love interest of Truman, affirms her stance that documenting Truman without his consent is an unethical form of entertainment since he has no agency. Ultimately, he is able to reclaim this agency by leaving the show’s set and joining the real world.
- Kinolab
- 1998
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- 10 min
- Kinolab
- 1998
Celebrity Culture, Streaming Life, and Reality Television
Truman, the result of an unwanted pregnancy, was the first baby to be legally adopted by a corporation. From this adoption, he grew up on the set of a reality TV show in a massive sound stage, completely unaware that he was constantly being filmed and watched by viewers all across the world. As an adult, he begins to suspect that something about his reality is very wrong, and confronts his wife about this perception. Sylvia, a love interest of Truman, affirms her stance that documenting Truman without his consent is an unethical form of entertainment since he has no agency. Ultimately, he is able to reclaim this agency by leaving the show’s set and joining the real world.
How is Truman’s situation somewhat mirrored in today’s digital society? How have digital technologies, particularly video streaming, perpetuated a culture of filming and sharing everyday activities? Has society passed a point where it is possible for a person to give consent before they are surveilled or filmed for entertainment purposes? How does data streaming, specifically in areas such as reality TV or influencer cultures, change the perception of reality?
The Truman Show: You're Part of This, Aren't You?-
- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 1984
Rotwang, a reclusive inventor, invents a robot to replace his love Hel whom he lost to Joh Frederson. He claims that it has everything it needs to replace her except for a soul. Joh Frederson takes advantage of the robot’s design as an artificial companion to imitate Maria’s likeness, essentially creating a copy of her. The purpose of this is to infiltrate the working class and use Maria, who the workers admire, as a tool to further Joh Frederson’s agenda to suppress a laborer’s manifestation. The workers have unknowlingly placed so much trust into the robot version of Maria that they refuse to listen to Grot as a fellow worker, destroying the Heart Machine as Joh intended.
- Kinolab
- 1984
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- 8 min
- Kinolab
- 1984
Robotic Impostors
Rotwang, a reclusive inventor, invents a robot to replace his love Hel whom he lost to Joh Frederson. He claims that it has everything it needs to replace her except for a soul. Joh Frederson takes advantage of the robot’s design as an artificial companion to imitate Maria’s likeness, essentially creating a copy of her. The purpose of this is to infiltrate the working class and use Maria, who the workers admire, as a tool to further Joh Frederson’s agenda to suppress a laborer’s manifestation. The workers have unknowlingly placed so much trust into the robot version of Maria that they refuse to listen to Grot as a fellow worker, destroying the Heart Machine as Joh intended.
How can robots, even those without weapons, be used to stifle dissent and rebellion? What are the consequences to making robots in the likeness of loved ones or admirable figures? How can this be used to trick people without their knowledge? Should robots ever be able to imitate real people, especially if it is hard to give them a “soul”? What is a soul?
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- 5 min
- Kinolab
- 2015
In this Steve Jobs biopic, he is depicted as a man whose ego and pride regarding his work obscures his ability to treat others with respect and kindness. Only after seeing his daughter Lisa make art using MacPaint does Steve Jobs consider providing more financial support to her and Chrisann, his ex-wife. He initially argues that he is not beholden to this financial support, given that his company already donates computers to less privileged schools.
- Kinolab
- 2015
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- 5 min
- Kinolab
- 2015
Child Computer Use
In this Steve Jobs biopic, he is depicted as a man whose ego and pride regarding his work obscures his ability to treat others with respect and kindness. Only after seeing his daughter Lisa make art using MacPaint does Steve Jobs consider providing more financial support to her and Chrisann, his ex-wife. He initially argues that he is not beholden to this financial support, given that his company already donates computers to less privileged schools.
How can children in particular use digital technologies to express their creativity? Do digital technologies enhance or limit creativity in art? Whose responsibility is it to distribute educational technologies to under-resourced areas? Why is this action essential? How can tech monopolies, and individual tech giants, be more responsible with their massive amounts of wealth?
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Donald and Helen, a married couple, are both dissatisfied with their marriage, particularly in their sexual relationship, and so unwilling to communicate with each other that they both want to cheat on each other. The technology in this clip are the websites on which they both succumb to the temptation of an affair.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 3 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Infidelity and Social Networks
Donald and Helen, a married couple, are both dissatisfied with their marriage, particularly in their sexual relationship, and so unwilling to communicate with each other that they both want to cheat on each other. The technology in this clip are the websites on which they both succumb to the temptation of an affair.
Are websites like the ones shown in this narrative a justifiable affordance of social networks and digital technologies? Does the facility of making connections with other people make infidelity overall easier to accomplish? Does having these more private, secluded channels make communication between dissatisfied partners harder? In thinking particularly about the “Escort Edition” website, what is problematic about its quantification of women and “shopping” user interface?
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- 2 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Allison’s unhealthy eating habits are reinforced with comments she receives online to the point where she refuses to eat with her family and follows online advice on how to resist hunger. The technology in this clip is the online forum which has the goal of perpetuating and starting unhealthy eating habits.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 2 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Social Networks and Societal Norms
Allison’s unhealthy eating habits are reinforced with comments she receives online to the point where she refuses to eat with her family and follows online advice on how to resist hunger. The technology in this clip is the online forum which has the goal of perpetuating and starting unhealthy eating habits.
How do social networks, and certain enclaves within these networks such as a blog site, set the societal norms in the digital age? How do these platforms perpetuate illusions of how people should look and act? Did social media create these problems, or simply exacerbate them?
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Brandy and Tim are two teens who attempt to live normal lives through interacting with their peers through social media platforms. For Brandy, this means using a secret Tumblr account to express herself, since her mother has passwords to all her other accounts and is able to constantly collect data from her daughter’s devices. Tim finds similar comfort in chatting with anonymous friends in an online game chat room. Tim and Brandy’s developing relationship is threatened once both of their parents overstep and violate their children’s privacy and trust.
- Kinolab
- 2014
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Interaction Records and Privacy from Parents
Brandy and Tim are two teens who attempt to live normal lives through interacting with their peers through social media platforms. For Brandy, this means using a secret Tumblr account to express herself, since her mother has passwords to all her other accounts and is able to constantly collect data from her daughter’s devices. Tim finds similar comfort in chatting with anonymous friends in an online game chat room. Tim and Brandy’s developing relationship is threatened once both of their parents overstep and violate their children’s privacy and trust.
Since social media and smartphones can contain complete records of interactions between people, how can parents intervene in their children’s social lives more thoroughly in the digital age? Is letting teenagers have complete control over their social media use and privacy part of letting them be children in the digital age? How do digital chat rooms make it difficult to verify the true identity of those with whom people interact? How does this anonymity allow people to act differently than they might in real life? Is digital addiction a true problem, or is this simply the truth of social life in the digital age?