George Romero satirized American’s as a mindless, Zombie nation in his 1969 Night of the Living Dead and 1978 Dawn of the Living Dead films. I remember watching these films for the first time in a “serious” context in college and the message hitting me like a pile of bricks.
The more I think about it, the more it seems right. Just read the linked Vanity Fair article for a humorous look at the short-cut we are willing to take to make our life easier.
America’s Can-Do-But-Why-Bother spirit has produced a wave of gadgets that take the effort out of almost everything: vacuuming rugs, parking cars, walking dogs. In fact, why wear out those tongue muscles when a virtual assistant can order you a Motorized Ice Cream Cone?
I’m not saying I’m any better than the rest. We buy yogurt in a tube for Carter’s lunch and use any number of pointless gadgets and concoctions that will supposedly make our life easier. More and more, I’ve been thinking about how much things have changed since I was a kid. As I see more of myself reflected in Carter and as he develops his personality, I find myself thinking of when I was a kid and realizing that maybe things were better back then. Now, I’m really starting to sound like a parent…I remember walking to school (true) in the snow (not true) barefoot (not true).
