Stare Into the Lights My Pretties

Stare Into the Lights My Pretties

2017, Technology  -   27 Comments
8.49
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Ratings: 8.49/10 from 134 users.

Look around you. People appear to be permanently glued to their electronic devices. Heads bowed and eyes transfixed, our society has been hijacked by these dominating technologies. In less than the span of a single lifetime, we have advanced from rustic computers the size of buildings to extremely capable mobile devices that fit in the palms of our hands. We haven't even stopped to catch our breath. That's precisely was Stare Into the Lights My Pretties aims to do. This engrossing and ambitious feature-length documentary outlines the progression of our computerized world, and examines its consequences to this and future generations.

We've become fully enveloped in a screen culture. The average person spends more time staring at a screen on any given day than they do sleeping. This has drastically altered the way we interact with others, conduct our personal and business affairs, and experience the world in general. These stimuli are all about shallow sensation, distraction and instant gratification. What they often fail to provide is context, metaphor or meaning. They are changing the way we learn, and the lessons they're teaching don't incite critical thought or require a prolonged attention span.

In the film's view, screen culture has also empowered corporate and government interests with the ideal narcotic with which to control us. Your Google searches offer these structures an unprecedented glimpse into your thoughts, desires, political leanings and other defining characteristics. Everyone from advertisers to politicians have used this data to modify our behaviors and make us subservient to their cause. Online surveillance constitutes a major threat to our basic right of privacy. Yet many users have accepted this intrusion as a necessary evil. Once we willingly relinquish our rights, and allow our lives to become fully immersed in the fantasy fulfillment of our machines, then we have lost our capacity for empathy and autonomy.

On a technical level, Stare Into the Lights My Pretties is top-notch; its ambient scoring and inventive editing style give the film a mesmerizing pull. The filmmakers pose moral and ethical questions that couldn't be more timely or profound. What kind of world do we want to live in, and do we have the willpower to change it?

Directed by: Jordan Brown

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Frank
Frank
4 months ago

This is one of the most amazing and alarming doc I have ever seen

Boudicca
Boudicca
2 years ago

Thanks Jordan, this was excellent. The ending was perfect! Closer everyday to letting go of my technological ball and chain ❤️

Glen
Glen
5 years ago

Help get scammers into a bulletproof business and with the help of Banks ,police Feds the net is the best thing ever for them.

Geo
Geo
5 years ago

If only we could aspire to the all knowing arrogance of @An observer we could then realize that the population hasn't changed all that much. There never was a massive number of wise informed. Prior to the internet it was the boob tube (TV) doing the propaganda / indoctrination, and prior to that it was the newspapers that folks had their head buried in. People simply love to be lied to.

However, in the heyday of newspapers there were numerous competitors and obscure independent papers exposing the devils, if one chose to seek them out; which most did not. Not that different than today. No doubt the Powers That Be miss the good old days of the boob tube when the majority were so easily manipulated.

Far too many people choose to limit their input to that of their information gatekeepers, when more than at any time in history, they could be actually informed rather than propagandized, if they so chose. But like throughout the history of media, they prefer to be lied to. Fortunately more are waking up. Will it be enough, soon enough?

Hiro
Hiro
5 years ago

I find it hilarious that some of these shots were taken in Melbourne. One of the worst cities i've been to as far as people being glued to screens is concerned.

Namewithheldsorsecurityreasons
Namewithheldsorsecurityreasons
5 years ago

Truly great Doc, one of the best in my opinion and a subject area that desperately needs covered.

larry
larry
5 years ago

the very people that are in the group walking around like zombies and 4 young people sitting at a table all with their heads down staring at screens need to see what the tech leaders have accomplished and get their heads back upright and converse like normal people and not be a test subject

An observer
An observer
5 years ago

If you want a quick glimpse at the ignorance and stupidity of mankind, the comment section of top documentary films is where you'll find it

R G B
R G B
5 years ago

Mr. F W Covell , you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. I will also add - the beast or antichrist will surface from one of three institutions of power , the monarchy(highly unlikely) , the papacy( likely) , or the US presidency (most definitely likely). President Donald Trump is not the one people should be worried about , it is he who will be put in place after president Trump that all humanity should be concerned about. THAT DAY APPROACHES QUICKLY.

Blaice
Blaice
6 years ago

Sensationalize much? Stupid doc IMO. The part where the dude was just being an a**hole videoing "randos?" Stupid, get up and walk away you m*rons or just ignore him.

Frederick w. Covell
Frederick w. Covell
6 years ago

Truth being God revealed this about 70yrs after Jesus death to the apostle "John the beloved" while exiled on island of Patmos, book of revelations chap 13 verse 18 KingJames edition "Here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding count the # of the beast, for it is the # of a man, and his # is 666."
This is where all the hype about 666 stems from, and also tells how to determine the true meaning of 666 and verses preceding re 5,16,17 we are told he is given a mouth speaking great things & blasphemies, and that no man might buy,sell,or trade without the name,mark,or # of the beast! Please don't get confused here as it is meant the # of your name ~ re the number on ur cc, bankcard and/or the microchip that v. 16 refers to being placed in the right hand or forehead.
In order to count the number of the beast understand that man's # is 6 as man was created on the 6th day. The ancient Hebrew alphabet had a numerical value assigned to each letter of their alphabet. Example the letter w had a numerical value of 6, thus 666=www and u might as well add .com onto this as in order to break da code I had to attach a numerical value to English alphabet.
Back to 13:18 for it is Man's #6 used in counting the beast's# and counting is addition. Thus add 6 to each subsequent letter of the alphabet starting with A=6,b=12... ,z=156!
Take the word computer and find the numerical value of each letter and add them up totaling 666 of which u have just counted the number of the beast as the Bible instructs us to.

User1
User1
6 years ago

Great video and much appreciated!

I'm at an age where I've seen this whole thing grow up. Before EVERYTHING! The internet was one university connected to another. Sadly I feel sorry for kids growing up today.

John
John
6 years ago

Ha ha. We've been slaves for a long time and the truth is we love it and don't have the ability to function any other way but as sheeple. So keep staring into the lights and you'll never even have to know you were alive.

Mohd Abbas
Mohd Abbas
6 years ago

Social Media:
"Internet and social media provide information & good communication tools. But our lives should not be enslaved to them. At times we have to pause and see the world through our own eyes and not through a borrowed vision. Seeing things as they are promises the birth of wisdom" My Quote

claudia
claudia
6 years ago

highly recommended!

alan can see the future
alan can see the future
6 years ago

Actually this is one of the best documentaries I have seen. It's long, and the first 30 mins or so didn't give me the insight what was to come afterwards.Very well done.This is a subject that at last someone has had the foresight to produce a program to educate people. This is real.Very troublesome and something that we all must talk about.
Thank you for posting this.

jobe
jobe
6 years ago

I would never have met you who live in Australia, Samoa, China, Japan, Bermuda, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, South America, Mexico, so I am grateful that I can reach you through this glorious technology.

jobe
jobe
6 years ago

We are delighted to have information at our fingertips; that we do not have to call TIP (which no longer exists); that we do not have to spend hours at the library in order to answer our questions. That we can associate media like pictures, videos, other resources complementing our answer, adding validity to our discovered facts thrills us. Who is complaining about the inundated engaging in digital binging?

Hussein Horack
Hussein Horack
6 years ago

I honestly think this should be required viewing for everyone relevant. But I know that will never happen because it's not in the interest of government, corporation or the media. Sad times.

ali
ali
6 years ago

Thankyou for posting this.I see it everyday and wonder where this is going.In the past people talked with each other, but not any more.Everyone is becoming robots, sheep, and they can't see it.