#11 - What the hell are we doing?

Have you seen The Long Walk, or read the book? It’s a rather harrowing tale of young men competing on television for riches, with the goal to be the last person walking. Miles and miles of walking. Slow down or stop for too long, get a handful of warnings, and the watching soldiers will kill the infringer. In this dark, alternate reality post-war United States, these boys begin thinking they are doing something for the betterment of their lives and that of their families, but as they fall one by one during a gruelling, often undignifying, slog, their friendships shine above all else and their exploitation is clear. Someone is winning, but it’s not them.

Stephen King wrote the novel in the 60s leading many to fairly see the story, at least in part, as an allegory for the Vietnam War draft, but it’s a tale so easy to interpret in a number of ways. As the credits rolled I couldn’t help but wonder about what the hell we’re all doing or being made to do with our lives. To be blunt, it’s hard to read the news or look at social media and not feel like we’re all being conned to walk a path that’s only benefiting the people at the top. 

This morning I read about Google’s latest attempts to make people use its AI search, another push to keep users on Google rather than leave it to read the various websites it uses for its data. This, along with a new tool for YouTube that appears to let viewers remix videos to their liking by using AI, feels like our own, modern dystopian tale, but one that we’re being told is our reality.

Let’s not mince words here: Google (as well as social platforms) helped build up websites by allowing users to discover what was out there on the world wide web, but has recently been systematically treating these sites as a form of nourishment it can consume, no matter the consequences. We’ve already seen media institutions, big and small, fall or radically shrink thanks to this desire to be the last company standing, the one who will take home the ultimate prize. But we’re not friends. The internet isn’t theirs to destroy. It’s ours to fill, learn from, and be entertained by.

How catastrophic these latest AI initiatives will be for an already struggling set of industries reliant on Google search (editorial the first I think of), remains to be seen, but we can do our bit to help. I don’t know about you, but I hope you want to be able to read the words and watch the videos of those who are knowledgeable and passionate about the topics that interest you. Support the websites, newsletters, fanzines, comics, video essays and the rest that you love. Tell everyone you can about them. Pay what you can to keep them going. Don’t use AI search tools.

Independent or corporate-owned, the people working hard to fill your lives with their stories, thoughts, and witticisms (mostly that last one is just me) don’t deserve to be victims of greed. Hell, if you finish reading this and simply go and tell someone how much you enjoy their work, you’re helping. I’ve had high(ish) paying and low paying jobs, but it’s always been the sincere positive comments from fans that made the biggest impact on my wellbeing. Knowing you’ve created something that people appreciate is a feeling that is hard to beat.

I firmly believe that gatekeeping the internet to those who can afford to see it isn’t the solution, but to keep the wolves from the door it’s essential you show your support - not just so the creators can keep doing what they’re doing, but so everyone else can enjoy it too.

My gut tells me we’re in for more trouble, more squeezing as companies attempt to deliver profits that are unreasonable and detrimental to long-term success. But, my hope is that we can all help people stay afloat, at least long enough for the world to start correcting itself. Be that friend who holds others up when the walk starts to get a little too tough to take.

I’ve enjoyed reading the many different opinions on Forza Horizon 6, the latest open-world racing game from Xbox and Playground Games. It’s amazing how a game so beautifully crafted can create such diverse views, many of which are hard to argue with. I particularly enjoyed Jordan Oloman’s write up on his blog, which captures many of my own mixed feelings about the game. One I love, but also can’t help but see flaws in.

This newsletter isn’t entirely about video games - in fact, this one was mostly about the impending death of traditional online media. I’ll have a think about some other bits and pieces and round them up in the quick reviews below. I’m a critic, too, you see.

Things I can review:

• The Lidl leaflet (Lidl): What does it cost to get one of the greatest, most talented tennis players of all time to pose with a frying pan? I frick’n loved Andre Agassi when I was a kid. To see him on a poster outside my local Lidl and also in the pages of the latest ‘magazine’ is truly baffling. 2-handed backhands out of 5 Middle of Lidl bits of tat.

• Spurs (my nightmares): On Tuesday night I watched Spurs waste an opportunity to end this miserable season without relegation. They just needed a draw against a Chelsea team in incredibly bad form. Of course they lost, dragging this hell into the very last game of the season. To make matters worse, Arsenal claimed the Premier League title the same night. Someone make this end! 1 Kolo Muani out of 5 Harry Kanes.
• Kick’n It (Disney Plus): My kids, despite being seven years apart in age, are somehow still able to find TV shows that they both enjoy. The latest is Kick’n It, a sitcom set in and around a local Karate dojo. How this allowed for 80+ episodes is beyond me, but I can say without any sarcasm whatsoever that this is a kids TV show that makes me laugh. Maybe I’m severely sleep deprived, recently laid off, and suffering from the worst Tottenham team in my living memory, but this is a fun show. 4 leg sweeps out of 5 crane kicks.