Entertainment is about humans. We want to see good humans. We think we’re one of them… Or, we want to see bad humans to make us feel better.
I don’t have words for these things
This belief in good people is the opposite of cynical. In English, we only have the word “naive.” Funny that a word with a negative connotation can be the opposite of another.
Insincerity?
This isn’t quite the right word either, but when something separates us from the humanity we desire it’s seen as insincere. Kinda a punch to the gut of our naivety.
I am amazed by Wayne Newton, but when I see someone trying to be Wayne Newton, they have taken all the humanity out of it. Ruins it. It sucks the life out of it, and it’s counter-productive.
Tech points out our insincerity
Technology itself is very human. It’s flawed and ambitious and nonsensical. When entertainment pros think the opposite, the human connection is breached.
Simple example: microphone goes out during a show. Performer tries to smooth it over. Now we’re all looking at the microphone. The performer is not showing anger, frustration, surprise or any emotional response to an obstacle. Insincere.
Zoom
The whole reason I’m thinking about this is we are now trying to use technology to bridge the gap in entertainment. We can’t be like the mic person above. We can’t try to make a human connection in spite of technology. We will find entertainment success by using the technology to amplify the humanity that we share.
Video chat is buggy and it’s very difficult to make an online show seamless – not that seamless is human. If your goal with an online show is comedy, you better have a funny and surprising approach to the bugs. If the bugs are preventing you from your plan, do a long rant about video chatting that’s funny.
We want to connect with a human.
Technology gets in the way of that when we deny ourselves to support technology.