HD

Do we live our lives in HD, High Definition, that is?

Last night I had a weird HD moment; sitting with my daughter watching The Gremlins.

I remember seeing this movie in 1985 – I was 12, too young to officially get-in to the 15-classification film (Muriend Cinema (where I saw Superman), Glasgow, now I believe a supermarket). They were less age-obsessed back in those days and let me and my pal inside. As far as I know I have not been harmed by the experience – although, some might disagree.

Anyway, that is not the point.

As we watched the film (ironically, my daughter is also 12 – I was therefore in some way passing-on this contravention; sorry future generations of Kersh.) I was puzzled as to whether it was the original or a remake.

Amazon said it was from 2012 – which indicated not, and, the images looked different, I even convinced myself that the opening scene with the dad in Chinatown was a remake.

It just seemed too real, too modern.

Yes, the initial credits were awry, but still.

Only when I saw Corey Feldman’s name appear did I get it – yes, it was the original; they had HD’d it. The experience from my adolescence had been passed through a digital wonder-machine and pooped-out modern.

It took away some of the mystery.

My daughter didn’t seem that impressed – Gizmo (the name for my pet chameleon a few years later), looked artificial and nowhere near as ‘real’ as something you could buy today.

For me, abstraction adds to the experience; heck, I love B&W – my children won’t go near it.

What brought this into perspective was the 1985 Top of The Pops that we watched afterwards; John Peel had hair; Bon Jovi and the Human League featured. This however was in original definition; the washed-out haziness of thirty years ago.

It felt so much more real, homely, like chicken soup.

I remember the hours I used to experience playing with simple games on my ZX Spectrum; my son now has Red Dead Redemption 2 with its hyper-real graphics, sound-track, changing seasons and intricate detail.

What effect will these two variances have on each of our development?

Is it a form of dependence?

If you are weaned on rich-food, can you ever go back to the joys of plain?

The 21^st Century is obsessed with modernising the experience – whether HD, 5K, virtual reality, or the next plans to speed-up the internet;

Haven’t we reached a stage where things are real-enough? The download speed of my computer adequate? Sure dial-up back in the day was frustrating, but now, come-on, can’t we focus our attention on other things?

Perhaps this is me revealing my Luddite tendencies. Nostalgia; longing for the good-old days (and, more on that in my next mindful update…)

When I was a teen, questioning the validity of high-street competition, different makes of cars, coffee or chocolate, my brother stated, ‘You’re a Communist, aren’t you?’

I don’t know.

I am certainly no longer, although sometimes it seems as if enough is enough and our attentions would be better focused on getting back to basics; that is, nature, the environment, consumption, fraternity and so on.

I mentioned last week, a trip to the optician. I am getting my eyes checked today. Will my experience of life improve with a new prescription? Will it detract from my present-day filling-in the blanks? Who can tell? I’ll keep you posted.