Animator and filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt on the difference between crate digging & streaming from a recent interview:
Not to sound like a curmudgeon, but when I was a teenager, I took the train to go to the record store to find rare stuff. Spotify is way more convenient, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to get out and to feel like you’re hunting, to feel like you’re living your life. I’m going to the movies, I’m going to this show. What streaming has done — it’s very convenient, but it’s taken the feeling of going hunting and turned it into we’re all just being fed. We’re all farm animals that are just being fed, and we’re being fed content. You can just stay home. Just stay home. We’ll just feed it to you. No wonder everyone’s depressed.
Boy, did this resonate with me.
I adore simplicity and efficiency. I get so much done because technology has made it so much easier to avoid the nonsense, but in the absence of the nonsense, we’ve lost the joy of exploration.
Appointment viewing.
Hunting through bookshelves and record store bins.
Squeezing in a movie on a weekend because if you didn’t see it then, you might never see it.
A less convenient but more visceral, poignant, and meaningful time.
This is why Elysha and I prioritize taking our kids to Broadway shows, local theaters, movie theaters, museums, libraries, zoos, restaurants, and sporting events.
Appointment viewing.
If you don’t see it, you may never see it.
If you’re not in the building, experiencing what they have to offer, you’re missing out.
During this December vacation, we saw a play at the Hartford Stage. Went to the movie theater twice. Charlie and I attended a Celtics game. I attended a Patriots game. We spent an hour wandering the stacks of a bookstore. Elysha bought old-school vinyl records from a brick-and-mortar store. I took a golf lesson. We ate dinner in a brand-new restaurant and brunch in an old favorite. Elysha and Charlie went out for sushi. Clara played D&D at a hobby shop. Charlie went railfanning several times. Both spent time with friends.
We engaged with the world. Tried our best to see and do things outside the home.
It’s why I’m thrilled that Charlie has become a competitive speed cuber, a railfanner, a 3D printer, a baseball player, and a trumpet, guitar, and piano player.
It’s why I’m thrilled that Clara is a dancer, a writer, an obsessive reader, and a D&D player who joins so many clubs at school and spends hours with her friends watching and talking about movies in ways that make her sound like a Hollywood historian.
It’s why our kids don’t own a cellphone. Have never been exposed to social media.
It’s why we watch most things in our home with one another.
Television shows watched by the family.
Old school viewing.
I love what Don Hertzfeldt has to say about the hazards of convenience. I think it’s important. I suspect we could all do a better job adhering to his warnings.
Avoid the farm animal mentality.
Avoid being mindlessly fed by the content overlords.
Hunt and fight.
Leave the house.
Experience the world.
I’m holding onto that Don Hertzfeld quote for dear life. I’ve scheduled it to arrive in my inbox once a month. I’ve assigned it a prominent position on my phone. I’ve also printed it and will place it in a frame on my desk.
It’s important.
I don’t want to forget.
I want to do better.
