DIARY - How many friends have you really got [or The Harvey syndrome kicks in]
Date: 2008-08-08 13:22:17
Author: Pat Kent
Have you ever seen "Harvey", the acclaimed and incredibly good James Stewart film? Chances are, if you are over 45, you have. You probably saw it one rainy Sunday afternoon when nothing was on TV and you couldn't go out to play. If your under 45, the chances are you haven't seen it so here's a brief resume.
James Stewart plays Elwood P Dowd, and Harvey is Stewart's character's "imaginary" friend. Harvey is a six feet three and half inch tall white rabbit who acccompanies Dowd, a middle-aged drunk, on drinking bouts and generally appears when Stewart's character needs solace or advice.
Elwood's sister is sick of him introducing the rabbit to everyone and so tries to get Elwood committed to a mental health institution. It's quite a humourous film but it seems to me it might have more and more relevence to the current state of play in the 21st Century than it's 1950's origins.
Let me explain....Do you Facebook? Do you do MySpace...or indeed any other social networking site?
How many "Harveys" on your friends list? I don't mean 6 foot tall rabbits [but then again who knows] but how many imposters or imaginary friends have you really got amongst that huge list of your so-called on-line friends?
I was involved in a discussion the other day between a couple of people, and the following comment was made....
"You've only got a handful friends on facebook, I've got 296 on MySpace...."
Er! how many of those are real people, let alone friends, that you or anyone else as actually met or interacted with.
I love the net it's a great place to allow many varied and creative things to occur, but the downside has got to be the loss of any real interaction that it takes away from human development. I can appreciate that it brings a lot of advantages to people who might be housebound etc, but I see a nightmare future where people, especially todays kids [tomorrow's adults], won't go out beyond their door, losing their childhoods as well as the opportunities to see the real world and enjoy it.
I heard that one of my nephews, whilst on school holidays, asked his Nan if he could connect his Wii/X-box/mind-control thingy to the internet........Yes, was the answer; next thing he's apparently talking to himself in the room. On investigation it turns out his wired himself up via headphones and microphone and is playing his game remotely with a mate living some 5 miles away......not only gettng no real play in his life but not even bothering to go out the door or interactng with a mate to play.
In my day I would have got off my arse and gone round to my mates and played there, more probabaly going out to play.....no wonder our kids are developing into a bunch of obese individuals who will no doubt end up operating within a collective mindset like the Borg from Star Trek.
Is it their fault?...No,I don't think so. It's the parents and guardians whose attention spans can't work beyond sitting them down in front of a box and forgetting about them while they play shoot-them-up and not undertstading what real life is all about or the consequances of where this might all lead......How long until all we have are virtual friends to play virtual games with in the comfort of some virtual world inside your virtual brain.......a brain that's been trained by Nintendo of course.
It was further reinforced to me today, when I read in the paper about another teenager sadly being shot dead in London. An eyewitness was reported to have said....."I've never seen a real person shot before, it was like a film"
For your information, it wasn't like any film; It was real, the bullet was real, the wound was real, the blood was real. his death was real; he and the others won't get up off the floor when the camera stops rolling, not like it happens in any Die Hard film or Batman.
Tragically he, like so many others are dead, they won't be returning like they do in some 3D graphic simulation. there's no CGI here in this world.
Time for adults, those with some sense left, to grow up, get your kids out with some real friends, teach them right from wrong, teach them the consequences of palying with knives and guns, get them to start to understand their worth, the value of things, and learn to respect people, not fear, not the gun some other idiot carries or the venom some intolerant fool preaches, Get a grip on your kids and get them to get a life.
Pat Kent
© Pat Kent 2008 – All rights reserved. Pat Kent exercises his right to be identified as the author.