George Castle

ENG.111-Anderson
Movie Synthesis
12/4/14
A Robot Monkey on Our Backs
Fourteen years into the twenty-first century, it is impossible to deny that the internet
is one of the single most important tools in our life and has blew up out of proportion. One can
do anything with the internet: find answers, find old friends, play games, order food, clothes, and
even a wife if a person is that lonely. Without a doubt, the internet has benefits that make life
extremely easier, but is it bad for our reading and writing skills? Video Games: The Movie says
no, and that it has created a form of writing and made the lives of many easier. It also says it is
very beneficial to our society. Nicholas Carr, the author of "Is Google Making Us Stupid," says
that it is completely changing our reading and writing skills and the way that we think...for the
worse. Jay David Bolter, author of "Writing Culture," sees that the internet has created a totally
new form of writing that the user can adapt in their own way instead of demanding that the
readers adapt to the writing (Bolter). I believe the internet is a very valuable tool and now a
necessity for everyone to have and that the way that it has let us write is a very revolutionary
idea. People now have easy accessibility to be published for free, just by the click of a button.
World-changing ideas can be sent in seconds. Let us now delve into how the internet can be
beneficial.
New ways of writing and reading have been brought to us with the internet and other

technology. A specific example are video games. In Video Games: The Movie, directed by
Jeremy Snead, it talks about the evolving process of writing for a video game. There is no
"proper" form but there is framework depending on the type of game being made or played. With
the younger generation, it can be easily said this is their new form of literature, which in turn is
entertainment. The Video Game industry is huge, with 24 Billion dollars spent on it in 2013
alone (Snead). With novels, all the reader did was read about the character. Now, in video games,
the reader can be the character. Video games are an interactive form of literature. The rise in
video games can be directly correlated to the interactiveness and how realistic it looks (Snead).
Video games bring people together. There are book clubs and poetry clubs with those subjects
and they do bring people together, but not nearly on the level of video games. People travel very
long distances just to watch people play a certain video game (Snead). They have even created
lasting friendships and marriages, just through gaming (Snead). Technology has special
privileges that print does not (Bolter). This leads to a worry of Bolter's though. He is worried that
written communication on the internet could become one of the only ways we humans
communicate. However, as I stated, Video Games: The Movie proved this to be untrue with all
the conventions held for gamers where they can meet and socialize in person. Bolter should not
worry that human's only form of socialization will be on the internet. He can just sit back and
appreciate the new art form of literature taking cultures unfolding before his eyes. Video Games
are a now, very culturally relevant form of literature. The internet creates writing (Bolter). Video
Games: The Movie argues that technology makes life easier and is beneficial to society as a
whole. Nicholas Carr however, would beg to differ that writing on the internet is "art" and that it
is not beneficial to the user's own thought processing.
Carr believes the internet is changing how humans think entirely. Carr says that the

internet's form of reading shapes our process of thought, for the worse. He and his friends have
noticed a change in their reading, and I can say I have also (although I believe the internet is
fantastic). "The deep reading that used to come naturally has become a struggle (Carr)." Carr
writes that readers cannot read so deeply anymore and get too distracted. Readers tend to skim
over words and nit-pick information. He writes that the distraction is due to pop-up
advertisements and notifications while readers are browsing the internet. Carr writes, "Our
ability to interpret text, to make the rich mental connections that form when we read deeply and
without distraction, remains largely disengaged (Carr)." Readers' minds have been transformed
when reading. In order to switch to a new form of reading, readers, "...have to teach their (our)
minds how to translate the symbolic characters we see into the language we understand (Carr)."
Not only does Carr think the internet changes the way we think, but the way we write as well. He
uses the legendary german philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, as a reference. Nietzsche once said,
"...our writing equipment takes part in the forming of our thoughts." Bolter would agree that
technology (the internet) changes the way we write. However, it is an entirely new form and the
writer can adapt to it however they need to, rather than following a specific outline. We adapt the
writing to our own needs. Carr argues the internet is degrading the way people think.
The internet is an entirely new form of literature. Video Games: The movie argues how
great it is and how it is changing our world for the better. Carr sees the internet as a demon
warping our mind's intellectual and thinking properties. Bolter is on a fence, writing about how
we'll see where this technology takes us but how it is so benificial, as the internet is a mass
publisher. What once took a long time now only takes the tapping of a few keys and the click of a
button. Carr says the internet changes the way we read by it's pop-ups. This is probably true, but
if there were no pop-ups, would it change the way one reads? He would see video games as a

distraction, however Video Games: The Movie would see it as a new form of education and
entertainment. Bolter would agree with the movie at this point. The movie would say the internet
allows mass socialization. It connects millions. Carr would see this as a very dangerous way of
socialization. The movie would argue though with the personal relationships and the conventions
it has created just through video games. With this mass socialization, many people can talk
however. With the internet allowing a writer to write whatever they want and publish it as Bolter
wrote, one could write very vulgar things, which has been done. Carr would argue the internet is
not a place for children. Bolter and the movie would have to agree with Carr. Video Games: The
Movie's only possible argument would be video games' ESRB ratings, but not even that can
prevent the freedom of language when connected to millions of other players online. The internet
has without a doubt gave us a new art form and has granted much freedom. But will it transform
people to think like a machine? Only the future holds the answer.

Works Cited:
Video Games: The Movie. Dir. Jeremy Snead. Perf. Sean Astin, Zach Braff, Larry
Akins, Nolan Bushnell, Ernest Cline. Mediajuice Studios, 2014. Netflix.
Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Exploring Relationships: Globalization
and Learning in the 21st Century. Boston: Pearson. 2013. Print. 370-377.
Bolter, Jay David. "Writing Culture." Composing Knowledge: Readings for College
Writers. Ed. Rolf Norgaard. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2001. Print. 654-665