Abstract
Distraction is the misallocation of attention, often considered as one of the consequences of modernity. German scholars in Weimar represented by Siegfried Kracauer and Walter Benjamin consider moving images as continuous “visual stimuli”, which audience accept with distraction while having no time for contemplation. Paul Virilio and some scholars of media economy consider images as endless “perception supply”, thinking that accelerated supply of images will eventually lead to a lack of audience concentration, followed by various media's fierce competition and ruthless capture of the audience. Today, while video products are incredibly abundant and more accessible, audience become increasingly insouciant. They are often impatient at videos with slow plot progression or insufficient sensory stimuli. In contrast, they frequently speed up the film watching process by selecting multi-speed playback or consuming “speed reading” products. The acceleration of film watching makes the audience think less, and the large numbers of commentaries make videos increasingly shallow. Film audience find themselves encountering an era with rich impressions but insufficient experience.
Keywords
image, distraction, attention, Walter Benjamin, Paul Virilio
First Page
109
Last Page
118
Recommended Citation
Chang, Shi. 2024. "Watching Films in the Age of Distraction." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 44, (4): pp.109-118. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol44/iss4/12
