Stop Recording Everything
On a recent spring evening, I took my son to Cirque du Soleil’s beautiful Mexican-themed production, Luzia. When we arrived, the iconic giant, swirling Cirque blue and white tent with a gold sun welcomed us. The stage was state-of-the-art and the venue was thematically first-rate.
Just as the lights dimmed and the music began, hundreds of audience members whipped out their phones and started to record the show. Unlike a Broadway show, this behavior was acceptable; the ushers did not stop anyone from recording the show. The only limitation was a prohibition on flash photography. Perhaps Cirque realized they couldn’t stop people from recording anyway, so they just tried to place limits on cell phone use during the show.
Having phones obstructing your view and shining light in your face is distracting to say the least. However, since I’ve never tried it, I figured I would take my phone out and shoot some video of the show in case my son wanted to revisit it later and simply experience what it is like to take video as so many were already doing this.
I want to share that within a matter of seconds, taking my phone out during the performance not only felt uncomfortable and deeply disrespectful to the performers and those around me, but having my device out and recording the performance fundamentally changed the event for me.
Cirque shows are famous for being immersive, captivating your attention throughout the venue. Now with my phone out, rather than focusing on the music and performances, I waited for the right moment to capture just the right shot of an acrobat soaring through the air. As opposed to sitting back and taking in the experience holistically and being situationally aware, I was instead fixated on trying to hold my phone steady, keeping my image in focus, and minimizing arm pain as I watched only a sampling of a gorgeous visual performance on a small screen only inches from my face.
I hated what happened to me in a mere five minutes; I wasn’t emotionally present, and I wasn’t living in the moment. I passively tried to record a show, and I was unable to discern what to record as I wasn’t processing the event fully. Trying to capture the show on my phone took me out of the flow of the show entirely, and I was excited to put down the phone. I tried to ignore everyone else’s phone around me and focused on getting back into the show.
Luzia was never intended to be captured on a four-inch screen. Cirque shows are created and artistically designed to be felt through their music and full 270-degree views of light, color, and action. Putting my phone down and knowing that I was not going to text or check email or social media put me back into the Cirque show, and I loved seeing and being with my son as he reacted to the various acts and puppets and enjoyed the overall spectacle.
Having a chance to have my phone out and record a show made it unquestionably clear just how destructive these devices are for actually engaging with life in real space and time. To capture so much on our devices means people are transitioning from being active participants in life into a passive, often disengaged, viewers and consumers in their surroundings.
Not everything needs to be recorded, and so much recording is ruining our civil sphere. Instead of connecting, empathizing, and organizing with others in shared spaces and shared moments, users with phones out are thinking about how to get a shot or capture an angle of a presentation to share. We are no longer connected with others or are immersed in situations where we are fully connecting, and our deep polarization and mistrust of others is a powerful consequence.
While Americans are welcome to live their lives as they wish, we must try to re-connect in real space and in real-time and fight against so much social isolation. So, as the warmer weather of spring brings more people outside, I want to ask Americans to do something really challenging given our addiction to information and social media: put your phone away. Not everything needs to be recorded and shared at all times and we would all benefit from being more present when we are around others.
In trying to capture and record so much in our lives digitally, we are failing to live our lives authentically in reality and have shared moments of joy, euphoria, heartbreak, and progress. We can and must do better and we can work toward regaining our public spirit, community, and humanity if we try to record and capture less and instead live, listen, and learn from others more often without these digital omnipresent distractions.
Originally published on AEI Ideas: https://www.aei.org/society-and-culture/stop-recording-everything/