Thursday, November 1, 2018

VR is Privilege

After watching the VR in class the other day, it was a cool experience that made me think a little but. We all got to get a glimpse of what it was like to live in such horrible conditions in war-torn places. However, what I really thought about after was how privileged we are to just turn on a video, watch people struggling in ways we can never imagine, turn it off, and go back to our regular lives, while once the cameras stopped filming these people, they stayed in their struggle. It made me feel bad, but I also don't agree with the people talking about how magical of an experience it is, I don't see anything magical from watching someone struggle just to feel bad for them for a minute, it doesn't do anything for either side of it. The VR experience was just a privilege that we get here, where the people we are learning about don't even have rights, it seems lopsided. I think that there needs to be more action to help those people instead of watching them struggle to help themselves, it's almost offensive to them that we are even watching these. It reminds me of Bonds of Love, in the sense that we are establishing ourselves as the object in this situation, and making them the subject, and I feel bad for that, and them. There needs to be more action and less short-lasting empathy.

4 comments:

  1. This is an interesting way to look at it. I disagree however that it is offensive that we are watching it, where I completely do agree that we should make these videos more action based. I think that seeing these horror is a good way to get the word out, but that word should not only be the bad things, it should also be what we are going to do about it

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  2. I agree with how the significance of watching the struggling lives of these refugees is minimal, as steps are not being taken to alleviate the circumstances. I believe that watching these videos are good first step, but actions must be taken to help these people out, or else, like you said, it will just be a privilege that continues to contribute to the problems we have with refugees seeking help.

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  3. I agree with the experience being cool, but making you think a bit. Watching the video, it did give us a glimpse of their reality, it's just sad how we can turn it off and be ok, when that's their lives. They can't escape.

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  4. I agree, Although watching these videos was an interesting a new experience it doesn't help anyone or change anything. I think that it may be a good idea to have to pay to experience that particular video and others like it and have the money go to those in the video who have had their homes ravaged by war zones and other unfortunate events.

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