Pythons Idle and Cleese pen anti-selfie screed Monty Python members Eric Idle and John Cleese have penned a tune titled “Fuck selfies”. As you might conclude from the title, the song is not entirely complimentary to selfies and labels those who take them with celebrities as “gits”, “lunatics” and “pricks”. There's even an exhortation for those who wield selfie sticks to …
You say that like it's a bad thing.
I'm with them, screw those selfie people with their own sticks. If god had meant us to take selfies, he'd have given us extending arms. Therefore they're an affront to God and should burn in heck. And another thing, where are my slippers.
Ditto. Fuck selfies. If you want a picture of yourself get someone else to take it. Or prop your camera on something and use the timer function. Or, and here's a radical idea, live in the moment, realise that you don't need photographic evidence of everything, and use your memory. Besides, many celebrities are celebrities because they achieved something significant - they aren't eye candy to be gawped at. Perhaps you could try chatting with them?
" Besides, many celebrities are celebrities because they achieved something significant "
I was going to say "name one" , but i guess thats not impossible, but these days there is a bigger than ever wave of "celebrity nobodys" . you know the ones - just look at the cast of any show that starts with "celebrity......." , thats 80% gone , then out of the remaining 20% id say 10% have achieved or done anything
"And what about people with bad or poor memories who get anxiety without photo evidence,"
Apparently about 2% of people cannot visualise things, even their own memories. It's called Aphabtasia
"live in the moment, realise that you don't need photographic evidence of everything,"
But, but... how are the people on Facebook going to know what you had for lunch unless you provide photographic evidence of said lunch? I mean, those people are your "friends" and need to know exactly what you ate so they can Like it and comment on it. Life without hundreds of Likes and snarky comments just isn't a Life worth living.
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Selfie sticks are invaluable to those of us who have developed, as a result of age and staring at screens all day, long sight.
Apparently there's this new invention called spectacles that achieve a similar thing. If you need to hold the phone further than arm's length away you should've gone to Specsavers.
LDS, concur. Last multi-day dive trip had pairs who could not take an image of anything, especially clown fish, without their faces grinning behind the anemone. Clown fish usually had hidden by then. Only speed of fish stopped images of being mostly face, not tropical fish. The self obsession that meant the beauty around them could not be appreciated for itself was nauseating.
Kudos to Eric and John. Almost as good as Ed Kilburns "Get off the phone" which make similar observations and is very funny.
re: Don't look at the world. Just look at yourself.
You've probably heard of the Irish dad did that on his trip to Las Vegas (inadvertently). Here's a nicely acerbic take on it and on selfies/vlogging in general:
http://www.vice.com/read/what-irish-gopro-dad-can-teach-us-about-the-future-of-vlogging-104
"That's exactly it. If you go to see something, take a photo of IT. You know you were there, you've got the fucking photo. It doesn't need an ugly mug grinning in the front of the image."
"But what if that wasn't REALLY me? What if I was deluding myself that I went with my BFF who was the one who REALLY went there and took the picture and then MMS's it to me and I thought it was me and so on?"
Some people really CAN'T tell the difference between dreams and reality. Some also fear doctors as mind-controllers.
No. Sometimes, before putting a camera between you and the world, just look at it with your own eyes only - also, listen, smell. Enjoy it. Then, when you really "felt" what you saw, take a picture of it, if you like. There's a chance it will be a better picture also. Resist the tourist urge of showing others where you've been... sometimes the most precious memories can't be captured by a camera.
"perhaps their hatred of selfies has more to do with mortality than anything else?"
really? you dont think its the empty headed banal narcissism of the celebrity nobodys who feed this phenomenon and even worse the people who "follow" them , starry eyed , hoping that one day , if they take enough selfies and tweet enough horse shit , they too can become a talentless braindead celebrity nobody.
I mean jesus , were not short of examples but did you see that only essex fuckwit bimbo trying to articulate why the dictionary is good and why "essex girl" shouldnt be in it recently?
Until you take a step backwards and realise that your life is pathetic and stupid, just like the lives of everybody who "follows" you. Why? Because it's all so very...ordinary.
You know, I once saw some people - I think it was some weirdo challenge thing Richard Branson was doing, anyway they were flying over the sea suspended from helicopters by bungee ropes. That was cool. You can be forgiven for wanting to take a selfie if you do that. But going to a festival or concept with ten thousand other people? Hardly unique.
I've come across some pages... I don't recall if it is blogger or WordPress, it's the one that wants to show you everything all at once with no concept of bite-sized chunks. Anyways, plenty of girls taking lots of photos of themselves wearing outfits they bought at "thrift shops" (American version of the charity shop?). Kind of funny since they're gushing about how wonderful it looks and you just know your GRANNY would have called that outfit old fashioned.
That and endless photos of people eating food. WTF? Fine. Well, today I bought a double pack of Marie 3 cheese pizza. Didn't have space in the freezer compartment, so I put one face down on top of the other and stuck them into the microwave for ten minutes (didn't feel like farting around with the oven). Then I ate them like a giant round calzione. Or maybe a pizza sandwich. Should I upload a dozen photos of me eating it? Why? Or, wait, a better question - why would anybody want to look at said photos? Maybe a photo of the pizza-mess itself (photo or it didn't happen, right?), but a photo of ME eating it? So not necessary. If somebody is going to put photos of themselves eating, I want them eating wichetty grubs. Or raw Jalapeño peppers. Or knocking back Tabasco straight from the bottle...
The Reg is there as an example of everything everyone else should avoid.
Passwords of http - Check
Requires flash - Check
Animated Adverts taking up most of the bandwidth required to load the page - check
All it needs it to require a java plugin and we're there.
The cameras in phones are enormously useful. I even use them for reading the impossibly small print on electronic devices; just photograph then use the zoom function. Good for any number of things including photos of family, friends, scenery.
Selfie sticks are a good idea as well; they let you take pictures with yourself in them if you so wish. No need to do anything fancy with a tripod and self timer. No need to find someone else to take the picture. All good technology which is useful. Researching emigration to NZ we found that if you wanted to go as a couple you needed evidence you were currently in a stable repationship, including pictures of you togetjer if possible. Realised that we don't have any pictures of us together; one of us is always behind the camera. Selfie stick is a sensible option.
Now to the people; on the train to London the other week and two other seats at the table were taken by young women. I was perplexed to watch them spend the first 10 minutes of the journey staring into their phones held at arm's length tilting their heads from side to side and puckering their lips to get a picture they liked. I don't think they had just come out of plastic surgery so they probably looked the same as they did over the last week.
So the technology itself is fine; some of the uses perhaps less so.
So the sticks are a replacement for those outdated "devices" called "parents", "relatives", "friends"?
Moreover I really hate them - they make you look always back - and into a little "mirror". So you always have everything deserved to be looked at behind you. Looks quite silly to me. And, no, it doesn't become more interesting because you're in the picture usually covering most of it.
Anyway, today, anybody accepting a photo as evidence is truly naive. Guess I could easily demonstrate a "stable relationship" dating back to years ago with almost everybody, with a little Photoshop....
"So the sticks are a replacement for those outdated "devices" called "parents", "relatives", "friends"?"
Yes, because they are (a) dead, (b) too far away, and (c) nonexistent.
PS. What evidence would YOU offer, given you don't need a certificate to date and then live in together.
I was perplexed to watch them spend the first 10 minutes of the journey staring into their phones held at arm's length tilting their heads from side to side and puckering their lips to get a picture they liked.
They can do that for ages and ages apparently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1XwvCxVPTc
1. Get cheap digital camera. Fleabay, whatever. Doesn't even have to work.
2. Go to location with lots of tourists.
3. Ask tourist(s) if they can take your picture.
4. Give cheap digital camera to tourist.
5. Turn and run like hell.
6. Enjoy confusion from safe distance.
I haven't experienced a bout of serious down-voting in quite a while, but someone has to say it, so here goes..
I view the entire selfies syndrome as just another extension of the whole "look at me, look what I do" faceb00k self-indulging, self-worth rubbish. I really couldn't care any less what you do or who you take a picture of yourself with.
To the (selfie) people out there: Do you really have such low self-esteem that you need to hijack someone else's to feel some self-worth? Pitiful..
There used to be a "me" generation that was criticized quite a bit in its day, this current "me-too" generation makes the previous one look downright appealing in/by comparison.
Get a life (and please don't share it with me). Now, get off my lawn!
>To the (selfie) people out there: Do you really have such low self-esteem that you need to hijack someone else's to feel some self-worth? Pitiful..
We have evolved to be social creatures. However, much like addictions to substances being subversions of existing behavioural mechanisms, our social tendencies can be perverted by living in an environment that is different to that we evolved in. For these environmental changes, we could use 'technology' in its broadest sense - agriculture is a technology, social structures are a technology, plumbing, literacy, milling flour, crafting tools from flint, using fire - all forms of technology.
A desire to eat fatty and sugary food is a positive survival trait when such substances are in short supply. We didn't do most of our evolving in an environment where fats and sugars are usually abundant, so we might not be as good at regulating our intake as we might be.
An interesting thing: When we are lost in an environment without landmarks, we tend to walk in circles. It's theorised that this means we are more likely to find the rest of our tribe again, a tribe upon we we depend for survival.
For a technological, online publication, I can't actually believe the level of Grumpy Old Gittism going on in this thread (and others!).
FFS If people want to take selfies, providing they're not doing it to the detriment of others, then let them.
Let the downvoting commence! :)
"Which should be a solid proof - prolonged exposure to technology makes people grumpy."
John Peel said that all English men over the age of 55 were grumpy and had a right to be. My guess is that if we could look at the demographic posting here, we would have the explanation of the posting bias.
The younger generation go off and express their alt-right views on Ars. It was really interesting seeing the difference, in the Kaspersky thread, between El Reg and Ars this week. On the one hand "how dare some Russian attack a US company" veiled in different ways - on the other different points of view. No prizes for guessing which was which.
Which should be a solid proof - prolonged exposure to technology makes people grumpy.
- Might be on to something there...
prolonged exposure to hyped up technology that turns out to be the same tat with a spruced up but useless UI makes people grumpy.
Sounds more accurate.
It is bemusing that some of the complaints here come from people who think selfies are not acceptable... on the basis of "what's wrong with using a tripod and the camera's timer?".
As for "normal" people wanting to document their lives, even if only for their "friends", is that really any worse than endless publicity shots, autobiographies or even appearances on chat shows?
By the way, what they were objecting to was not people taking photos of themselves, but asking for a selfie with a celebrity. "Nobody asks for autographs anymore" complains Cleese - as if getting a complete stranger's signature is somehow less weird than having a photo taken with them. At least the photo is personal, unlike an autograph you could buy off eBay.
Shouting at clouds? No, I think the problem is what they say it is. Famous people have, or had, the same problem with idiots asking for autographs who had no pen and nothing to autograph. Same issue: time wasting.
Anyone who has answered the phone only to have to wait while the autodial robot signals a real human that some fool has picked up the call should be sympathetic to the message.
.. people ought to be commended for the effort of carrying along a stick to beat them with.
:)
Question: are those the same people that ignore years of noise cancellation development by using speakerphone for every call whilst holding the phone at a 45º upwards angle and shouting at the bottom end? If so, I hope they bring along a selfie stick of a good, long lasting quality.
It's all about Me, Me, Me. Me in every picture, proof that Me was somewhere, proof that Me met someone, proof that Me has a new shirt. <YAWN!> Personally I rarely take pics of Me, could care less if anyone wants proof of anything, and if I need an aide-memoire I take a pic of what I need to remember. Only an egomaniac takes endless pictures of themselves and posts them on "social" media. Get over yerself. Nobody cares!
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