The Rise of Physical Media

Hey, yall!!

It seems the muses have guided me back to my google doc today ;)

I grew up watching dvds; The Lion King and I were the bestest of friends. I grew up flicking through cds to play in the car–yes, I was likely choosing One Direction. My shelves are stacked with books and some of my dad’s old comics. My walls are covered in posters. And these are the things I hold closest to my heart.

I find myself circling back to this question time and time again: why are we turning back to physical media? 

It’s no secret that this day and age is highly digitalized. It’s an anomaly (hi Christoper Nolan) to be able to do anything without a smartphone. Phones are the primary way to connect with someone, get directions, navigate a business, etc. Phones, along with TVs and laptops, are also the primary way many of us get our entertainment. Disney+, Hulu, Netflix; the list goes on endlessly. Except there’s always this colossal mountain: plans. And bam there goes your money. As someone who didn’t earn a lot of money–and doesn’t currently (thank you college)–it’s honestly depressing seeing the mass of money that’s consumed just to be able to watch something. It’s kind of stupid how Spotify basically just doesn’t function unless you pay for it. Like why do I have limited skips, ads every two songs, and when I search up a song it doesn’t actually play it….

And now to my point: I’ve noticed a rise in the use of physical media. 

I, personally, have always loved physical media. I think it comes with the territory of loving to read. I’ve got about three stacked bookshelves in my room back home that I’ve accumulated probably since I was like 9. I think just the idea of having something tangible is a siren song for people today in an age when it feels like you can never connect with the people around you. 

I also have had cds for a few years–thank you to my 2016 Hyundai Sonata for having a cd player in it (rip you didn’t deserve a tree branch falling on you). And I recently got a cd player!! I actually think it’s older than I am and uses 6 whole C batteries but you know, gotta do what you gotta do. So, I’ve started collecting more cds, and it’s made me realize just how much I love physical media. 

I think a lot of it is truly because of how we’ve become so disconnected. Talking to someone on a screen only does so much–the euphoria I feel when I get to hang out with my friends in person is glorious. Additionally, I think it’s because (and now I’m generally speaking for probably younger genZ) we want something that is concrete evidence of our identity. Besides the fact that we're young and in an extremely defining moment in our lives, this age has left us shifting in the waves of endless videos and ads. I think we yearn for something that screams ‘this is who I am; this is what I like’. It's a trophy to our identity. And physical media is something tangible, something real that doesn’t just exist in this weird void that is the World Wide Web.

Physical media is also a choice. It’s easy to get dragged into the current of the algorithm. But physical media is an active choice to participate in a source of entertainment, and once the movie, show, album, or book ends, you’re done. You get to step out.

I also think it has a lot to do with the rise of AI. It kind of coincides with what I’ve been saying: we want reallll connection. Quite frankly, AI is the exact opposite of that (I’m a biggg AI hater but that’s neither here nor there). I think in such a digitalized age we turn toward human connection; the things we can hold in our own hands. 

Okay, that's all!

Xoxo

Kenny

When I get to learn about things I'm interested in

Hey, y’all!!

Okay, so I recently just watched The Odyssey, and it got me thinking (about a lot of things lol). 

One, I’m in love with mythology–anyone who knows me can attest to that. There are, of course, some things I was disappointed that he took out. I was absolutely dying to see the nobody scene play out. And I was sad–but not surprsied–to see Nolan’s depictions of the women in this epic. I wouldn’t say this is what I completely wanted out of an adaptation of The Odyssey, but I can’t deny that it was wonderful cinema. I think the overarching theme of the weight of war and the consequences of man’s actions on the world was interesting and a nice tie into Oppenheimer butttt I personally would’ve loved to see more of the complex character that Odyssesus is. Unfortunately, he is not a perfect hero–no matter how much Nolan wanted him to be. 

You’d be surprised to know that this was actually not the main point of this post when I started writing lmao. But nonetheless I thought I’d keep it in to share if anyone’s got some thoughts!

My actual point was, once again, I love mythology–and with that, I absolutely adore history. I’ve gotten to take an ancient mythology course this summer during my first semester and boy let me tell y’all, I am having the time of my life. I’ve learned about Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, Chinese, Israelite, Ugaritic, Hittite, and Mesoamerican mythology. It’s so interesting to see how cultures affect these stories, and I honestly think I could yap about what I’ve learned for eons. And of course, it’s been very interesting learning about how a lot of these cultures interacted and influenced one another. Like the Epic of Gilgamesh has influenced soooo many cultures because it’s such an old piece of writing!! We get to see what these cultures deemed important–and through exciting stories.

And if I love mythology that means I love history because inevitably, the two are intertwined. Though an unpopular opinion with my peers in high school, I loved my history classes. I follow numerous creators on tiktok that are sharing snippets of the world’s history. There is just sooo much to learn about. My major require me to at least have a minor, and I’m honestly really debating on whether or not to choose history. I also think history calls to me so much because I just love to learn. While going to school wasn’t my favorite (education system is just yeouch sometimes), I was always enamored with learning. I don’t really know how to explain the feeling but it’s just this big salad of excitement and anticipation and intrigue and I don’t even know. Anyone else feel like this? (towards anything honestly)

But I think y’all have heard enough from me today lol so toodles!

Xoxo

Kenny✨🌀

first post!!

Hey, y'all!!

I'm in my first semester of college right now (go noles!) and am taking a poetic technique class that seems to have lit a fire under my love for writing again. I've been writing more, reading more, learning more, and it's such a wonderful feeling to be doing something I love so much.  

I'm probably just writing out into the void right now, but I thought starting this would keep me motivated towards writing. This blog will probably be a hodgepodge of random thoughts, places I find in Tallahassee as I continue to explore it, and hopefully some poetry!

So if you happen to stumble upon this, hello! I'm glad you're here lol and I hope ya stay :)

xoxo

Kenny✨🌀