To examine the limitation of Manovich's book, it's best to break down his argument in a chronological way.
Manovich built the premises of his argument by this statement:
'We are surrounded by highly dense information surface' and hence, 'it's appropriate to expect from cinema a similar logic.'
In my opinion, his first claim is undeniably valid and current even thought the text was written 10 years ago. With the rapid development of network technology, our life as I mentioned numerous times before is unquestionably 'FLOODED BY OVEREXPOSED INFORMATIONS' that we become submerged in this 'SOAKED-UP WORLD'. Manovich reads this phenomenon as a positive progression of the cyberculture in which he projects an hypothesise that 'we are used to switching our attention rapidly from one to another' and as a result, 'we may find multiple streams of audio-visual information (split screens) more satisfying'. I believe the main issue here is not the 'if/then' hypothesise he theorised but the assumption that we will find more 'SATISFACTION' through the complexed 'multiple streams of audio-visual presented simultaneously' in NEW cinema than the much more linear and simplistic traditional cinema.
From my perspective, it's not all that good to be constantly immersed in this highly dense society. Although, we can arguably absorb information at a faster rate, but at the same time, it also burdens our mind. As a result, we often become overwhelmed by all these heavy processing of informations and 'constant switching of attentions'. I believe that the limitation of Manovich's theory lies in the confined of our emotive suspense. Before we fully agree to Manovich's vision of future cinema, we should ask ourself whether more is always Better or Not... Sometimes, after an intense session of researching, evaluating and typing an Academic essay on my computer while constantly checking facebook and texts; I would find myself be extremely exhausted and tiring. The best way that works for me is to go out for a walk in the park and listen to some simple and relaxing music, perhaps even watch a movie!
What should ENTERTAINMENT BE? SIMPLE? or COMPLEX?
Harder? Better? Faster?......STRONGER!?
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