Borkowski Weekly Media Trends 30-07-21
Facebook enters the Metaverse | Simone Biles | Doctor Who vs The Culture Wars
Facebook enters the Metaverse
This week, Facebook made a serious commitment to the metaverse with Zuckerberg announcing that he’s pouring billions to conquer this new frontier.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/2021/07/28/facebook-metaverse/?sh=439d965c18bc
For those unfamiliar, the metaverse is being described by some tech evangelists as the next generation of the web. Today’s metaverse is characterised by digital avatars that represent real people – think of it as creating your own Sims character that can interact with other Sims being controlled by real people online. Platform’s like Roblox and Fortnite have pushed the metaverse’s relevance to new heights as younger people continue to spend more of their social lives online, turbo-charged by the pandemic.
So, will Zuckerberg’s foray into this space be a success? Most are sceptical claiming he’s focusing too heavily on AR / VR – technology that has struggled with mainstream adoption.
Although Zuckerberg is late to the party, there’s acres of new territory to develop. Whilst companies like Epic Games have found success, this is only a small part of where the metaverse will eventually go. These tech giants have conquered the web as we know it and their mere presence at this stage of the metaverse will mean Facebook will be right at the forefront of the metaverse’s mainstream adoption. Whether the current tech giants can monopolise web 3.0 is a different story…
Simone Biles’ Olympic withdrawal has made her even more of an icon
When Simone Biles withdrew from the Toyko 2020 Olympics this week, citing her mental health as the reason, the media were quick to swarm. It was a moment reminiscent of Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open: any criticism of these athletes, or suspicion about the legitimacy of their claims, was quickly drowned out by support on social media. Piers Morgan’s Instagram post questioning Biles’ motives (stating that ‘champions don’t quit’ and encouraging her to ‘get back on her feet’) quickly saw commenters pointing out that ‘quitters’ don’t tend to have 26 gold medals under their belt…
As Biles said via Instagram yesterday: ‘the outpouring love & support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before’.
Yes, Simone Biles is more than just an athlete. But ironically, that is exactly what makes her the perfect superstar athlete for society today. Authenticity has gone beyond being a winning attribute for a public figure, to a necessary one. By being honest, and brave enough to speak publicly about her mental health, Biles has not dented her career. Instead, this move will find millions of young people looking up to her more than ever. If she should want to, this moment could propel her even further to superstardom. If she doesn’t, today’s woke public might just be okay with that too.
Doctor Who: can new casting stop show being dragged into the Culture Wars
The expected news that Jodie Whittaker is hanging up her sonic screwdriver has reawakened the national discussion around one of Britain’s most powerful cultural institutions, Doctor Who. But rather than the excited chatter that preceded her own casting (or those of Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi before her) the sci-fi series – whose longevity and durability has at times threatened to rival that of its protagonist- is now facing questions about its relevance, even its future.
On one hand it’s in danger of crossing the Event Horizon of the Culture Wars. Episodes about Indian partition and Rosa Parks compounded the casting of a human woman to play a time-travelling alien Demigod with two hearts in the eyes of those who see the show as a woke-signalling bastion of the BBC’s leftist agenda.
On the other, Doctor Who is in a race with a number of other traditionally male, pale, and stale cultural behemoths – James Bond, Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, Marvel, Ghost Busters- to prove its diversity and progressive values in an age where those are increasingly non-negotiable prerequisites of success with a young audiences.
So who do you cast who will appease both sides?
It’s an impossible question. Here are some of the mad calculations going on as we speak:
Michaela Coel - To some she is perhaps the pre-eminent British comedy-dramatic talent of our time, idiosyncratic charisma in every atom of her being. To the anti-woke brigade though a progressive WOC in the Tardis will always be a tool of deep woke and PC gone mad.
Olly Alexander – This is a tricky one because although a gay actor playing The Doctor would be a milestone (and there’s a nice symmetry to both Olly and the series’ connections to Russell T Davies), a largely sexless alien offers producers limited opportunities to use Olly as a vessel for their progressive credentials. It would probably be a bit on the nose for The Doctor to come out, while merely hinting at queerness has been received in other instances as a quasi-appropriative half measure - as the straightwashing accusations around Bohemian Rhapsody, and more recently the controversy surrounding Jack Whitehall’s character in Jungle Cruise.
Richard Ayoade – Like Coel, would be the first person of colour to play the doctor, but unlike Coel or Alexander, he’s a little cosy, establishment and middle-aged, and wouldn’t necessarily nail down the show’s continued relevance with a new, young, ultra-progressive audience.
Mark Borkowski – Well he does have some slightly Time Lord-ish traits. Snappy dresser? Check. Fast-talking repartee and mind-boggling collection of anecdotes? Check. Thrived professionally through several eras? Check. Long suffering sidekicks? Couldn’t possibly comment… Lads I think we’re on to something here…