civilized ku # 148 ~ is it real or is it Memorex?

Hugo pictures Lily and Lily returns the favor • click to embiggenOn our holiday trip to New Jersey, Hugo made a paradigm-changing discovery about pictures. To be precise, moving pictures and, in particular, moving pictures as viewed on a television screen but, nevertheless, certainly one that is applicable to still pictures as well.

As mentioned, we (8 of us) interrupted our journey to south Jersey with a 4 hour stop in Newark, NJ to see a professional hockey game - the Pittsburgh Penguins vs the New Jersey Devils. It was a significant event for Hugo for 3 reasons - 2 eagerly anticipated reasons and 1 totally unexpected. The first 2 reasons were, simply enough; 1) his first in-person NHL hockey game, and, 2) his "date" with Lily at that hockey game. Both reasons were eagerly anticipated, especially the date part (have I mentioned that he is 4 going on 16?).

Unanticipated reason #3 came as a big surprise to me and to Hugo - Hugo has viewed countless Penguins games on television. He is well aware of players and stars like Sid-the-Kid and the Candy Man. His personal favorite is former Penguin Gary Roberts. We don't know why that is, it just is.

So, when we arrived in the arena, the teams were still on the ice for their pre-game warmups. While the wife was standing in line for refreshments, I took Hugo into the arena to see the whole deal - lots of people, the jumbotron, lighting effects and all of the general hoopla that is a pro-sporting event here in the good ole US of A.

As he was taking it all in, I pointed out Sid-the-Kid and the Candy Man down on the ice, whereupon he looked and looked and looked some more at them, especially so at Sid-the-Kid. His gaze was intense and I could almost hear the gears and bells and whistles sounding in his head. After a few minutes of looking and thinking, he turned to me and said,

"I didn't know Sid-the-Kid was real.", and, a little later, "I didn't even know Roberts was real."

Just like that, his view of the world changed in an instant. And, just like that, my view of what's the most important thing that he can learn for his future life - that is his ability, in a media saturated world, to distinguish real from the imagined - also changed in an instant. Sure, sure, reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic are much needed tools for survival but, if you really think about it, when it comes to distinguishing between need and desire in a media world saturated with pictures (both moving and still) that are solely intended to seduce and excite the lust to consume, a basic understanding of what's real and what's fanciful is a very important skill to have.

A skill that most people seem to have ignored or never have possessed in the first place.

That is why, Hugo and I are about to embark upon a concentrated program of both picturing and picture viewing. Nothing real "heavy", just what seems to come naturally to him - he does seem to genuinely like to both make and look at pictures. and that's a language that I would very much like him to learn right along side the language of the written word that he is currently starting to learn.

Not to mention, I really like how kids see their world.
Hugo and Lily • click to embiggenIt is definitely quite different from the way adults see their world. IMO, that is is especially true when they picture each other. I believe that is so because when picturing each other, they relate to each other kid-to-kid as opposed to when an adult pictures them and they relate kid-to-adult.

I submit as evidence of my kid-to-kid vs kid-to-adult theory, the pictures that accompany this entry - the 2 kid-to-kid pictures above and my kid-to-adult picture on the left. IMO and to my eye and sensibilities, there is a sense of ease and directness as well as a far less posed quality that is very apparent in the kid-to-kid pictures than that which is captured in the kid-to-adult picture.

Call me crazy, but I am acutely aware - from viewing the pictures - of the fact that Lily and Hugo were sharing a very different picture making dynamic with each other from that which they were together sharing with me. Each gave to the other as part of the picturing act something that was quite different from that which they gave to me.

Both Hugo and Lily engaged in chimping after they made their respective pictures but neither have seen a print of their efforts. I will be especially eager to watch Hugo view his picture of Lily when he visits on New Year's day.

I really wonder what it is he will judge to be real.