I lost my skype virginity last night to the lovely Morgan Voss. Actually, it was even more special than that, because we lost our skype virginity to each other. Neither of us really knew what was going on, however, and we experienced several malfunctions. She couldn't see me for much of the experience, but I could see her. This is one of the creepier aspects of webcams. I feel like skyping should be a symbiotic relationship. If someone is offering their image to me, then I should reciprocate. I felt like big brother, monitoring the activity of Morgan while all she could see was a black screen; she could hear my booming, dystopian voice leading the two minutes of hate (Orwellian reference anyone?) , but this is hardly a comforting thing.
I've always had a natural aversion to webcams. I met my best friend Amber's latest and most serious boyfriend on a webcam; I was over at her house and she asked me if I wanted to meet her boyfriend. I knew he lived in San Diego, so I answered with a hesitant "...sure?" and suspiciously peeked around the walls of the house, half-expecting him to pop out from behind a piece of furniture. She led me to her bedroom, and I was severely confused. Why did she lock her boyfriend up in the bedroom like that? Was he deformed; unsociable; a dwarf?
When I entered her room, however, I saw and heard no one, save the incessant hum of her computer monitor. Amber sat on the edge of her bed and stared straight ahead at the screen. I followed suit, and saw a man staring back at me. "Hi Mackenzie, I'm Michael. Its nice to meet you!" he said, extending a hand towards the computer screen. I extended mine as well in an awkward, imaginary gesture.
Video chat has always freaked me out. It creates the illusion that a person who really isn't there is, well, there. But its fake, and I know it is, and when I stare at the screen I can't get that fact out of my head. Plus, the intimacy of conversation is regulated by a technological middle man, automatically diminishing its purity. Last night, Morgan and I wanted to have a three-way conversation with Danielle, and found a program online that allowed it. My computer, however, continually froze during the conversation. I exited out and reentered about four times, before giving up on it. Here, the technological middle man prevented me from engaging in conversation with two of my favorite people. Even if I would have succeeded, however, the conversation would have been filtered through the interweb, lacking the face-to-face communication that allows for intimacy. In my opinion, you can try to reach people all you want on the internet, but there will always be a computer screen blocking your way. People can be fake and superficial in real life; 'tis true, but still, nothing beats the ability to recognize body language, voice inflection, and other signs of communication that are only illusory on the web. Plus, weirdos could totally live on their skype. Picture this: a skype couple who does everything together--on skype. They both carry their laptops around and eat their meals together, go out in public together, watch movies, etc. Let your imagination run wild on that one.
On another note, I saw the Man in the Iron Mask the other day, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as--get this?--TWO DIFFERENT CHARACTERS. And they have opposite personalities! Oh man! Acting at its finest, I promise you.
*MAN IN THE IRON MASK SPOILER ALERT*
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