This video is a re-edit of the
music video titled "Are You Lost In The World Like Me" with the song
"Mad World" by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules. While the original
felt like a mix between an old-fashioned black-and-white cartoon mixed with an
energetic anime-esque theme song featuring caricatures of today's cell phone
users, the remix casts a far more depressing tone over the video. The video
revolves around a child who is surrounded by several different crowds of people
in different environments such as subway trains and a city. These people are
staring at their cell phones with wide eyes every second that they are on
screen. Several instances of cell phone use are showed, such as people staring
at them in a restaurant while several animals are about to be slaughtered,
presumably the same child's parents allowing him to wander off because they
were checking their phones right after his birth, as well as several people
recording a girl committing suicide while the child watches in terror. Lastly,
the video shows everyone staring at their phones while slowly walking off to
their deaths.
While this video is clearly an
exaggeration of the real world today, there is some cold truth in it. Everyone
is spending too much time on their cell phones while they should be focusing on
the real world. There are several times in the video where the child tries to
get the people's attention yet he simply cannot because they are so immersed in
their cell phones. And there are certain situations in which people really do
not need to be on their cell phones as well as situations in which it is
absolutely unacceptable to pull out a cell phone. With the popularity of social
media and the constant obsession over new content, this animation really shows
how social media is harming our ability to interact with others and ultimately,
our lives.
