Powerful Video

I came across this short film whilst doing my usual social media rounds, and couldn't forget it for days.

I think the message it is conveying is so so powerful - it has a lot to do with the contrasts between the first and third world. It has obviously been designed to make an impact on people so that they realise they should apprieciate what they have rather than complain when things do not live up to their personal standard.

I observed that a large number of the comments were to do with technology, "I hate it when I leave my phone charger downstairs" and , "When I can't walk and text at the same time". This really got me thinking; we have become so absorbed by the innovation of technology that we now expect certain things as standard; everyday these standards are rising and I wonder, when and where will this chain of greed and competition end?

Of course I cannot be certain of what lies ahead, but if our technology develops at the rate it is, it is logical to predict that one day we will be completely controlled by technology. This of course has its pro's and con's and I imagine you could battle it out pretty well either way; only time will tell what will actually happen, but in the meantime we can but debate. I cannot deny that technology is an amazing outlet; I'm using it at this very moment in time! However I feel like we need to learn that it is not something to be abused, and we should embrace and perfect the technologies we have available before developing more.

Anyway, I decided to research into how this concept was thought up, and discovered that it was central to a hastag on social media site, Twitter called #firstworldproblems (click to view feed on twitter). The hashtag is made up of tweets from people living in first world cultures expressing their everyday issues with a touch of sarcasm and a dash of ignorance. Examples include,

" I haven't even had my nails done for 24 hours and have somehow managed to already break one"

 

"My dad got new wifi for our house and didn't tell me the password"

 

"Did an intensive hair mask yesterday and now my Skullcandy headphones keep slipping off head"

 

Additionally, I found the picture on the right accompanied by the caption, "Well, which one is right?!?!"

 

This video made me realise the strength and impact of contrasts. If you put one entity beside it's opposite, the effect will become exaggarated, when really all you have done is extend the process. It has inspired me to ensure we have plenty of contrasts within our music video, and also to make similar content on a personal level - maybe reverse the effect and have first world people saying third world problems, or a look into commercialism etc.

 

"First world problems are not real problems" - Water Aid.