Comments on Tracing the Decay of Fiction

I just wanted to put out a few thoughts on this database narrative. I did enjoy it, because it was like I was exploring—going through an old hotel and seeing bits of its history, as if from various people I met. The thing is, though, it is not literature to me. It does not seem to have a plot. It is just a simulation of real life when you do not have access to a real old hotel to explore or real people or videos to reveal what the hotel life was like in the past. I feel like, in some ways, this type of simulation simply encourages the sedentary lifestyle that is characteristic of the U.S. Perhaps I am too critical. Perhaps I am condemning this media for doing what all media do, which is replacing the real. I suppose I am just confused at how different this is from traditional homework and how there is no real goal. It is so lifelike. To me, this might mean that this type of homework is meant to give one a new perspective on the multidimensionality of real life, enhancing real experience, opening up one to think sociologically (or in a historical context). This could translate into understanding changing structures of society, which might lead to social justice. Interesting. With Soft Cinema, we might be encouraged to pay more attention to our senses and to really question how the format of what we are shown or told really does affect our overall conception of that story. This might make us more critical of politics and even the psychology behind human interactions. This could lead to our ability to see a situation for what it is, and not just how it is presented, which can be useful in establishing a grounded sense of reality. Not to mention it develops our sense of aesthetics. I guess there are some useful applications of this type of homework. It is almost like philosophy.