Earlier this week I watched The Human Centipede, which is probably the worst idea for a movie ever. If you haven’t seen it, you’re not missing anything except for terrible imagery which will haunt our society for the next decade and a half.
Still, watching it gave me a terrible idea that I had to share on here because that’s what the internet is for, right? Sharing terrible ideas that should rather be kept quietly to oneself.
It seems there are less original thoughts than ever before. Hollywood makes less original movies. Everything seems to be a remake. Blogs reblog other blogs.
Instead of thinking and brainstorming and coming up with new and original ideas, we are instead like a human centipede. We just take the ideas that someone else has come up with and shit out at the last minute on their blog, digest it, and then shit out something even more terrible for people, who digest it and send it on.
I know great minds sometimes think alike, but they also need to think differently. How useful is your blog if you are just reacting to what everyone else is doing? Retweeting is nice, but don’t you have an original thought to share?
We often talk about curation, but that’s really just a nice verb to say “I don’t have original thoughts. But these people do.” There are enough “Me toos” and “This is great!” But you’re smarter than that. Write something original. Take a nice photo. Make a cool video. Do something that proves your brain can do more than just share.
But who am I kidding. Most people can’t think beyond a Facebook status.
F*%k it. I’m just gonna go share everything on Mashable.
Just when I thought you had tapped the extend of creativity that could be put into stick figures - BOOM you come up with this.
tbh, I did get a little nausea from gut reaction since it took me about three sittings to make it through this movie.
But after that conditioning wore off I seem to be able to laugh at it now. A little more alert to snuff in a can crap that hollywood is pushing out.
Sadly, I just redrew the idea from the movie.
Yeah, Hollywood is just as bad as the rest of us. Though I just saw Super 8, and that had a a lot of good things. So maybe there is some hope.
Haha great ‘thought of the day’. 100% agree.
You what whats worse? When people write these stupid blog posts - then get all their friends to tweet about it, like it on FB etc - and then it starts doing the rounds on the interwebs like its the next coming. So sick of it.
Its like we live in zombie world and nobody has a brain.
Maybe we should all just start consuming each others’ flesh.
You should watch the South Park episode called the Human CentiPad.
It’s on my “things to do this weekend” list.
The problem is the bad ideas get some of the most exposure because they are so bad….and they become pop culture references even though probably 85% (random stat) don’t even know what they are referencing.
It’s probably just some viral video, like Nyan Cat.
I hear you, loud and clear! I agree and everything, but I wonder if anyone really has time to more than that. Maybe no one takes the time to take a piece of something and create something new… Maybe no one has the time (not an excuse)
I don’t think everything has to be wholly creative and new. There is a benefit to taking a good idea and making it great.
I think we push ourselves to publish quantity over quality.
WOW…
I never thought that I was hear of social media practices compared to the movie Human Centipede…
In all honesty…
You’re spot on!
You’re right in a number of ways:
1. That movie will haunt society for decades.
2. People aren’t original anymore.
The blog community of Tumblr is the biggest congregation of Human Centipede bloggers on the Internet…
I love this blog!
I love and hate Tumblr. The Anti-Social Media started on tumblr, until it crashed for a day and I realized I’m too obsessive not to control my own hosting fate.
Already retweeted this!
Wait, I suck then, right? Crap.
It’s just the internet. It could be worse.
Hi Jay
Came over after seeing the title. LOL
Human centipede 2 has caused a real storm in the UK - it’s not been given a certificate.
Know what you mean about blogs all going with the same story.
At the moment there are so many posts on the Google +1 button.
Nothing new under the sun, but we have to try and make it sound fresh.
Cheers Jay
Oh my God I haven’t posted about the +1 button yet and how much I hate it.
Better get your skates on Jay.
Get that post published tonight. LOL
Bull´s Eye! Soon there will be a new law that punish copycats (and comment spammers)
Isn’t that law called copyright?
“A mad scientist kidnaps and mutilates a trio of tourists in order to reassemble them into a new “pet”- a human centipede, created by stitching their mouths to each others’ rectums.”
You know, based on that description alone, I really want to see it.
Honestly, what’s amazing is how much of the gross out horror is implied rather than shown.
It’s really quite amazing how much of the madness is in your mind, not on screen.
Damnit, Jay. I was just getting that horrible human centipede image out of my head and you gotta drag it back in. =(
I totally agree, though. I think about this a lot. There are so many wonderful new and original stories hat Hollywood could bring out, but noooo, they gotta keep remaking shit.
Whether we think we do or not, we all have original ideas and while it’s nice to appreciate others ideas, it’s just as important to appreciate your own and create them!
Cheers!
Saw your comments on Danny Brown’s site and just had to know how blogging tied in with that movie. Just reading the description of that movie and watching the trailer was enough to haunt my nightmares for awhile! Probably would watch that right before launching a “never eat again” diet plan.
I like to think I do a good job between being a curator and sharing my own ideas. I think it’s good to do both because your audience wants to learn about your niche from you, and it’s a little silly to think that you are the only authority in that sphere. I know I certainly am not, but I do like to stick my opinion in when it counts!
I think for some people, they are just a bit intimidated. Maybe they feel that their original idea may not be as well received as one from some “guru” in the industry. But most would be pleasantly surprised that their audience does want to know their thoughts and strategies, even if are not as mainstream as others.
BTW, Mashable does have the occasional good idea. You just have to look for it. I tend to stick with just the social media feed and find some good guest authors pop up.
I agree with the main theme of what Jay is saying in his post but think you’ve made a great point, Kristi. Many people (myself included!) can sometimes feel a little intimidated when you consider the quality of posts and insight from a number of bloggers out there, especially the likes of Brian Solis, Jeremiah Owyang and David Armano to name just a few! I take a lot of inspiration from these guys and often share or curate their work.
My ambition is to continue learning my ‘craft’ in the digital space and over time begin to find my own voice through my blog. I don’t believe in sharing EVERYTHING but I do believe that you can learn from re-imagining or responding to what others have said.
The Beatles redefined pop music and were true pioneers. But before they started writing their own songs they covered others’. It was by doing this that they built their up their own skill set and started to create original work from the influence of otherss such as Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and the Beach Boys.
This is what you get for a Netflix subscription. Great analogy though and ‘write’ on time with a social media as I re-read an ancient Journalism school fav: ‘The Shape of Content’ Ben Shahn. Thanks for the laugh…and giving me the courage to actually watch that movie (albeit with Netflix’s handy frame-by-frame fast forward)…all in under 20 minutes