Webcams
Message Prompt

“Staging” can be found often throughout the text. In the comic, Alex is trying to stage a fight between her and her father. He is not very upset that she is staying up past her bedtime, so she decides to call him names in order upset him in front of the camera. She thinks that by instigating a fight with her father, she will entertain the viewers. The father is also responsible for staging. He is speaking to his daughter in his normal, natural way until he finds out that the camera is on. He then changes his way of speaking and his attitude because he is now aware that he is on camera. His personality has changed now that he is being filmed, and he is staging his actions to appeal to the audience.

In my opinion, Jennifer Ringley, though she claims otherwise, is also responsible for staging some aspects of her life. The text quotes her on saying that the camera shows only her real life, and it is all natural. However, it seems that she has staged some of what is included on her website. Performing a striptease is not exactly a normal part of life for most people, and it must have crossed her mind at some point that a striptease would probably lure in more viewers (in particular, males). The photos shown in the text seem to show only the interesting aspects of her life, such as her friends or her sporting a silly hairstyle. She must have in some way edited the content she posts online in the hopes of creating a larger audience and more entertaining material.

Staging is also found in “Refresh”. In this, cameras were placed in offices throughout the US as well as other countries. The people found on the tapes were caught altering their behavior in subtle ways. For example, aware that they were being filmed, people would begin dressing nicer. Also, the cleaning crew behaved differently than they used to, and probably acted more properly and worked twice as hard. The love story in “Refresh” also seems a bit fictional. The love that may be blossoming by the water cooler is more likely than not just a way to amuse the audience. The camera makes the workers act in ways that they are expected to, not in ways that are natural. Their actions are all staged for the audience.

Webcams may pick up some real aspects of life. However, they typically pick up staged aspects of life. It is natural for people to alter their behavior in front of a camera. When pictures are being taken, many people often check their appearance and try to “fix themselves up”. The photo is then no longer natural, but staged. It is just human nature to alter behavior when in front of an audience. Therefore, webcams do not really portray the authentic aspects of life.