It’s the Pictures that got Small

“I still am Big! It’s the pictures that got small!”

    Simple words on a screen is nothing compared to Gloria Swanson’s delivery (as Norma Desmond) of that iconic line in 1950’s “Sunset Boulevard”. But since I don’t exactly have the resource to show Ms.Swanson, words on a screen will have to do.

    Isn’t in amusing that most of the “bests” come from the golden yesteryears? Ask film afficionados what the greatest films ever were and they would say “Citizen Kane”, “Casablanca”, “The Godfather”. Ask music buffs what the greates albums of all time are and on top of the heap you’d find Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue”, Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon” as well as a handful of Bob Dylan and Beatles albums - some could even argue to go as far back as to Mozart and Beethoven. If we look at art, we’d also go back to Picasso and Da Vinci. Best books of all time? There are those by Dickens, Shakespeare and Orwell.

    So why does it seem that nothing that anyone does in our time can match-up to those that came before us? You would think that with all the advancements in technology and the progression of human knowledge, things would be exponentially better. Ironically (and as we take a cue from Norma Desmond), the “pictures” in our time have gotten small. What have we lost that all the advancements in knowledge and technology can’t replace?

    I have no answers. I’m just rambling.