Voyeurism is about alienation and detachment as the distance is intentionally created for observation. As the modernization of society leads to a more artificial and hypocritical interpersonal relationship, citizens are longing for authenticity and superiority, which could be obtained by voyeurism. Sense of control and power comes from voyeurs hiding behind the lens and watching out of the observed awareness.
Strolling is another way to interact with cities. Unlike voyeurism, it’s about assimilation and immersion as flaneurs become part of the city via walking, which writes a song that could not be detected by themselves. When we glimpse from the top of a building, flaneurs are small as ants and cannot be separated from the city. Humanity and objectivity are thus intertwined, showing how modernization influences humans and space.
The film Yi Yi reminds us of looking at the back of heads, indicating not to forget the past, which defines a human. The modernization process is inevitable, but we can keep humanity and empathy by memories, which rising buildings and neon lights cannot swallow.
— Yiming Liu, 3035637539
You linked the pieces of writing together well by discussing the difference between flaneurs strolling and voyeurism. The link made between these two ways of seeing as part of modernization and your final response about the role of memories is also interesting. However, I was wondering if you could further clarify what you mean by the influence of modernization on humans and space through the intertwining of humanity and objectivity.
With urban space development, humanity is partly taken off by cold reinforced-concrete buildings. For example, the Chinese name of Chungking Express, “重慶森林”, forest indicates the dense modern facilities are like a forest. The intimate relationship is separated. People are more self-centred and lonely. Repeated lives and a lack of caring from others turn people dumber. I regard it as a transition from human to object. While humans are getting more dependent on objects like phones and cars, from which I think there are some signs of life underneath those cold machines. In recent years some people marry themselves to items, through absurd. The boundary between humanity and objectivity (or substance, I shall say) is not that clear.