” I’m always uncomfortable with it. I’m uncomfortable with any culture that encourages you to take on an entire identity, rather than to express a facet of your own identity (‘maker,’ rather than ‘someone who makes things’). “
Debbie Chachra, “Why I Am Not a Maker,” The Atlantic, January 23, 2015.
Why did this stick out to me?
There were lots of quotes that stuck out to me in this article. Debbie Chachra sheds light on tech culture, calling out a system that praises those who physically create the products we use as consumers. In my eyes, the article almost seems to give credit to those who contribute to the industry, but are not, and do not define themselves, as creators (in her own words, “makers”). This quote in particular caught my attention because I see a bit of myself shining through, but I never would’ve used the word uncomfortable to describe my attitude towards this. I probably would’ve said it annoys me, but the feeling of discomfort is much more specific and this quote forced me to think about how being labeled with an entire identity really makes me feel.
What elements of myself does it speak to?
For the past two year at Carleton, I’ve studied CAMS. I declared it as my major after an intro class that I loved after not really knowing what to expect. Since that class, I’ve taken 12-15 more that cover a tiny slice of what the broader world of film has to offer. My friends back home and lots of my family likes to joke that I’m a “filmmaker.” When I stop and think about how it feels to hear that word attached to me, a really apt description is “uncomfortable.” The fact that I study film doesn’t bother me, and my friends and family poking fun doesn’t really bother either, but the simplification of an entire web of people with all sorts of skills creating big-budget art down to “filmmakers” is an uncomfortable feeling; this is not how I consider myself. On the large scale, films often have hundreds if not thousands of people working towards their completion. Each and every role is vital, with film sets and crews being organized down to the finest details. People are hired to contribute to these projects for tons of reasons. Some people are writers, some direct. Some are good at using cameras, some act in front of those cameras. Some set up lighting, some do makeup and costumes, some are simply around to get food for others and keep the shoot running smoothly. I like sound. I like recording it, putting it on a computer, and changing its quality in countless ways. Because I study film in an environment that forces you to put a collection of skills to the test, rather than nurturing and pursuing one main talent, the term “filmmaker” makes me uncomfortable because it just isn’t right. I never will be a “filmmaker,” and wish there was a way for that to easily turn into “someone who helps makes films,” but one is a whole lot easier than the other.
What am I excited for?
I’m not sure the quote has much to do with this, but I’m getting increasingly more excited about seeing all of the different presentations of the DH projects I, and we, explore through this class. For me, a lot of the excitement comes from seeing the different approaches people have taken to the visualization of their findings. A huge part of studying film is knowing what is out there and who has done what already. Seeing all the kinds of interactive presentations people have engineered, and brainstorming ways I would present a much smaller project of my own, is what makes me excited to continue exploring these projects and the growing world of DH.
