Pat Taub
This past weekend I watched the film, “Rental Family,” set in contemporary Tokyo. Brendan Fraser plays an American actor, whose acting roles have dried up. In desperation he signs on with a Japanese “rental family” agency where actors are hired to assume family roles.
Frazer’s roles, as Philip, include: the groom to a closeted lesbian who’s marrying a straight man to satisfy her traditional family; the estranged father of a 11-year-old schoolgirl, hired by her mother who believes a father will improve her daughter’s chance of admittance to a prestigious private school; a journalist to interview an elderly disoriented actor, hired by the actor’s daughter to allow a break from her constant caretaking.
“Rental Family” underscores the growing disconnections in contemporary society, where a band of actors fill in for missing human connections among family and friends.
We find ourselves in a world where people to people connections are being lost, or given up, where people overwhelmed by exhaustion are prey to the misplaced allure of the digital world.
Are we called to ride this new phenomenon by developing non-human interactions, like robot pets for children and robot caretakers for seniors? Where Instagram, Facebook and ChatGPT are our new best friends? Taking it up a notch a recent New Yorker article documents how lonely individuals are turning to AI companions for love and sex.
A senior resident interacts with “Xia Lan,” a humanoid robot, at Shenzhen Nursing Home in Shenzhen, China
Will we find ourselves in a world in which community forums are replaced by internet gatherings that will become our sole form of community engagement?
Ironically, perhaps tragically, loneliness and isolation are exacerbated by our digital dependency.
Can we break our dependency/addiction to the digital worlds to find our way back to real time communications where loneliness and isolation were not prevalent?
It’s a huge challenge. Digital platforms like Facebook and Instagram are in our faces 24/7 and are hugely successful financially. Scientific projections for 2050 focus on advances in technological improvements, while ignoring how they exacerbate social disconnections.
I don’t want to live in a world where robots wait on me hand and foot, depriving me of my social connections. I’d miss the couple who clean my home every month and offer updates on their new baby; the neighborhood market as a community meeting place; lending a hand to a neighbor in need and benefitting from the reciprocity when I need assistance.
Consider the enormous psychological damage inflicted on children and teens through technologically induced mind control, where depression and even suicide are increasing. Research has substantiated digital consumption among children and teens results in a loss of critical thinking skills and empathy for others.
At this moment, there seem to be no clear solutions to what I’m advocating, but I hope by sounding the alarm I will find others who share my concerns so we might begin, community by community, to build connections in real time.
Women building connections at a neighborhood restaurant
This is a moment when elders can lead the way. We came of age in a pre-digital world where connections relied on meeting in one another’s homes, the public library, or in community spaces devoted to social gatherings or political concerns.
Elders can educate the digital crowd to the immeasurable benefits of human exchanges where we make eye contact, exchange hugs, and experience our full humanity.
I’m reminded of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, whose one wish was for a heart. Let’s come together to blaze a heart-filled path.
