Matt Richtel's "If Only Literature Could Be a Cellphone-Free Zone" in The New York Times.
I've thought the same thing while watching Seinfeld (just a decade later, some of their plots and situations would be wrapped up with a cell phone) and horror movies (since the essence of many horror scenes is isolation, writers may need to find a way to get rid of a character's cell phone: dying batteries, broken phones, locations without connection, etc.).
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That writer sounds pretty salty. For every plot device that has been lost because of cell phones, I would be willing to bet that another has been gained. No, there's not the isolation, "missed connections, miscommunications, the inability to reach someone," but there are plenty of things authors can do because of cell phones. You are right about Seinfeld plots not working in the age of the cell phone, but Curb has had a few episodes that work only because of cell phones.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point on cell phones in horror movies. How many times have we seen a phone get smashed?