A
Mediated Family is a Happy Family: J.G. Ballard’s “Intensive Care Unit”
Kristen
Watson
HUMN240-H3WW
Assignment
1-3-2
Gregory
Smith
December
5, 2012
A
Mediated Family is a Happy Family: J.G. Ballard’s “Intensive Care Unit”
The article that I
chose to analyze is “A Mediated Family is a Happy Family” by Jeff W. Marker in
which he reviews a story by J.G. Ballard titled “Intensive Care Unit”. His
review of the story focuses on the psychological effects when humans lack face
to face contact and rely solely on technology. It exposes the reality that our
future might end up like the short story and soon all of us will communicate
through monitors and we will lack human contact.
The
narrator of the story, who Marker refers to as Ballard, happens to be the
husband and main character. He is a doctor who treats his patients by video
monitors which is how he ended up meeting his wife, Margaret, when he treated
her. They dated, got married, and had two children all while communicating through
television. The family has never been in the same room together and met face to
face; they strictly communicate through monitors and even raise their children
this way. Ballard explains that “in this society, age-old though rarely invoked
ordinances still existed to prevent meeting in person-to meet another human
being was an indictable offense” (Marker, 2011 p. 334). Television monitors is
how he was raised and how he was taught to return his filial affection.
Overtime,
Ballard has the urge to have his family all meet in person even though all they
know is affection via images. Even though he wants a more intimate meeting, he
still proceeds to set up cameras because he feels that a unique event such as
this should be captured. Unfortunately, the meeting does not go as planned and
the family members react with rage and violence leaving them all sprawled out
on the floor covered in blood. Ballard’s daughter, Karen, strips and tries to
seduce her father causing her mother to become defensive and they begin to
compete for his attention. David, their son, feels the need that he should
replace his father and possess his mother which in turn pushes Ballard to fight
back. Marker (2011) explains that this reaction by each member is due to the
fact that they “have never coexisted in the same space, they have never
developed the mechanisms by which those impulses are controlled” (p. 339).
There are different stages that the family members go through psychologically
because they have lacked that physical interaction all their life. The primary
identification stage is where the child identifies with an object, the mirror
phase is the point where the child differentiates himself from the physical
surroundings, and the Oedipal crisis where the child feels love and sexual
desire for the parent of the opposite sex and hatred and death for the parent
of the same sex.
The author is
trying to portray the negative effects of what would happen if society stopped
interacting face to face and communicated strictly via television monitors.
With the advances in technology every year, it might not be that far-fetched.
Growing up without the touch and affection from personal contact and only
seeing visual images and hearing someone’s voice would cause us to repress
urges and become overwhelmed when coming in contact with one another. In the
article, Marker (2011) explains “physical barriers have restricted them from
acting upon their unconscious desires, which have not dissipated but
intensified” (p. 339). Because of the way the family members were raised, they
are unequipped psychologically to understand and manage the family interactions
during the meeting.
I find that
this article is very important because after reading we are able to better
understand the slightest effect that technology has on people. The short story
was written in 1982 before the major advances and developments in technology
and even though the story might seem an extreme exaggeration, mediation is
becoming more and more common. You can find examples of this wherever you
happen to be. Many people now communicate via Skype or Face time, only text
rather than call, date online, and also marry online. An example in the article
is the use of television as a way of parenting. They find that they can cut
down whining and crying this way by keeping the children preoccupied. This type
of mediation is also portrayed in our commercials and advertisements. Over
time, more and more people will use technology to communicate rather than in
person. However, I do not feel that complete lack of face to face contact is
possible. Obviously couples cannot conceive children via monitors or raise
them. Even though Ballard’s short story is extreme, who is to say that it won’t
get to that point?
References
Marker, Jeff W., (April 2011). A Mediated Family is a Happy Family: J. G.
Ballard's "Intensive Care Unit". The Journal of Popular Culture,
44(2), 333-346. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5931.2011.00835.x
