CELL-PHONE-FREE BOOKS AND MOVIES

I came across an article in the New York Times the other day, which I had already "written" myself. Well, at least I had spoken all the same thoughts to my staff and any patron who would listen. As this 'zine's title implies, we purists are beginning to be upset with the influence of our ever-present electronic leashes on books and films being written and produced today. If the story-line takes place in contemporary times, it is assumed by the the reading/viewing audience that the characters can be in constant contact. So.....long-distance rarely leads to heart-break or mistaken interpretations of abandonment. (Picture Rick and Ilsa texting each other in Paris about their delays, and you realize that "Casablanca" would have a much different plot development-surely boring if it were taking place during the war in Iraq.) Indeed, contemporary stories must be twisted around so that the characters have absolutely no chance of having live wireless contact. (Even though Tom Hanks worked for hyper-tech FedEX, surely his cellphone wouldn't be able to contact even a passing ship before its water-logged batteries failed). Watch James Bond films and Ludlum's Bourne series to witness techie stuff affecting the plot with great success. Damsel in distress stories present a serious dilemma, however. On the one hand, it is reassuring to know that the heroine has a chance of escaping her pursuer while driving ninety miles an hour - or running through the woods -the stuff of wild humor in the "Scream" movies, for example. However, such questions as where are the cell towers and how does she keep re-charging the batteries do arise.... So, in action films we are ready to accept technology's influence on the plot and characters, but romance and tragedy- filled stories, not so much.