Borges, Babel, & Boredom

“The certainty that everything has already been written annuls us, or renders us phantasmal.” - Jorge Luis Borges

I’ve always enjoyed reading, playing video games, and watching movies. I mean really enjoyed. I’ve memorized lines, fantasized about the plots, placed myself inside the stories, the works. Hell, I even majored in one of them. Lately, however, it seems I have had very little success finding good material in any of the previous categories. And I mean good; not average, not okay, not “fun”. Good. Excellent. Wonderful.

I should specify that I have read books, played games, and watched movies recently that have “entertained” me…but they have not fascinated, inspired, motivated,or captivated me. Many have just been a pleasant way to pass the time, if little more. My iPad is full of fun little games to pass the time, kill 5 minutes, or be semi-creative. But where has all the magic gone? Where are the epics? Where are the Tolkiens, the Williams, the Spielbergs? Is it just me?

The last good book I read was Ready Player One (2011). I couldn’t put it down.The last good video games I’ve played were X3: Terran Conflict (2008), Minecraft (2009), and Skyrim (2011). I put in over one million hours into those 3 titles alone. (There might be some exaggeration there). The last good movies I’ve watched were El secreto de sus ojos (2009), Inception (2010) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). I kept thinking about those movies for days after watching them. That list is complete, without exaggeration (well, mostly), and I am not suffering from memory loss. Those were the last good books, video games, and movies that fascinated, inspired, motivated, and captivated me. They made me think, they made me be more creative and imaginative, they made me feel. Why are there only seven titles on a list that encompasses five and a half years?

Has humanity hit a literary/gaming/cinematic creative block? A creative void?! Am I tired of seeing the same repeated story lines, characters, themes, and special effects over and over? Or am I just getting old? Have I hit that age where the mystery, the magic, the awe, the wonder, the eye-opening surprise of opening, playing, seeing something new…becomes something old?

I keep seeing these infinite titles all around me, in books, games and movies, but the vast majority of them are full of nonsense, repetition, and fluff. Where are the Purifiers Borges spoke of?

Babel needs them.

P.S. For the record, television seems not to be so affected, in my opinion. Lost was a masterpiece. The first season of The Walking Dead was phenomenal. The Big Bang Theory makes me laugh each week. House of Cards is excellent, and Hemlock Grove looks promising (nice job Netflix!). I’ve heard others rave about Breaking Bad and Vikings. Let us hope…