xoxosms
[Multimodal reading/multimedia piece followed by questions (on the same page):]
Nancy Schwartzman and Isaac Mathes
[documentary film clip]
"Can online love work IRL?" This is the question at the heart of xoxosms, a short documentary by Nancy Schwartzman and Isaac Mathes that explores the growing digital intimacy between two people (devout Christian Gus, from Illinois, and New York City art student Jiyun) as they move from online courtship to a possible real-life relationship. In the trailer for the documentary, presented below, the filmmakers incorporate a plethora of screens and captures from social media that provide the audience with a sense both of the connection and disconnection present in online dating. As you watch the trailer, think about how the steps of online courtship may or may not be analogous to in-person courtship. How does online dating complicate, deepen, and/or alter the nature of intimacy? You can find out more about the film at xoxosmsfilm.org.
Director and Producer: Nancy Schwartzman
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Reading the Signs
[Write line(s) of instructions.]
After watching/exploring the clip, consider the questions below. Then submit your response.
1. What are the steps in online dating and courtship as depicted in this trailer?
2. How do these steps compare to our culture’s idea of traditional dating? Are they the same? Different? Intertwined? How so?
3. In "In the Digital Age, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (p. 415), Salvador Rodriguez discusses the difficulty of de-coupling when the Internet contains what is a seemingly permanent record of a relationship. Does the dominance of online dating and the ubiquity of social media affect how you approach romantic relationships? How or how not?
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