Digital Media Consumption of Children in Cinema

Abstract

Digital technology causes rapid changes and transformations in cultural spheres. The new generation consisting of children, teens, and youth is the group most affected by this process. These technological developments in culture have been reflected on cinema, and have taken its place in film scripts in the process of time. If the theme of a film is about post-2000, child characters are seen with the media like laptop, mobile phone, tablet, etc. The aim of this study is to observe the digital media consumption of the teen actors in films. The film Disconnect (2012) by Henry Alex Rubin which focuses on internet and technology use and draws attention on the communication gaps of people was observed by the use of qualitative content analysis. It is fictionalized around the themes like the communication gap among people caused by film technology, the problems that people face by the use of technology, cyber bullying, and invasion of privacy.