Wondertainment

The big bang of visual media occurred with the simple motive of telling a story Picturesquely, Realistically, And thus, Strikingly.

A century ago, our ancestors, the first spectators of the new-age marvel of recording and transmitting multiple frames together preceded or succeeded by sound in order to create a sense of projection of absolute and continuous reality, called it Entertainment. This shift of paradigm from mono-perspective, one-angled, (yet colourful) theatre plays that continually exuded a sense of their unrealistic nature to monochrome (initially) real-world deductions of life that jumped angles accordingly to augment each emotion, struck a chord with the viewers.

As history dictates, the (seemingly) very first picture of the Lumiere brothers that showed a train speedily chugging into a platform had some viewers faint in their chairs, as most others ran for their lives trying to escape the cinema hall. The event might have been seen as frightening or intimidating by some, but for visual media, it was a laurel on its chest. It was the "impact" it had on the viewers that mattered to the Lumieres. Gradually, people got used to this new world that initially sprung to life only in dark mammoth halls on screens as big as the fourth wall of the room (and intentionally so), and later was reduced down to televisions for "convenience", replaced live dramas as the modern source of entertainment for many takers.

With time, visual media rapidly and consistently redefined entertainment. Radical changes ranging from colour film to bettering picture quality, method acting, enhanced storytelling, and content targeting certain groups of viewers, changed the face of entertainment. Rather, made it multi-faceted. The later years of the twentieth century saw television barging into the most unexpected places at that time: schools. At snail's pace, the reliance on visual media for imparting education brewed in the minds of educationists. And that evolved marvelously in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The marriage of desktop computers and projectors were a common sight in all places of education. Thus, we, as sapiens arrived at a newer cognitive revolution (as I love to call it) and called it Infotainment. This is entertainment wedded to learning with the intention of reducing banality and fueling enthusiasm in the receptors of such experience.

Infotainment stands strong today and keeps diminishing the line between learning and fun by pathbreaking prospects such as the invention of VR (Virtual Reality). Films and documentaries made for the primary purpose of teaching are also common. However now, as we step into the era always thought to be "El Futuro" of all times before, there is a need for a path that leads us beyond the existing and has us plunge into the sea of wonder. Christopher Nolan's magnum opus (in my view) Interstellar, backed by legends Stephen Hawking and Kip Throne released in 2014 and raised several brows by delving into the matters of the universe that we live in, and the possible existence of other worlds. The film brought to life several fan theories, studies, and to date sets one thinking and in attempts of exploring what's beyond our imagination. This is an awe-inspiring experience and not just regular education. It does not tell us what is there but pushes us to go and explore and think and evolve and discover...This isn't Infotainment anymore. It is Wondertainment - entertaining a people, fueling them with enough information, and then shooting them out to build on it on their own. Who knows what one may find.

The root idea of Wondertainment isn't modern at all. It was in fact prevalent (in a lesser advanced form) when facts and stats were not the hot favourite of the majority in society. In 1817, John Keats embraced intellectual confusion and uncertainty of things as opposed to existing mundane facts and philosophies, encouraging one to think and wonder to go beyond. He called it 'Negative Capability'. As obscure and half-baked as it sounds, at the time Keats was perhaps not thinking of his coined term in the way it is being described now. However, he ignited the fire for time to fan it.

Wondertainment in visual media (or any form of media for that matter) is the key to the future. There are loads of subjects out there which are becoming more and more relevant to us as time passes. And knowing more about them must be considered. Those confusing space theories, cryptic evolution mysteries, and a lot more is yet to be explored. It is time that media production companies leave their cradle-cry of "selling-simple-stories-to-connect-with-the-masses" and venture into the future of entertainment by making their viewers aware of what's hidden in this vast world. As a viewer/consumer, at least I am sick of ancient rugged storylines refabricated time and again only to gather wolf-whistles and hoots in cinema halls, or pulp fiction served to lonely bachelors to survive lonely nights.

Wondertainment must be the future of media. And also its intention.