CHINA-MOBILE PHONE ADDICTION/CARTOON Chinese art student highlights mobile phone addiction with short animation

Record ID: 149562

  • Title: CHINA-MOBILE PHONE ADDICTION/CARTOON Chinese art student highlights mobile phone addiction with short animation
  • Date: 29th May 2015
  • Summary: COMPUTER SCREEN SHOWING VARIOUS FRAMES OF ANIMATION
  • Embargoed: 13th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4TJ4RSTTSPCOIC9PNU8I1NFP8
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Like many of his classmates of his age, 20 year-old Lin Chenglin is your average mobile phone user.
    Little did he realise that the pace of his life was so integrated with his mobile phone that he would manage to go about daily activities while just peering at the screen of the phone.
    This did not leave him immune to his father's criticism of what many Chinese call the "ditouzu"-literally Chinese slang for the "head-bowers"-mobile phone addicts who keep their heads low while looking at their mobile phone screens.
    After hearing his father's rant, Li began to notice the problems caused by many of the "head-bowers" he would encounter in public places.
    During an animation course at his university, the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Li was given the task by his teacher of making a short animated film on a "societal problem". Li took the chance to depict the horrors of mobile phone addiction with his short three-minute feature entitled "Head-Bowing Life".
    Li explained that he got the inspiration for the project through his daily encounters with "head-bowing" mobile phone addicts.
    "When I would go out during the week, or when I would go to take a foreign language class, I would see them on the subway, on the bus...it's very, very obvious. So, I thought that this is a subject which continually dredges on (everyday). So, I started to do this (animation)," Li said.
    The film shows a hyperbolic depiction of reality, featuring his cartoonish "head-bowers"-cyclopses addicted to mobile phones and unconsciously causing a range of accidents, from car crashes to industrial catastrophes.
    Li's short video was a hit within the classroom-but he didn't realise that it would soon become a hot topic on the internet.
    With over 40 million views as of late May of this year, the video has people talking about what is seemingly an integral and unconscious part of their daily lives.
    "I think everyone always playing on their mobile phones seems just as if they're dreaming. They don't ever think that they're ever using their phone, and they think there's nothing wrong with this sort of attitude. After this animation came out, it could be just like an alarm clock and wake everyone up. There might be some who will continue so sleep, but then there will be those who wake up," said Li.
    Li said that much of the debate on internet chatrooms and blogs started by his feature mainly was mainly centered on whether mobile phone addiction is really a social ill, or something we can continue to live with.
    Cao Junshou, 23, a self-described "head-bower," said that mobile phone addicts are mostly comprised of young people just wanting to multi-task.
    "We like bowing our heads and playing with our mobile phones, looking at our mobile phones...sometimes we might read a novel or listen to music or whatever. But looking at your mobile phone when (walking) on the road will have a kind of effect on other people. If you bow your head and look at your phone, you won't know what's on the road ahead, and when you cross the road, you won't pay attention to vehicles, and cause a traffic jam. And in the case that you're not careful and you get hit by a car, what are you going to do," said Cao.
    Beijing resident Sun Yewan said she has kept her 10 year-old child away from mobile phones, fearing that he will end up addicted just like many of today's youth.
    "I don't understand why they always have to be observing, looking at their phones. I think that they must be lonely always looking at their phones. I don't get it, because I don't use a mobile phone, and I don't like using them," said Sun.
    Guo Hongxin, an electrical engineer, said that "head-bowers" should not be blamed for what many see is careless behaviour, but they do cause a host of problems.
    "I feel that people always playing with their phone will just put themselves in danger when walking, and it will cause some unnecessary trouble. For instance, they won't see clearly what direction their heading in, and it will affect their line of vision, and it will also bring harm to society," said guo.
    China holds the world's largest population of mobile phone users. As of mid 2014, data from the country's three telecommunications operators showed the number of users being at 1.27 billion, a number which is growing rapidly yearly.
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