Criticizing Screen Culture

The eyes of contemporary children may be glued to the slick touch-screens of smartphones and iPads instead of the TV, but indie art rocker St Vincent (Annie Clark) made little distinction between both categories in "Digital Witness", a critically acclaimed track from her self-titled album:

'Get back to your seatsGet back, gnashing teethI want all of your mindPeople turn the TV on it looks just like a windowYeahPeople turn the TV on it looks just like a windowYeah

Digital witnessesWhat's the point of even sleeping?If I can't show it if you can't see meWhat's the point of doing anything?'

Lyrics: Genius

Clark makes a spot-on point (with the help of a bass-heavy pace and a synth-boosted brass riff) of how celluloid culture has turned into an addictive, bottomless hole for endless validation and constant attention from strangers behind screens and avatars - a point that most critics appreciated, save for Buzzfeed's Matthew Perpetua, who took offence to the single's depiction of "social media users as narcissistic zombies". Both Clark and Perpetua make a fair point: social media usage and screen watching need not necessarily be pathological, but certain personality traits may lead to the grotesque, dystopian lives that Clark warns of.