Who, in their right mind could possibly deny the twentieth century was entirely mine? ”
-Lucifer, played by Al Pacino, from the film “The Devil’s Advocate”
Whether or not you believe in the concept of heaven, hell, God or the Devil, Al Pacino’s Lucifer was right. Today’s snapshot of the planet looks a lot like a product of the Faust legend. The story of Faust, upon which “The Devil’s Advocate” is based, is a 500-year-old cautionary tale of the consequences of a handshake with the devil — exchanging one’s soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust was a bored scholar, striving to reach the very limits of knowledge. His quest was a journey of desire to know all and experience everything. At the ultimate moment of full knowledge of the world and all its secrets and pleasures, Faust pays the ultimate price — his soul is dragged into hell by the devil.
The 20th century represented a milestone in technological advancements as well as how many ways we kill ourselves, intentionally or not. We’ve had two world wars. We’ve seen conflicts waged to end empires, and revolutions fought to escape the crush of the industrial wheel. We’ve seen new empires rising with the same agenda as the old. We’ve witnessed genocide and the poisoning of our air, water and earth. We’ve also had light bulbs, the telephone, air travel, radio, television, the microchip, computers, space shuttles, microwave technology, high-speed rail and the internet. Each one of these inventions revolutionized not just industry and technology, but the way we live. Yet, life on the planet is losing the battle for survival as we move further into the 21st century.
The last big invention in the world — a concept that would have world-changing implications — was the internet. That was nearly 20 years ago. The same technology that gives us all global access to information and facilitates national and regional revolutions is also the same medium for Nintendo and Wii, which make and sell games for young people based mostly on violence. Twenty-first century children now have a choice of battles against demonic forces, zombies, super-criminals, some kind of post-apocalyptic survival, dancing tiger cubs or fairy Barbie. What message are we conveying to the future?