Objectified

So... Last evening we watched "Objectified," a film about design on PBS' Independent Lens and it was pretty danged cool.  I went to the web site to see if there was a trailer I could embed in this post but, alas... there wasn't.  And more's the pity, because the film is fascinating.  Here's a quote from the web site:

Look around you. Within five feet of you are dozens—if not hundreds—of manufactured products that you interact with every day. If you are at work, perhaps there is a laptop, a stapler, a No. 2 pencil, a paperclip, a mobile phone, a coffee mug, a pushpin or an ergonomic chair. At home there may be a flat-screen TV, a pair of boots, a razor or a kitchen utensil. All told, we each touch or otherwise interact with an average of 600 manufactured objects every day.

"Objectified" concerns itself with contemporary industrial design and says nothing about the great designers, schools of design (e.g., movements, like Bauhaus or Art Deco),  or design houses that have gone before and that's about the only criticism I have of the film.  But I suppose you have to limit your subject matter when you're tackling a subject as broad as this. The film was absorbing and is highly recommended, and not just for design junkies, either.  Just as a teaser... Mac and iPhone owners will be most pleased with their great good taste.  There are clips from the show at the link, or you can just wait for your PBS station to re-run it.  They always do...

Now that we have the oh-so-amateur critic gig out of the way... The film's web site comes with this spiffy lil quiz that purports to show which iconic design object you are.  Or maybe the object you wanna be; you choose.  The web site's designers apparently don't know jack about internet quiz memes, coz there's no embeddable code to show your result and prompt others to take the quiz.  Not only that... there's no ability to cut 'n' paste text containing your results as they're displayed as images.  You have to take a screen shot if you wanna display your results.  Which I do, of course.  I mean... why else would one do this if not to share?

Pretty damned close, all things considered.  I DO like skinny ties, and I DO own a trilby hat.  And there's our daily Happy Hour, of course, along with our determination to remain unemployed for-frickin'-ever.  I am just about as sophisticated as anyone who lives in a trailer park possibly can be, and that's the truth (can I get a big "heh?").  But... I'm "nostalgic about an era in which I wasn't even alive?"  Hunh?  How do they know this?  Baby, I LIVED most of the damned scenarios in the questions and still do for the most part (kinda sorta). 

This question nearly tripped me up, though:

A toughie, that one.  I mentally flipped a coin to choose between HST and Steve McQueen.  Actually, not... I decided I'd rather go riding with McQueen then have cocktails and dinner (and stuff) with HST.  With Julia Child in the kitchen, Martha as her sous chef, and Sinatra crooning for us.  Hell, come to think on it... wouldn't the list in its entirety make for one helluva dinner party?

Take the quiz.  It's fun and some of the questions might cause you to think just a lil bit.  Report back.