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Box
O Box, my Box, the safety and comfort of my protective box. Culture discriminates
against this proverbial place of normalcy, a place of simply being a number in society. Although
sometimes the “box” is considered to be an unwanted place to be or to live in, the box does not
exist to be feared.
Thinking outside of the box, defined by Oxford Dictionary, is to think in an original or
creative way. Creativity and originality is the basis of innovations and advancements.
Corporations are constantly locked in a battle over the newest innovations in their fields. Apple,
best known for literally inventing new technology fields, exists at the forefront of thinking
outside of the box. From the first Macintosh computer to the iPhone, Apple has led the world in
innovations. Although Apple is a leader in innovations of the digital technology field, they too
have succumbed to thinking inside the box. As Apple led the way in the creation of the newest
markets from the personal home computer to smart phones, they too fell into the box. By
establishing these markets with innovative, outside the box products, each new model of iPhone
or Apple computer started to fall inside the box as innovation becomes more difficult in the
rapidly established fields. Even when apparent innovations come, other companies vie for the
same markets and attempt to create products that rival or surpass Apple products, leading to an
arms race in the technology field. These shifts from creative and original designs into the "norm"
of a market does not constitute entering into a disgusted and disdaining place for a company. The
old proverb of "if it's not broken, don't fit it" appears to apply perfectly to explain why
companies lose interest thinking creatively to reinvent robust, working products. Even when
companies break the norm, they only are expanding the area that the "norm" controls.
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Yet, in the film industry of Hollywood, the standards and the box were clearly defined
lines that, if crossed, would be considered sacrilege. Every producer understood that moving
between different camera angles, or shots, would need to be fluid and seamless. Editors were not
to reason why, but to simply cut and hide. However, similarly with the digital technology field,
editors in France decided to break out of the box and create Breathless a film focused on making
the cuts obvious. This radical destruction of the box establishment created large ripples
throughout filmmaking in the world. At first denounced as insanity, the box consumed the cut
ideology of accepting and emphasizing the switches in camera angles and integrated stark cuts as
another typical film technique today. The essential enlargement of conventions in Hollywood
was not caused by a rebellion against the box, but a result in a necessary action to grow the box.
Is the box simply the area between innovation and stagnation? Is the box an allconsuming, ever spreading force that strips beauty and creates blandness?
The box expands its influences over more territory than just novelties. A monumental
barrier, the box dominates and even defines the social culture. Being "in a box" defined by the
Oxford Dictionary means to be restricted or limited. Similar to its ideology domain, the box
seems to be a dictator in the social realm also if people live in the box. However, are all limits
bad or evil?
Almost every child experiences the fears and paranoia of his or her first day of
kindergarten. Asking any parent or teacher about the first day, endless stories exist of crying
children clinging to their parents for dear life. Parents drag their children kicking and screaming
from their legs, sending them off into the big bad world of school. These young children would
love nothing more than to flee back into the protective arms of their parents, and the comfortable
area that their box defines for them. However, as we all learned, kindergarten is not the scary
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horrifying place it appears on the first day. Kindergarten transforms into a place of safety, an
area in the zone of comfort and safety.
Even into adulthood, people secretly love and crave the box, although most do not want
to admit it. The box, discriminated against by society, wraps around us as a safety blanket. How
can something that is viewed as a negative be a safety blanket?
The answer: the walls of the box are constructed by the individual that lives inside the
box. Personal fears, among other factors, are the defined walls of the box. Because of the walls,
people are protected from the terrors of life. An instinctual subconscious influence, protective
box exists out of necessity to keep sanity. However, as fears are conquered and individuals grow
more confident, the area of comfort expands. The walls do not limit; they are warning signs to
prepare us for difficulties.
Indeed the box is not the cruel destructive place society brands it as. A place of existence,
the box is a beautiful area of protection and safety. Infinitely large in potential area, the box
exists to mirror the zone of normalcy, safety, and comfort of individuals and society as a whole.
The toxic attitude held towards comfort and safety by society is not because these feelings are
bad, they are despised because misery loves company. There are times when new, terrifying
journeys away from comfort are necessary to grow and expand the box, however living safely
and comfortably inside of the box, the individual's comfort zone, is where everyone exists
normally. Safety is not evil. Happiness is not evil. The box is not evil.