Google: The Musical
Here in the Twin Cities I recently saw a performance of Google: The Musical, a funny (if perhaps a tad over-the-top) play set in the not-too-distant future. Google has indexed everything, books are rare, outmoded, and unappreciated, and everyone has wireless PDAs (or chips implanted in their brains) that keep them plugged into the internet at all times. When Google suddenly shuts down, most of the populace turns into mindless zombies as a result, shuffling around with stiff arms and legs like the ones in old-fashioned horror movies, repeating, in that throaty monotone that movie zombies use, “Brains! Must eat brains!” They come after our heroine, the last librarian on Earth, apparently the only person left in the world who thinks without Google. So, irony of ironies, she must save humanity by getting Google back — or something like that. Along the way, there are riffs on just about every geek trope you can think of: classic video games back to Pong, spam, text messaging, the ubiquity of Starbucks, the hauteur of IT help desk staff, and of course the mousy-turned-sexy librarian. Plus there are songs. And did I mention that Google itself is personified by a leather-clad dominatrix?
The show debuted at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, then was part of the Fringe Encore showcase at the Guthrie Theater here, and finally had a short run in a small performance space in downtown Minneapolis that feels like an off-off Broadway stage, which is where I caught it. Not sure how likely it is to be coming to a theater near you — but I think it does represent yet another indicator of the ongoing shift in Google’s public image.
In art and life alike, Google is increasingly cast as the villain of the piece nowadays (though in the case of this eponymous musical, quite cheerfully so). There was a time when Google’s stripped-down home page, efficient search engine, and “Don’t Be Evil” slogan made it seem fresh and friendly. If this show is any indicator, those days have ended. [UPDATE: Here is the most recent example of Google-as-villain.] And yet, the happy ending (I think I can say without risk of spoiler) arrives, not because the zombies pick up books or something, but because the dominatrix Google changes her mind and reboots. Even a satire of Google recognizes that we can’t live without it.
Filed under: Digital Media, Intermediaries, Media, Minnesota, Search Engines
[...] The biggest bombshell in the study must be the ranking of Google as the worst company — alone in the lowest of six color-coded ranks of companies, in the “black” zone labeled “comprehensive consumer surveillance and entrenched hostility to privacy.” (Why don’t you tell us what you really think without any candy-coating?) It’s another sign, if more were needed, that Google has now taken over Microsoft’s former role in many info/law discussions as the villainous tech company. [...]