Maybe Allegra should invest in an external hard drive, or at least a flash drive. It sure would have saved her and Ted some trouble. Alas, she did not, and so begins the story of Gellar and Pikal’s odd journey through her game, Existenz.
Actually:
eXistenZ
A David Cronenberg film, a director known for his, let’s just say, interesting movies, eXistenZ delves into the future of video games. A future in which one is not only playing the game, but actually in the game. To me, it is a not a distant future, but one that may be just around the corner. Each year, the consumer cries out for better graphics, more interactions, more, more, more. Each year, companies shell out more money to design games that will sedate the crowds. This simple concept of supply and demand acts as a foreshadowing of the future of video games.
Although it was not pretty to watch, actually downright disgusting, the concept of a video game plugging into the human body is highly intriguing. How else would one truly be in the game, if the body and the game system did not experience a physical connection? Another interesting concept was the game system itself, an actual living specimen from an amphibian source. Its ability to connect players, and shift reality, was thought provoking. It also seemed to ignite an addictive and sexual nature, with players craving to reenter the game world.
Inside the game world was another matter, an alternate reality that transitions seamlessly from actual reality. It transforms mere mortals into gods, as Gas, the mechanic states. ArtGod, another Allegra Geller game, imbues Gas with more vitality than genuine life ever will, for in this alternative he is god, God the Mechanic. How many of us crave such attention? Need such an adrenaline? It is easy to see how anyone and everyone would outfit their bodies with a bioport in order to enter such a world. As Allegra describes, it is real life that feels completely unreal; it is real life that feels like a game. And where is the line drawn? If the unreal feels real, and the real feels unreal, where is the distinction, where is the separation? How do you ever know you are out of the game? Reality bleeds through; it is a complete and utter merging of two worlds.
This probing of our society by Cronenberg solidified my opinion on the movie; unearthing questions that will have concrete standings in our future. Technology is so rampant in today’s society, so knit together, that sometimes it is impossible to decipher the beginning or the end. It will not be long before everyone is asking, “Are we still in the game?”
4 comments:
Excellent! And you started me out with a chuckle...always good. I like your point that technology is so knit togther with our society...given literal interpretation in this film with the bioport. And is the concept of ArtGod so very different from The Sims? You picked up on good stuff.
Great post and analysis! I enjoy your style of writing. I particularly liked when you said that the "unreal feels real, and the real feels unreal." I believe that that is exactly what Cronenberg was going for, to create a "world" where it is extraordinarily hard to realize what is really happening and what is not. On more than one occasion we hear some of the characters say, "Are we still in the game?" The director did such a good job producing that sense of confusion that by the end of the film the audience is asking themselves what is real and what is not.
Jorge Tavarez
Great post! I love your comment about Gus saying that virtual reality is not as exciting as real life. That is a great example of societal commentary about the decline of us as a civilization that people feel so blasé/uncontent about life that they would perfer to go into a virtual one. I hope that the world never reaches that stage while I'm still alive.
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