Uncanny Valley Analysis

I have to admit that this short video had really caught my attention. It was fun to watch and at the same time, it teaches us while showing us on how technology can manipulate our minds and blind us with their games. One of the main themes this video represents is the meaning of post-human consciousness. What does post-human mean, you ask? Well, from what I’ve learned, I believe that post-human means that a person or entity  exists in a state beyond being human. “Uncanny Valley” is a video where some humans were being driven to entertain themselves by entering inside a virtual reality where they believe to be a place where they can be themselves. But unfortunately, this VR had drastically changed their life style and mental state. The people had become anti-social, they barely leave their home over time, and they lose their humanity. The cause of their state is not the virtual reality’s approximation of the real, but its masking of and substitution for the real. Later on, we’ve realized that one of the humans escaped for a moment from his world and into the real world where he discovers a horrible truth: the humans unknowingly were piloting bipedal androids, like the one in the shot above, in desert combat zones where they kill not aliens or monsters, but human beings. So in a way, everything they’ve seen was a lie and they were actually murdering innocent lives without even knowing it. This shows that are minds can be inside in any shell or armor, but the reality is far from what we’ve believe.

The Matrix (1999)

 

This film not only was fun to watch, but it reveals a universe where  technology reign supreme and rules over all human society. Humans grew so dependent of the machines that they are blinded to see what their creations were becoming in the future. However, it also explains that even the darkest of times, there is always hope, which can be found in the most unexpected places or forms.

In the shot above we see that Neo is given the choice to either take the blue or red pill. It is in that moment I discovered that the real choice is whether Neo chooses his fate (the blue pill) or his destiny (the red pill). From Morpheus’s sunglasses, we could see the visual shot of Neo and the pills as a way of seeing the fate of Mankind rests on his shoulders.By choosing the blue pill, Neo had accepted his destiny to become the One and, for the first time in his life, experiences the taste of true freedom. Once in the real world, Neo experienced shock and fear in the view of many humans being dormant in pods while the machines drain their bioelectricity for their own power.

Truth is that the dream world is a mere shadow of what truly exists in real world in which humans have never experienced it. As the Matrix is a computer program that the humans are plugged into, the world they view as “real” is not truly what it appears to be. In reality, those living within the Matrix have never seen the real world that exists beyond their perception. Only those who have been removed from the Matrix have ever truly seen the real world or, in other words, have never truly lived.

 

Akira (1988) What’s up, Punk?

   I got to tell you that this movie was long and slow, but still fun to watch. This movie was practically filled with punk that it screams it to the world to see.

Whenever I hear the word ‘punk’, I believe it’s more related to freedom or saying, doing and playing what you want. On this shot, we have Kaneda on his motorcycle getting ready to have fun or trouble. The teenagers in this world are all either gangsters, delinquents, or even troublemakers. When you grow up in a dangerous environment, you tend to risk your life to go against order, society, and even the government in order to survive.

Another shot I have here is Tetsuo showing his tremendous power against his enemies. Here we see an example of punk as the personal expression of uniqueness that comes from the experiences of growing up in touch with our human ability to reason and ask questions. Obviously with these newfound abilities, Tetsuo is different and outcast by society. At first, he struggled to control his powers and was afraid that he’ll never be the same again nor live his old life. But in the end, he accepted to understand the results in self-progress, and through repetition and social evolution. He evolved from a punk boy with an attitude into a god like entity or as I would call “a son of anarchy”, going against all order and government laws to get what he wants.

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

 

I got to say that it’s about time that we get to enjoy watching a sci-fi anime film. Ghost in the shell is practically a nest for a large quantity of cyberpunk themes. Because it shares its themes with many sci-fi films I’ve seen so far, it’s hard for me to choose from them. First off, the setting takes place in a dark futuristic world where the government controls all by their laws and agreements just as in the films Brazil and Blade Runner. Most people in this society has been modified or upgraded with technological systems or abilities such as mechanical limbs, scanners, brain plugging, and telepathic communication. This theme shares with the film Johnny Mnemonic as it also has cybernetic people only that in Ghost in the Shell, the modifications were given by organizations to help them track down criminals like a police force. There was also some reference form the Matrix in the scene where the main characters Motoko and her team captured the garbage man hacker and the criminal who gave him the program. After arresting them, they discovered that their memories were either erased or implanted by the Puppet Master, who is a sentient being originated from a computer. This gave them an case of identity crisis, implying that either the people were living a lie or they truly never lived at all. Like I’ve said before, so many themes in this film and so many other films to choose to compare with, but either way, this is one heck of a cyberpunk movie.

Hackers (1995) Analysis

I must admit that not only that this film was the bomb, but it mainly focuses on how hard a hacker’s life can be. It makes you wonder: Are hackers good or evil? The better question should be: is the ability of hacking is right or wrong. Hacking is like power because there’s no such thing as good  or bad power. It is how you use that ability that makes it so.

Here we see the protagonist Dade aka “Zero Cool” is a hacker with a criminal record given to him at the age of eleven. After probation, he started misusing his gift of hacking for his own needs of fun, stealth, and even a taste of vengeance. But later on, after realizing that a computer virus might cause not only a disaster but also the fact that they’re getting the blame for it, Dade takes a stand and uses his hacking abilities to find the real culprit and take control of this situation. By taking full responsibility as well as receiving help from his friends and hackers worldwide, he managed to clear his name and save his friends.

The ideology here is that hackers are people with gifted abilities and they ensure balance in the technology. The special effects in the virus’s figures such as DaVinci gives us a creepy feeling of an evil force behind this plot. I also liked the lighting in the central computers especially in the towers of data which sort of remind me of “Tron”. So you see, it’s wrong to hack into someone else’s personal information, but if it is to clear someone’s name as well as discovering a malevolent plot, then Hackers can be your only hope to save your technology and your name. Never mess with a hacker or you’ll end up like the rest.

The Hacker’s Manifesto/ When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth Analysis

First of all, I must say that of these two stories I have read, I have to admit that I preferred the story “The Hacker’s Manifesto.”

In “The Hacker’s Manifesto”, the story tells of a hacker commenting and arguing of how hackers such as him are considered as criminals due to their curiosity in hacking the computer systems. The society somehow ignore to appreciate their intelligence and ability to master the systems, but instead they charge the hackers as common criminals for violating a system. Though I agree that hackers are resourceful and geniuses in some way, I am against in them using that knowledge to steal and violate someone’s personal information. In this case, I see a hacker as an antihero where it could be half a benefit for society and half the nuisance.

In the story “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth”, it tells the story of a sysadmin, which is a computer systems maintenance engineer, named Felix using his job as a hacker to try to prevent global disaster when the systems when into chaos. It just come to show that technologies will either be beneficial to society but treat it carelessly, it will lead us to a chaotic world where disaster awaits us.

I’ve come to realize that in both stories, hackers have a way to keep technology in balance with their abilities lead by their curiosity.

Westworld (1973) Ideology Analysis

Source: Westworld (1973) Ideology Analysis

Westworld (1973) Ideology Analysis

Source: Westworld (1973) Ideology Analysis

Westworld (1973) Ideology Analysis

The film had a way of showing the virtue of technology in our every day life. It can help us become more advanced, it quickens many things into a better progress, and can even help protect and save lives. Technology is a gift of the future but there comes a time when we squandered our gifts. The theme park was made for humans in order to relive the past utilizing androids and cybernetic technology to induce realistic scenes and people of the western world. The humans believe that the machinery was too perfect that it could never go wrong or even harm them as they enjoyed their time in the fun park, but they were wrong. Technology don’t have a human consciousness to know what is right or wrong so that when they went out of control, they just continued their programming even if it meant hurting people. It’s obvious that the ideology here is that we can’t always depend only to technology just because it is better. We need to balance our lives with both technological and primitive ways in order to avoid chaos. When one machine malfunctions, you can be sure that it won’t be the last problem we face. This is why we must treat it with respect and avoid misusing it at all times.

They Live (1988) Ideology (The truth shall set you free!)

 I must admit that the movie “They Live 1988” is not only a interesting movie, but also has a way of concealing the truth in just any ordinary things. In this shot, we see the preacher preaching how the world have secrets that are yet to be revealed. It has a way of giving the others a secret message which only some can understand it. It was obvious that there’s some truth behind it when the authorities started searching and beating up the poor civilians, just to keep them in control and quiet.

In these shots, the message turns out to be true when the protagonist Nada discovers some ordinary sunglasses in a box, only for him to realize that they actually reveal the truth of the society who some of them are truly aliens in disguise. The modern black and white cinematography along with the mighty billboards filled with only one powerful word makes it look like world dictated by the superior force of power and wealth. These words such as “obey”, makes us feel like we’re all under control by these mind controlling dictators. Once the truth has been realized, the rebels now takes a stand against the invaders. This shows us that in real life, we get distracted by many things and easily ignore the facts that they have. It comes to show you that a single object such as a book, a wad of cash, or even television has a way to control us with us realizing its purpose.