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This podcast contains discussions of violent and disturbing content that may
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not be suitable for all audiences.
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Listener discretion is strongly advised.
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The views and opinions expressed are for informational and entertainment purposes
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only and do not necessarily reflect those of the podcast, creators,
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hosts, or affiliated parties.
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If you or someone you know is in need of support, please reach out to a qualified
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mental health professional.
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This week's episode is brought to you by listeners like you.
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The ones who stay even when the silence feels a little too close and the shadows
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lean in to listen with you.
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Thank you for still being here. Coming up in the podcast.
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It she demonstrates,
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latest virtual reality game which is called roll credits existence right.
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That's not even a half of it buckle up the rides just getting temporal.
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Prepare for warp speed as we embark on a voyage through the vast expanse of
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science fiction in movies and television series.
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From distant planets to alien civilization, we delve into the heart of the unknown.
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Unraveling the tales that have captured audiences for generations.
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Get ready to unlock the secrets of the universe on CodeFlix.
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Welcome to CodeFlix, where we analyze sci-fi and fantasy TV shows and movies
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through the lens of reality.
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I'm your host, Andre Bonner, and today I unpack existence, virtual reality,
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identity, and the blurred line between game and life.
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Bone guns, toad guts, and spinal tapping by a fort.
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What does that spell out for you? For me, that spells one thing. A weird ass movie.
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Existence is the kind of film that grabs you from the beginning and says,
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Don't worry, we don't need to understand what's happening yet.
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Everything feels like a game But the deeper you go The harder it becomes to
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tell where the game ends and reality begins,
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And this is a David Cronenberg movie So you already know The body arrow is going to be turned up,
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We're talking strange biological technology Uncomfortable visuals and things
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growing where you definitely don't expect them to grow.
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But what makes this movie really interesting isn't just the weirdness,
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it's the question underneath all of it.
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What happens when a game becomes so realistic that you can no longer tell whether
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you're playing it or it's playing you?
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The movie starts with almost no explanation and that's the part of the fun.
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You're dropped straight into the madness, trying to find out who's real,
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what's real, and whether anything you're seeing can actually be trusted.
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And by the time we reach the ending, one question refuses to go away.
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Can games, movies, or other forms of media change the way we perceive reality?
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So, let's jack in. It's time to figure out whether we're functioning in the game or in reality.
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Existence, stylized as Common E, capital X,
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capital Z, is a 1999 science fiction horror film written and produced and directed by David Cronenberg.
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The film follows Allegra Geller, Jennifer Jason Ling,
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a game designer who becomes a target of assassins while playing a virtual reality
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game of her own creation.
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An international co-production between Canada, the United Kingdom,
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and France, it also stars Jude Law, Ian Holm, Don McKellar, Colm Keith Rainey,
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Sarah Polley, Christopher Eccleston, Willem Dafoe, and Robert A. Silverman.
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The film received mostly positive reviews upon release.
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Cronenberg was awarded for the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution
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at the 49th Berlin International Film Festival.
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These are my personal insights and interpretations of existence including some
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of my favorite moments and characters so.
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This film starts out with us getting an idea of like a near future kind of reality
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where there's virtual reality games that are played using some biotechnical technology,
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some game pods where you use this kind of thing for connect up into a person's
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body right into their bioport quote-unquote and it's,
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it's like a surgically implanted kind of you know thing you know that goes into
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the player's spines right because them said supposed to connect to the you know
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the the brain stem and all of that right,
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Load full transcript
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so you have two companies right antenna research and cortical systems right,
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and they are both competing against each other right we also have a group of
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fanatics who are called the realists who fight both companies right they I decry this whole thing of,
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the deforming of reality,
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that is caused by virtual reality games, right?
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And, you know, even in reality, you know, where we live, we know that,
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you know, people have been having these conversations, right?
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And debates around games and whether games are too violent and,
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you know, whether games are influencing young people's behavior, right?
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So in the movie, the world-renowned game designer Allegra Geller,
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and if you're a programming geek like myself, you know what Allegra means, right?
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She demonstrates...
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Latest virtual reality game which is called roll credits existence right,
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and she's doing this to a focus roof it's something that you know that people
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really do you know let's sit down and like you know play games together to figure
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out if this game is actually marketable right and and how they can market it
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and who they can market it to,
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so the demonstration get disrupted by Noel Ditcher who is a realist,
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and he shoots Geller with an organic pistol, now this pistol is made of bones,
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and teeth teeth for the,
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ammunition right.
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And they say that the reason why I'm even able to be able to have the gun in
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the first place, in a place like this, a secured place like this,
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is because he was able to pass security, right? Obviously, right?
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He gets gunned down, right?
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This guy who is supposed to be Allegra Geller's security guard and publicist.
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And I say supposed to because this brother, you know, obviously doesn't have a weapon of his own.
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He doesn't even secure properly, you know what I'm saying? He doesn't operate
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like a security at all, right?
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Anyways, he end up escort Gela to safety, you know, in a one truck and thing, right?
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Now, Gela discovered that her pod, which would have the only copy of existence, right?
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Yeah, you know, when you have your computer, you have your device,
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and you're the one who has worked on this thing for a whole long,
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and you have it, and all of a sudden, no, it's damaged.
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I can understand that feeling, right? That feeling of, boy, you know
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how much work put into this, you know how much nights, you know how much mornings,
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when I wake up so early in the morning, thinking about what I need to do and
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you know how I can get it done
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and know to see it just be lost within a second because,
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it's been damaged you know yeah.
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Now, Ted Pickle, right, he doesn't have a bioport, right?
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You know what I'm saying? He worked for the company, but he didn't have a bioport.
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And to Allegra, that was very strange because this is a future reality.
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And as such, most persons in a future reality would be able to have a bioport installed, right?
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Because most persons would have probably been playing games,
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you know what I'm saying, this way, right? It's a normal thing.
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It's almost like, in our reality, most persons have a cell phone.
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There's no one that you know that don't have a mobile phone, right?
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So, he reluctantly agrees to have a bioport installed in his spine so that him
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can jointly test the game with Geller.
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You know, she really turned up the flames on him in terms of persuasion technique, you know?
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So, Geller takes him to a gas station where they have this black market guy
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named Gas, who is played by William Dafoe.
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He deliberately installs a faulty buyer port into his spine, right?
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And this reveals his intention for taking out Geller and her game, right?
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Because the device gets damaged.
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So Geass' real intention emerges and he attempts to kill Gellon but.
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Ted comes to the rescue and he ensures that he's dead, right?
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Now, the two, they end up going to a farmer ski lodge, right?
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And they say farmer ski lodge because basically nobody goes there anymore because
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everybody seems to be into games that much that they don't even come out of their house.
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Where have we heard this before i don't know people on tiktok and people anyways so.
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What happens now is that they end up meeting with,
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gela's mentor right who repairs the damaged part right and when him did he repaired
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the damaged part you know you know i find this funny that ted says team that
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boy you look like you can't perform surgery you know i'm saying,
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yeah and thing and it's like when i say to him,
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in bridging that i curious set in bridging said boy see we are,
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veterinarians you know i'm saying we you know it's a he's relating with the
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the type of technology and the way how the thing i work you know i'm saying
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because it is like a biological machine right,
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and Geller would have explained to Ted that you know,
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and I think that's in the next scene where,
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when them get the new buyer port installed in Ted right because the other one is faulty of course.
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Geller again pushes him to let's go and play the game. I need to go and see
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what's going on in my game because, you know what I'm saying,
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something weird is going on. She's just insistent on going into the game.
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So, you know, he allows her, you know, they go into the game with Jack in, right?
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And when they go into the game, right, they meet up on this guy named Nader, right?
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And call himself darcy nader and kind of thought away and him,
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give him some micropods right so,
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in the game world they are going into another game so it's another level you
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know i'm saying another level in the game where they they are actually playing a game in the game yeah,
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their buyer ports look different obviously because they're inside the game and yeah all of that so.
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They end up assuming new identities in that reality as Larry Hashton and Barb Brickin.
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Now, when they have met up with Nader,
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that's when Michael or Ted would have realized, the way how the game works,
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when you play a game, and many persons will have played a game,
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You know, there is a game loop,
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that when you meet up on a character and, you know, it's almost like you're
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conversing with a character.
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You have to, you know, they basically repeat their lines until you provide them with the right input.
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You know what I'm saying? You give them the right, you know,
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basically the right cue to move
on to the next thing.
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So it's the same thing happened here now where he meets up on this factory worker named Ugevi Norish.
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You know, animal claims that him is a realist contact, right?
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And they're basically working in the factory and building the gamepad.
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So we would have seen them going through toad guts with, you know,
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all sorts of different animal guts. and then picking out basic pieces and funding
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blocks off the thing to build these gamepads.
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So, he suggests to him, say, you know, you need to have lunch at this Chinese
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restaurant where they're nearby the factory, you know, in the forest and thing.
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So, he tell him, say, when you go, you must order the special.
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You hear him say? The special for lunch.
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So, you know, of course...
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Paykel and Angela, you know, they may end up going and, you know,
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when they go and meet up on the waiter and thing, you know, and they order the
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special. Now, they have other people around the table with them, you know.
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I must mention that. Other people there around the table with them.
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And as soon as, as soon as Paykel said, boy, I want the special, right?
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The waiter is like, but the special is only for special occasions.
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And they're like, no, but I want the special.
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It's a special occasion. It's her birthday. And he's like.
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Oh, yes, birthdays are a special occasion. I will bring you the special.
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So you can realize, you know what I'm saying?
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Something is going on, right? Especially not just because it's supposed to be
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a game-like feel. You know what I'm saying? the characters are really in right so,
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they bring the special right the waiter and,
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pico looking at it you know it looks very unappetizing you know not you know
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something you want to eat because especially because it has all the same,
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things that they were in the Manufactory working on right those things that
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are totally the guts of a toad and all of those things. Yeah.
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Before we try to separate what's actually happening from what's just inside
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our heads, we're going to take a quick breather to step back into reality.
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Don't let your mind play tricks
on you while we're gone.
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When we return, we're unpacking the exact moment the ground gets pulled out
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from under the audience.
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You're listening to Cold Flicks, and we'll be right back.
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Game Session. Connection established.
00:19:03.697 --> 00:19:10.048
Wait. Are you sure you're listening to a podcast? Maybe you are already in the game.
00:19:10.886 --> 00:19:14.596
This podcast is a monetized, no corporate system running the show.
00:19:14.800 --> 00:19:20.482
Just a genuine love for science fiction and the strange question it makes us ask.
00:19:21.470 --> 00:19:25.080
If you've enjoyed the experience, don't disconnect yet.
00:19:25.487 --> 00:19:30.131
Follow, listen, leave a comment, share it with a friend or colleague.
00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:35.484
You never know, they might be ready to plug in too.
00:19:36.256 --> 00:19:40.413
And if reality starts feeling a little strange after the episode,
00:19:40.691 --> 00:19:43.826
don't worry. That's probably just the game.
00:19:44.553 --> 00:19:46.533
Existence is everything.
00:19:51.348 --> 00:19:54.532
You know what I'm saying? It's that kind of episode, guys. So if you missed
00:19:54.532 --> 00:19:57.902
the disclaimer and you just jumped to this part of the episode, remember.
00:19:58.621 --> 00:20:00.916
Yeah. So, yeah.
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So he digs in, nonetheless.
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And basically, he must say that his game character, because,
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they're all playing a character, his game character wants to eat the unappetizing special.
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You hear me say and so i'm digging and as i'm digging there are some parts that,
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are bone and stuff and i'm take them and,
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slowly construct a pistol you know what i'm saying,
00:20:40.729 --> 00:20:46.787
you make a pistol out of bone now that calls back to the very first scene where,
00:20:47.286 --> 00:20:50.299
that guy shot at Geller, right?
00:20:51.340 --> 00:20:54.542
So, yeah, them's like, yo, how this happening? You know what I'm saying?
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Like, isn't this uncanny?
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Isn't this, you know, some kind of clue as to what is going on around here?
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So, Paykel calls over the waiter, right?
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And when they get the waiter to come over.
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Him shoot the waiter now but before you shoot the waiter i should mention this part,
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he turns with the gun in his hand and he trains it on gillow in the same way,
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that the guy from the beginning of the film trained it on gillow and said.
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Death to allegra gillow right and you know shoot her but this time fecal was
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like i need to shoot someone but it's not you right no You don't have to say
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that I'm going to shoot you.
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So, shoot the waiter.
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Right? When they call over the waiter and shoot the waiter. Right?
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Now, they mean a store, you know.
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In the restaurant, seeing where you're seeing. And in the restaurant, everybody look on them.
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But of course, because they're all game characters, nobody's not reacting in
00:22:01.092 --> 00:22:03.376
a realistic sense. Right? They're just looking.
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Or like AI characters in a scene. Right? We've seen those AI slot videos.
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So, Them return to the game store right where they meet up back with Hugo Carlon,
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right and him tell them say,
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You know say nourish senior there because he's actually a double agent for cortical systems so,
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In the the waiter was supposed to be your actual contact and you murdered him,
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You know what I'm saying?
00:22:38.392 --> 00:22:40.995
It's like, yo, you know, what's going on here?
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You know what I'm saying? They were manipulated or what?
00:22:46.648 --> 00:22:51.372
So, they end up going all back to the factory and thing and then find one diseased
00:22:51.372 --> 00:22:54.758
pod because remember these pods are organic.
00:22:55.216 --> 00:22:57.893
So, of course, they can become diseased, right?
00:22:59.932 --> 00:23:06.682
No, it's not true. Anyways, Gila, for some reason, her character wants her to
00:23:06.682 --> 00:23:10.862
connect to the Bioport. And, you know, despite Pico's warning,
00:23:10.862 --> 00:23:13.486
it's like, you shouldn't be doing this, right?
00:23:13.846 --> 00:23:17.605
She's like, you know, maybe it's a part of the plan, you know what I'm saying?
00:23:18.802 --> 00:23:22.645
And she goes ahead and she connects to the Bioport.
00:23:23.306 --> 00:23:30.682
And it seems to infect her right to that level you know i'm saying where she
00:23:30.682 --> 00:23:32.846
she's almost gonna die and,
00:23:33.749 --> 00:23:40.112
ted have to jump in cut the umbilical right or cut the card you know and,
00:23:41.195 --> 00:23:46.216
when cut it we start to see blood pouring out and she's like you know i'm bleeding out,
00:23:47.323 --> 00:23:54.725
right so immediately nourish appears now out of nowhere with a flamethrower,
00:23:55.474 --> 00:23:58.400
and then blast the disease pod, right?
00:23:59.371 --> 00:24:03.121
You know, and it released some deadly spores.
00:24:04.771 --> 00:24:09.846
Now, before, you know, they said, boy, thank you for doing that and thing.
00:24:10.991 --> 00:24:12.432
Ted stopped the man and I'm back.
00:24:14.677 --> 00:24:18.962
Is that literal pun kind of thing going
on here? I was saying,
00:24:18.962 --> 00:24:22.024
I don't know, okay? Let me know the comments.
00:24:22.639 --> 00:24:29.132
So, Geller and Paykel now end up awaking back at the ski lodge.
00:24:29.132 --> 00:24:34.079
At the same time, all along they were in the virtual world. When they realized,
00:24:34.856 --> 00:24:37.986
Geller's gamepad has become diseased,
00:24:39.788 --> 00:24:45.444
them shock because in our first place something like that happening in the game
00:24:45.444 --> 00:24:51.184
world how does that reflect in the real world that you you know i'm saying and
00:24:51.184 --> 00:24:54.014
gill has explained that it's possible that,
00:24:55.079 --> 00:25:00.624
the game part was trying to tell us that it was infected by doing that in a
00:25:00.624 --> 00:25:05.095
game by throwing the game into that particular way right so it's basically a,
00:25:05.675 --> 00:25:08.894
hint say you know something wrong with it and.
00:25:11.522 --> 00:25:17.431
She has some eyes say the only way it could I get infected is by the bioports,
00:25:18.115 --> 00:25:20.184
and Piker got a new bioport so
00:25:20.184 --> 00:25:25.335
obviously it was the you know the same guy Vignore you know I'm saying who,
00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:29.753
installed bioport I hear my child for that right,
00:25:30.976 --> 00:25:35.853
and you know him did have it out for her for years and You know in that chifey
00:25:36.224 --> 00:25:39.734
destroy her game so that she can have no control.
00:25:39.734 --> 00:25:43.306
You know I'm saying And destroy her basically,
00:25:44.856 --> 00:25:50.760
so she Pulls out an injection needle and she inserts it into the,
00:25:51.581 --> 00:26:00.114
Into the the bio the the the pod and And then she also does the same for Pico's bio port as well and.
00:26:01.707 --> 00:26:06.131
Now, unexpectedly, out of nowhere, the same brother when he,
00:26:06.131 --> 00:26:09.579
Hugo Carlisle, him come in, right?
00:26:10.154 --> 00:26:15.411
And him, you know, a resistance fighter with, you know, gun in his hand,
00:26:15.411 --> 00:26:16.155
you know what I'm saying?
00:26:16.840 --> 00:26:23.101
And he say, you know, but they are for escort, you know, to safety and thing,
00:26:23.101 --> 00:26:25.501
because they might come, they might come, right?
00:26:27.050 --> 00:26:32.391
When them you know reach outside and think then witness the data existence You
00:26:32.391 --> 00:26:36.041
know I'm saying because the whole place go up in a flames, right?
00:26:36.041 --> 00:26:43.388
The whole lodge and everything go up in flames now before Carla can kill Geller,
00:26:43.864 --> 00:26:48.891
Vignore, you know who seem to be a double agent now fake cortical systems.
00:26:49.030 --> 00:26:51.692
It kind of mix up, mix up, you see what I'm saying?
00:26:52.284 --> 00:26:58.741
And that's exactly how the film is right? so you know, him come now and he shoot
00:26:58.741 --> 00:27:06.431
Carla in the back and he tell Gilla say, you know
that before her you know,
00:27:07.271 --> 00:27:13.021
her pod get destroyed, him did copy the game, so the same time when he have
00:27:13.021 --> 00:27:20.782
it on the table a rummage to it and you know, the surge upon the pod him copy the game data, right?
00:27:22.413 --> 00:27:28.626
Now, she, you know, say, you know, she not in for this now. So she does kill him. Yeah.
00:27:29.612 --> 00:27:34.221
And then when she kill him now, Paykel, you know, is like shocked in a way.
00:27:34.221 --> 00:27:38.991
And he's like, you know, how you know, say boy, we not in the real world right
00:27:38.991 --> 00:27:42.091
now. You know what I'm saying? You just kill that brother dick.
00:27:42.091 --> 00:27:43.671
How you know, say we not in the real world.
00:27:44.424 --> 00:27:51.340
And then he reveal himself now to be a realist that was sent originally to kill her.
00:27:52.845 --> 00:28:01.124
You hear me say? So, Gela now, she says she figure out her intentions since
00:28:01.124 --> 00:28:06.073
him did point the gun at her in a Chinese restaurant. Right?
00:28:06.921 --> 00:28:12.646
And she took out one device where basically it's a detonator.
00:28:13.883 --> 00:28:20.404
And she detonates the thing where she injects it in by her port. So she did do that.
00:28:20.851 --> 00:28:28.073
Basically, You know I'm saying All of this so this setup was all about that Yeah,
00:28:28.717 --> 00:28:34.984
so it that explodes and kills him right and then She jumps up,
00:28:35.404 --> 00:28:39.963
you know hands in here like did I win did I win that win the game?
00:28:40.770 --> 00:28:44.514
And at one point she's touching her head and we don't really see anything but
00:28:44.514 --> 00:28:50.934
here and then the next point was to see this kind of device in her head and,
00:28:51.404 --> 00:28:53.387
on our arms we start to see that,
00:28:54.061 --> 00:29:00.804
and then we suddenly see people awaken in our church similar to the same opening
00:29:00.804 --> 00:29:06.948
scene where persons were in the church and they were you know playing the game and stuff,
00:29:07.766 --> 00:29:10.425
and all of the members of,
00:29:11.290 --> 00:29:16.636
all of the persons who would have met even in the game world and so on they are there,
00:29:17.739 --> 00:29:23.376
apparently they were all in the game as different characters at different points,
00:29:23.922 --> 00:29:25.715
right I'm playing their part,
00:29:26.611 --> 00:29:30.924
and they were you know they might talk about oh boy you know you did well in
00:29:30.924 --> 00:29:35.304
your part and you know in other Chinese restaurant then just kill you and you
00:29:35.304 --> 00:29:39.991
know they've seemed enthused by all of this right.
00:29:41.461 --> 00:29:52.444
So, it was all Nourish's game, actually. So, Nourish is the actual game designer or developer.
00:29:53.024 --> 00:29:57.681
And, you know what I'm saying? Him have a new reality game, right?
00:29:57.681 --> 00:30:02.022
Called the pilgrimage's transcendence, right?
00:30:02.667 --> 00:30:08.811
And these persons were a part of the test group. Everybody appraising both Graham
00:30:08.811 --> 00:30:10.526
and, you know, and all of them things there.
00:30:11.920 --> 00:30:16.601
Now, I tell my sister and say, boy, you know, what are we?
00:30:16.621 --> 00:30:19.061
You might not have to talk about what are we, you know, the rest of everybody
00:30:19.061 --> 00:30:20.279
there over there, you know.
00:30:20.679 --> 00:30:23.571
And they might talk about what are we and say, yo, you know,
00:30:23.571 --> 00:30:26.301
say, I feel a wee about what the game I do, you know.
00:30:26.301 --> 00:30:35.412
Because why we have a character in the game that is the designer and we have,
00:30:36.103 --> 00:30:39.789
antagonists who are trying to kill the designer.
00:30:40.475 --> 00:30:43.551
You don't think something wrong about that and thing is that you know and she'll
00:30:43.551 --> 00:30:49.041
say well probably maybe somebody brought that idea into the game you know somehow
00:30:49.041 --> 00:30:51.694
but don't worry about it man and thing and thing,
00:30:52.962 --> 00:30:59.190
so the next moment now piker and geller them approach narration,
00:30:59.953 --> 00:31:03.851
you know them and it's almost like them start out by admonishing him and say
00:31:03.851 --> 00:31:09.281
oh you know you have a good game here and thing them have one dog you know by
00:31:09.281 --> 00:31:11.974
the way they bring over the dog with them,
00:31:13.207 --> 00:31:22.951
and the dog apparently has weapons that they brought in yeah so they took the
00:31:22.951 --> 00:31:27.360
weapons off of the dog and they shoot.
00:31:28.975 --> 00:31:32.721
Nourish my sister Merle Yeah,
00:31:33.604 --> 00:31:38.774
and then them shout out to them are realists You know I'm saying death today
00:31:39.128 --> 00:31:44.991
this on the death, you know, I never remember the actual Quoted you know line from the film, but,
00:31:45.711 --> 00:31:49.008
I know it's had death in it, you know, like I must say yo death to to answer,
00:31:49.670 --> 00:31:53.583
and The weirdest thing about this part of the film is that,
00:31:54.419 --> 00:31:57.183
You think now hey, we're at the reality level now.
00:31:58.736 --> 00:32:05.895
But the test group in other places like them stunned either them really really stunned or,
00:32:07.404 --> 00:32:12.500
There's another level of a game or something or we are in some kind of virtual reality,
00:32:13.399 --> 00:32:18.952
because Demariak and Pika Langela does leave right,
00:32:19.749 --> 00:32:26.485
Them all him them gun at the person who was the Chinese waiter Right And he
00:32:26.485 --> 00:32:28.951
did And he will plead for his life Right,
00:32:29.989 --> 00:32:32.205
And he asks If they are still in the game,
00:32:33.432 --> 00:32:36.195
You know what I'm saying He will not have asked Because he will say Yo He will
00:32:36.195 --> 00:32:41.643
not
understand What happened What happened And of course Tykel and Geller They,
00:32:42.341 --> 00:32:46.267
will not answer That's it That's the end of the film,
00:32:47.611 --> 00:32:55.634
A wild ride indeed No Trust me Let me know in the comments What your thoughts are On this on this film.
00:33:04.597 --> 00:33:11.174
These are some theories and unresolved mysteries and some plot points.
00:33:14.274 --> 00:33:23.868
Existence is built on collapsing the reality between game and the real world, right?
00:33:24.333 --> 00:33:34.130
So, most of the mysteries that we find are how many layers of simulation we're actually seeing
00:33:34.571 --> 00:33:39.355
and whether the final scene is real or just another level.
00:33:39.668 --> 00:33:44.974
Right like many other films that we have discussed on this podcast you know,
00:33:45.769 --> 00:33:51.248
it really nails it in that you know there are so many things that can,
00:33:52.310 --> 00:33:57.837
be attributed to a certain level right certain things you're looking for to
00:33:57.837 --> 00:34:04.680
say okay this must be real or this must be but yeah you know i'm saying there's no way,
00:34:05.769 --> 00:34:10.188
you know clear way to differentiate those levels.
00:34:11.476 --> 00:34:17.277
Now Cronenberg deliberately leave the question open right and this turned ending
00:34:17.277 --> 00:34:20.248
into philosophical trap you know,
00:34:20.846 --> 00:34:24.548
rather than a clean reveal if you say yeah we're in a reality now and these
00:34:24.850 --> 00:34:27.549
two persons are murderers right.
00:34:29.246 --> 00:34:33.953
So, the question comes, how many layers of reality?
00:34:35.289 --> 00:34:39.248
The clearest theory is that there are at least three layers, right?
00:34:39.741 --> 00:34:47.915
A real world, the existence game, and the transcendence metagame that supposedly sits above it.
00:34:49.826 --> 00:34:55.956
The film shows us moving between these. You know what I'm saying?
00:34:55.956 --> 00:35:01.505
But it never really confirms what layer is the top right.
00:35:02.965 --> 00:35:07.139
Now if you want to go more extreme with the theory it is that there are,
00:35:07.984 --> 00:35:14.226
five or more layers with the final scene still inside of a game and in that
00:35:14.226 --> 00:35:18.836
reading every time the characters think they have escaped they have just entered
00:35:18.836 --> 00:35:21.479
a deeper more convincing simulation,
00:35:22.483 --> 00:35:26.798
which is designed to test or manipulate them right,
00:35:28.301 --> 00:35:32.382
now the final question is are we still in the game,
00:35:33.705 --> 00:35:38.519
because you know the Chinese waiter guy you know that we know,
00:35:39.719 --> 00:35:43.469
him asked that at the end of the film because you know I'm saying,
00:35:44.413 --> 00:35:49.266
he's about to be shot right you know I'm saying I've gone through and panning
00:35:49.266 --> 00:35:55.733
and the mafia won that himself is it that we're still in the game you know what I say yeah.
00:35:58.827 --> 00:36:06.825
So, in the game, death is almost like it is consequence-free, right?
00:36:07.254 --> 00:36:09.394
And stylized in a way, right?
00:36:10.155 --> 00:36:19.350
But everyone reacts in a particular way. So, you know, it is that reaction that truly matters.
00:36:20.767 --> 00:36:24.536
Another theory is that the question itself is the point.
00:36:24.733 --> 00:36:31.200
By asking it, the film has forced the audience into the same uncertainty as the character them.
00:36:31.856 --> 00:36:35.473
So whether they are in the game or not becomes irrelevant.
00:36:36.176 --> 00:36:40.292
The experience of not knowing is the intended effect.
00:36:42.472 --> 00:36:46.698
Allegra and Ted's true alliance are allegiance.
00:36:47.448 --> 00:36:53.624
So the truth is revealed that Allegra and Ted are both realists, malls.
00:36:54.361 --> 00:36:59.262
And it raises its own mysteries, right? One of the theories is that they were,
00:36:59.761 --> 00:37:05.714
always working together, using the game as a test to expose anti-game extremists
00:37:06.028 --> 00:37:08.303
and protect the technology.
00:37:09.396 --> 00:37:14.028
You know what I'm saying? A darker theory is that they are not just moles,
00:37:14.411 --> 00:37:17.627
but them are true believers in the game world.
00:37:18.408 --> 00:37:21.456
And them willing to kill to keep it alive.
00:37:22.059 --> 00:37:27.487
And that makes their final intimacy less romantic and more like two players
00:37:27.487 --> 00:37:33.229
locking into a sheer delusion whether or not it is real.
00:37:36.439 --> 00:37:40.135
Nature of the pods and the bioports.
00:37:41.587 --> 00:37:47.943
So the film never fully explains how the organic game pods and spinal ports work,
00:37:48.675 --> 00:37:50.279
and this kind of feeding to the,
00:37:50.799 --> 00:37:57.028
broader theory say the technology not that important in most cases right.
00:37:57.754 --> 00:38:05.459
The pod blur the line between body and machine and make the addiction and immersion
00:38:05.459 --> 00:38:08.442
feel more physical than mental.
00:38:09.853 --> 00:38:18.403
Another theory is that the lack of technical detail is intentional.
00:38:18.972 --> 00:38:19.762
You know what I'm saying?
00:38:22.001 --> 00:38:26.558
It misdirects us by keeping the mechanics vague, right?
00:38:27.028 --> 00:38:29.989
You don't really need to know much about it. You just need to understand and
00:38:29.989 --> 00:38:36.955
say it does this and the film ensures that every layer would plausibly be simulated,
00:38:37.581 --> 00:38:40.247
and they sustain the central mystery there,
00:38:41.359 --> 00:38:42.819
even up to the last frame.
00:38:46.692 --> 00:38:53.267
The role of the realists. So the realists, they claim to want to destroy the games.
00:38:54.161 --> 00:38:58.504
But their methods and their motives stay very murky.
00:38:59.320 --> 00:39:05.193
Very murky. So one of the theories is
that they are genuine resistance movements,
00:39:05.750 --> 00:39:12.809
against a dehumanizing technology, right? They see it causing a grave harm to humanity.
00:39:13.105 --> 00:39:21.692
So they have become the people who have to take up arms and take lives, right?
00:39:22.442 --> 00:39:28.312
And this makes them violence into this twisted form of liberation,
00:39:28.312 --> 00:39:31.387
right? Liberating by harm.
00:39:33.076 --> 00:39:37.819
Another theory is that they are part of the system itself, right?
00:39:38.544 --> 00:39:43.152
They are supposed to represent this control opposition that keeps the players
00:39:43.152 --> 00:39:45.789
hooked by providing an enemy.
00:39:47.492 --> 00:39:52.745
Right to fight because many times when you're playing a game there's always,
00:39:53.597 --> 00:39:57.772
the computer that you're fighting against that's the initial stage right of
00:39:57.772 --> 00:40:04.661
the technology as technology has progressed we're able to play against others so you know,
00:40:05.556 --> 00:40:11.342
we can play against others you know while maintaining that thing there so you
00:40:11.342 --> 00:40:15.807
know you have an enemy to fight right now what if.
00:40:18.096 --> 00:40:24.296
The realists help for sell the game even more because of this because they are,
00:40:24.952 --> 00:40:28.209
a part of the system right especially,
00:40:29.613 --> 00:40:34.332
you know the way how it is marketed you know can't be marketed as boy you know
00:40:34.332 --> 00:40:40.162
the game is so good that people are saying you're not going to play it you know
00:40:40.162 --> 00:40:42.965
what I'm saying it's a great marketing tool.
00:40:45.640 --> 00:40:51.080
And then the ending is this hyper-reality, right?
00:40:51.899 --> 00:40:59.500
And I think a lot of persons can argue that the film ends with that way,
00:40:59.500 --> 00:41:04.164
that pure hyper-realistic hyper-reality, right?
00:41:04.769 --> 00:41:11.398
It's a state where the distinction between the game and life no longer functions, right?
00:41:13.223 --> 00:41:19.150
Another view then how you can look at it for say why the unresolved ending is
00:41:19.150 --> 00:41:24.400
not a puzzle to solve but a statement that the characters and viewers are already
00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:26.980
living inside a mediated reality,
00:41:28.691 --> 00:41:34.328
and that's what makes existence a precursor to the later simulation stories,
00:41:34.792 --> 00:41:39.678
It's less about which layer is real, more about how easily,
00:41:40.206 --> 00:41:46.191
identity, desire, and violence can be scripted once reality becomes programmable.
00:41:47.596 --> 00:41:53.030
Right? So if you can make the mind conceive of these things,
00:41:53.030 --> 00:42:01.023
you know, you can realize how much harm you can cause.
00:42:03.329 --> 00:42:06.531
So the only thing I can add to this is to say that,
00:42:08.647 --> 00:42:09.953
at the end of the day,
00:42:12.081 --> 00:42:17.678
games and these type of media, they are made for immersion, right?
00:42:18.340 --> 00:42:28.709
And we tend to immerse ourselves in these medias so that we can leave this world
00:42:28.709 --> 00:42:32.714
behind for evil a little while, right?
00:42:32.981 --> 00:42:40.269
Just because sometimes when it gets so overwhelming, you want to be able to
00:42:40.269 --> 00:42:41.687
just kind of disconnect.
00:42:42.970 --> 00:42:50.238
And that is normal and natural. What's unnatural is an obsession.
00:42:51.335 --> 00:42:55.497
And we see that portrayed with Allegra Geller's character.
00:42:55.880 --> 00:43:00.809
Where she you know even though she's saying yeah may i try to protect the game
00:43:00.809 --> 00:43:05.993
by trying to understand what's happening she seems to be very much,
00:43:06.766 --> 00:43:14.059
in that addictive mode and when she gets ted you know to come along with her.
00:43:15.598 --> 00:43:19.737
Even ted seems to start to exhibit some,
00:43:20.545 --> 00:43:31.233
addictive behavior right and addictive behaviors tend to push people to an edge especially,
00:43:32.069 --> 00:43:39.789
if you pull the addiction cold turkey so you have to know oh you're doing something
00:43:39.789 --> 00:43:46.268
you have to be aware of what is happening to you right what is happening to your mind,
00:43:47.684 --> 00:43:50.197
and that is where I'll leave it for now,
00:43:51.635 --> 00:43:58.711
so share your favorite moments your favorite theories your favorite anything,
00:43:59.379 --> 00:44:01.027
let me know in the comments.
00:44:12.764 --> 00:44:18.522
This episode saw us go deep into the world of existence.
00:44:19.520 --> 00:44:26.850
And just the title of the film, you know, and the game that it is trying to,
00:44:27.500 --> 00:44:33.225
portray, tells us that life itself, existence,
00:44:34.478 --> 00:44:37.555
can be perceived sometimes as a game.
00:44:38.434 --> 00:44:43.744
And many times, you know, persons who are going through life,
00:44:43.744 --> 00:44:51.742
they look at themselves as being the lead character, right, that cannot die.
00:44:52.143 --> 00:44:56.537
They can't, you know, nothing can't happen to them.
00:44:58.025 --> 00:45:04.103
Of course, we, you know, some of us, I should say, some of us know that that is not true.
00:45:04.758 --> 00:45:16.672
Some of us know that life is something important to us and how we live it with other people in mind,
00:45:17.355 --> 00:45:27.714
we don't live it believing that others are characters in our game, right?
00:45:27.714 --> 00:45:31.356
And we somehow must win all the time.
00:45:32.094 --> 00:45:35.310
Sometimes we lose. Sometimes others win.
00:45:36.212 --> 00:45:39.974
Sometimes we work as a team to win.
00:45:40.833 --> 00:45:50.958
And that is what this podcast is about. Building a community that understands these core truths about,
00:45:51.857 --> 00:45:57.579
reality that we can't rely on just ourselves only.
00:45:58.049 --> 00:46:00.691
Sometimes we need to reach out to each other,
00:46:02.330 --> 00:46:11.899
And recognize the goal that we can find as a part of a family, a part of a community.
00:46:12.777 --> 00:46:18.141
Because this world sometimes can make us feel so divided, right?
00:46:19.562 --> 00:46:21.455
In the way how things come out of it.
00:46:25.355 --> 00:46:29.564
And it's okay that sometimes we lose.
00:46:31.300 --> 00:46:39.190
Yes, we want to strive to win, but we have to recognize that sometimes the best
00:46:39.190 --> 00:46:43.795
thing to do is to smell the roses,
00:46:44.647 --> 00:46:46.301
participate in reality,
00:46:47.305 --> 00:46:52.477
and understand why it is that things went the way they went.
00:46:53.332 --> 00:47:01.447
So that we can make a better future for ourselves and for our prodigy that will come after us.
00:47:02.510 --> 00:47:07.100
Because our sisters, they laid a foundation for us, right?
00:47:07.732 --> 00:47:13.880
And we have to do better. Each generation trying to make a better world.
00:47:16.202 --> 00:47:21.055
I don't know how much ways I can spin that, but that is it.
00:47:23.331 --> 00:47:28.070
That brings us to the end of this episode. Our voyage through the universe of
00:47:28.070 --> 00:47:30.320
sci-fi television continues.
00:47:30.819 --> 00:47:35.038
And the next destination is 5000 downloads.
00:47:35.730 --> 00:47:37.505
Your support keeps this mission alive.
00:48:24.737 --> 00:48:30.581
This content is canned credentialed, which means you can report instances of harassment, abuse,
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or other harm on their hotline at 617-249-4255 or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.