Full Transcript for eXistenZ: Jack Into Cronenberg’s Game of Flesh and Reality | Code Flix Season 3 Episode 19

00:07:10.185 so you have two companies right antenna research and cortical systems right, 00:07:10.690 --> 00:07:17.159 and they are both competing against each other right we also have a group of 00:07:17.159 --> 00:07:23.856 fanatics who are called the realists who fight both companies right they I decry this whole thing of, 00:07:24.416 --> 00:07:26.146 the deforming of reality, 00:07:26.749 --> 00:07:30.134 that is caused by virtual reality games, right? 00:07:30.552 --> 00:07:36.499 And, you know, even in reality, you know, where we live, we know that, 00:07:36.499 --> 00:07:40.078 you know, people have been having these conversations, right? 00:07:40.217 --> 00:07:46.698 And debates around games and whether games are too violent and, 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:52.137 you know, whether games are influencing young people's behavior, right? 00:07:53.372 --> 00:07:58.932 So in the movie, the world-renowned game designer Allegra Geller, 00:07:59.443 --> 00:08:04.157 and if you're a programming geek like myself, you know what Allegra means, right? 00:08:07.543 --> 00:08:08.849 She demonstrates... 00:08:11.106 --> 00:08:18.290 Latest virtual reality game which is called roll credits existence right, 00:08:19.596 --> 00:08:24.019 and she's doing this to a focus roof it's something that you know that people 00:08:24.019 --> 00:08:28.169 really do you know let's sit down and like you know play games together to figure 00:08:28.169 --> 00:08:32.449 out if this game is actually marketable right and and how they can market it 00:08:32.449 --> 00:08:34.004 and who they can market it to, 00:08:34.991 --> 00:08:41.179 so the demonstration get disrupted by Noel Ditcher who is a realist, 00:08:42.177 --> 00:08:49.927 and he shoots Geller with an organic pistol, now this pistol is made of bones, 00:08:50.982 --> 00:08:54.731 and teeth teeth for the, 00:08:56.849 --> 00:08:57.931 ammunition right. 00:09:00.066 --> 00:09:04.533 And they say that the reason why I'm even able to be able to have the gun in 00:09:04.533 --> 00:09:07.993 the first place, in a place like this, a secured place like this, 00:09:07.993 --> 00:09:12.105 is because he was able to pass security, right? Obviously, right? 00:09:12.763 --> 00:09:14.672 He gets gunned down, right? 00:09:15.407 --> 00:09:22.023 This guy who is supposed to be Allegra Geller's security guard and publicist. 00:09:22.023 --> 00:09:27.760 And I say supposed to because this brother, you know, obviously doesn't have a weapon of his own. 00:09:28.044 --> 00:09:32.583 He doesn't even secure properly, you know what I'm saying? He doesn't operate 00:09:32.583 --> 00:09:34.552 like a security at all, right? 00:09:35.310 --> 00:09:41.900 Anyways, he end up escort Gela to safety, you know, in a one truck and thing, right? 00:09:42.892 --> 00:09:51.899 Now, Gela discovered that her pod, which would have the only copy of existence, right? 00:09:52.369 --> 00:09:54.993 Yeah, you know, when you have your computer, you have your device, 00:09:54.993 --> 00:09:59.051 and you're the one who has worked on this thing for a whole long, 00:09:59.347 --> 00:10:04.268 and you have it, and all of a sudden, no, it's damaged. 00:10:04.924 --> 00:10:10.172 I can understand that feeling, right? That feeling of, boy, you know 00:10:10.561 --> 00:10:16.073 how much work put into this, you know how much nights, you know how much mornings, 00:10:16.073 --> 00:10:20.510 when I wake up so early in the morning, thinking about what I need to do and 00:10:20.667 --> 00:10:21.944 you know how I can get it done 00:10:22.316 --> 00:10:27.012 and know to see it just be lost within a second because, 00:10:27.755 --> 00:10:30.582 it's been damaged you know yeah. 00:10:32.788 --> 00:10:38.448 Now, Ted Pickle, right, he doesn't have a bioport, right? 00:10:39.745 --> 00:10:42.471 You know what I'm saying? He worked for the company, but he didn't have a bioport. 00:10:42.877 --> 00:10:48.752 And to Allegra, that was very strange because this is a future reality. 00:10:48.943 --> 00:10:56.188 And as such, most persons in a future reality would be able to have a bioport installed, right? 00:10:56.496 --> 00:10:59.415 Because most persons would have probably been playing games, 00:10:59.752 --> 00:11:02.775 you know what I'm saying, this way, right? It's a normal thing. 00:11:02.775 --> 00:11:07.519 It's almost like, in our reality, most persons have a cell phone. 00:11:07.891 --> 00:11:11.635 There's no one that you know that don't have a mobile phone, right? 00:11:12.948 --> 00:11:19.165 So, he reluctantly agrees to have a bioport installed in his spine so that him 00:11:19.165 --> 00:11:22.635 can jointly test the game with Geller. 00:11:22.635 --> 00:11:30.229 You know, she really turned up the flames on him in terms of persuasion technique, you know? 00:11:31.815 --> 00:11:39.465 So, Geller takes him to a gas station where they have this black market guy 00:11:39.465 --> 00:11:44.402 named Gas, who is played by William Dafoe. 00:11:44.867 --> 00:11:52.379 He deliberately installs a faulty buyer port into his spine, right? 00:11:53.564 --> 00:12:01.085 And this reveals his intention for taking out Geller and her game, right? 00:12:01.595 --> 00:12:05.379 Because the device gets damaged. 00:12:06.447 --> 00:12:15.480 So Geass' real intention emerges and he attempts to kill Gellon but. 00:12:17.946 --> 00:12:25.439 Ted comes to the rescue and he ensures that he's dead, right? 00:12:25.712 --> 00:12:33.134 Now, the two, they end up going to a farmer ski lodge, right? 00:12:34.035 --> 00:12:40.890 And they say farmer ski lodge because basically nobody goes there anymore because 00:12:40.890 --> 00:12:46.093 everybody seems to be into games that much that they don't even come out of their house. 00:12:46.782 --> 00:12:54.588 Where have we heard this before i don't know people on tiktok and people anyways so. 00:12:56.440 --> 00:13:01.617 What happens now is that they end up meeting with, 00:13:02.544 -->

00:13:09.090 gela's mentor right who repairs the damaged part right and when him did he repaired 00:13:09.090 --> 00:13:13.760 the damaged part you know you know i find this funny that ted says team that 00:13:13.760 --> 00:13:17.311 boy you look like you can't perform surgery you know i'm saying, 00:13:17.827 --> 00:13:21.020 yeah and thing and it's like when i say to him, 00:13:22.041 --> 00:13:26.966 in bridging that i curious set in bridging said boy see we are, 00:13:27.756 --> 00:13:33.460 veterinarians you know i'm saying we you know it's a he's relating with the 00:13:33.460 --> 00:13:37.710 the type of technology and the way how the thing i work you know i'm saying 00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:41.218 because it is like a biological machine right, 00:13:41.954 --> 00:13:46.395 and Geller would have explained to Ted that you know, 00:13:47.306 --> 00:13:49.065 and I think that's in the next scene where, 00:13:50.243 --> 00:13:59.544 when them get the new buyer port installed in Ted right because the other one is faulty of course. 00:14:01.415 --> 00:14:07.752 Geller again pushes him to let's go and play the game. I need to go and see 00:14:07.752 --> 00:14:10.860 what's going on in my game because, you know what I'm saying, 00:14:11.150 --> 00:14:14.986 something weird is going on. She's just insistent on going into the game. 00:14:15.845 --> 00:14:22.977 So, you know, he allows her, you know, they go into the game with Jack in, right? 00:14:23.482 --> 00:14:31.550 And when they go into the game, right, they meet up on this guy named Nader, right? 00:14:32.201 --> 00:14:37.472 And call himself darcy nader and kind of thought away and him, 00:14:38.466 --> 00:14:41.519 give him some micropods right so, 00:14:42.175 --> 00:14:48.292 in the game world they are going into another game so it's another level you 00:14:48.292 --> 00:14:55.300 know i'm saying another level in the game where they they are actually playing a game in the game yeah, 00:14:56.415 --> 00:15:03.152 their buyer ports look different obviously because they're inside the game and yeah all of that so. 00:15:04.786 --> 00:15:12.241 They end up assuming new identities in that reality as Larry Hashton and Barb Brickin. 00:15:12.241 --> 00:15:16.384 Now, when they have met up with Nader, 00:15:17.040 --> 00:15:23.891 that's when Michael or Ted would have realized, the way how the game works, 00:15:23.891 --> 00:15:27.401 when you play a game, and many persons will have played a game, 00:15:27.401 --> 00:15:28.989 You know, there is a game loop, 00:15:29.553 --> 00:15:34.381 that when you meet up on a character and, you know, it's almost like you're 00:15:34.381 --> 00:15:35.764 conversing with a character. 00:15:36.385 --> 00:15:44.708 You have to, you know, they basically repeat their lines until you provide them with the right input. 00:15:44.888 --> 00:15:47.861 You know what I'm saying? You give them the right, you know, 00:15:48.847 --> 00:15:53.271 basically the right cue to move

on to the next thing. 00:15:53.619 --> 00:16:04.023 So it's the same thing happened here now where he meets up on this factory worker named Ugevi Norish. 00:16:04.395 --> 00:16:09.463 You know, animal claims that him is a realist contact, right? 00:16:09.828 --> 00:16:16.671 And they're basically working in the factory and building the gamepad. 00:16:16.671 --> 00:16:20.571 So we would have seen them going through toad guts with, you know, 00:16:20.571 --> 00:16:26.671 all sorts of different animal guts. and then picking out basic pieces and funding 00:16:26.671 --> 00:16:30.889 blocks off the thing to build these gamepads. 00:16:33.794 --> 00:16:39.281 So, he suggests to him, say, you know, you need to have lunch at this Chinese 00:16:39.281 --> 00:16:43.081 restaurant where they're nearby the factory, you know, in the forest and thing. 00:16:43.899 --> 00:16:49.025 So, he tell him, say, when you go, you must order the special. 00:16:49.321 --> 00:16:51.887 You hear him say? The special for lunch. 00:16:52.694 --> 00:16:54.366 So, you know, of course... 00:16:56.171 --> 00:17:01.354 Paykel and Angela, you know, they may end up going and, you know, 00:17:01.354 --> 00:17:07.144 when they go and meet up on the waiter and thing, you know, and they order the 00:17:07.144 --> 00:17:09.599 special. Now, they have other people around the table with them, you know. 00:17:10.361 --> 00:17:12.590 I must mention that. Other people there around the table with them. 00:17:12.851 --> 00:17:20.753 And as soon as, as soon as Paykel said, boy, I want the special, right? 00:17:21.688 --> 00:17:25.798 The waiter is like, but the special is only for special occasions. 00:17:26.332 --> 00:17:29.284 And they're like, no, but I want the special. 00:17:30.321 --> 00:17:34.519 It's a special occasion. It's her birthday. And he's like. 00:17:37.344 --> 00:17:43.232 Oh, yes, birthdays are a special occasion. I will bring you the special. 00:17:43.424 --> 00:17:45.104 So you can realize, you know what I'm saying? 00:17:45.838 --> 00:17:51.184 Something is going on, right? Especially not just because it's supposed to be 00:17:51.184 --> 00:17:57.616 a game-like feel. You know what I'm saying? the characters are really in right so, 00:18:00.098 --> 00:18:05.192 they bring the special right the waiter and, 00:18:06.038 --> 00:18:13.274 pico looking at it you know it looks very unappetizing you know not you know 00:18:13.274 --> 00:18:18.132 something you want to eat because especially because it has all the same, 00:18:18.870 --> 00:18:23.104 things that they were in the Manufactory working on right those things that 00:18:23.104 --> 00:18:26.033 are totally the guts of a toad and all of those things. Yeah. 00:18:29.579 --> 00:18:35.914 Before we try to separate what's actually happening from what's just inside 00:18:35.914 --> 00:18:41.893 our heads, we're going to take a quick breather to step back into reality. 00:18:42.467 --> 00:18:46.651 Don't let your mind play tricks

on you while we're gone. 00:18:47.674 --> 00:18:52.774 When we return, we're unpacking the exact moment the ground gets pulled out 00:18:52.774 --> 00:18:54.396 from under the audience. 00:18:55.048 --> 00:18:58.798 You're listening to Cold Flicks, and we'll be right back. 00:18:59.625 --> 00:19:02.696 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. 00:20:01.820 --> 00:20:05.239 So he digs in, nonetheless. 00:20:05.396 --> 00:20:09.092 And basically, he must say that his game character, because, 00:20:09.922 --> 00:20:20.577 they're all playing a character, his game character wants to eat the unappetizing special. 00:20:21.256 --> 00:20:28.122 You hear me say and so i'm digging and as i'm digging there are some parts that, 00:20:29.070 --> 00:20:33.014 are bone and stuff and i'm take them and, 00:20:34.791 --> 00:20:39.882 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? 00:20:54.542 --> 00:20:56.843 Like, isn't this uncanny? 00:20:57.589 --> 00:21:02.878 Isn't this, you know, some kind of clue as to what is going on around here? 00:21:03.856 --> 00:21:09.183 So, Paykel calls over the waiter, right? 00:21:10.210 --> 00:21:12.793 And when they get the waiter to come over. 00:21:15.151 --> 00:21:20.364 Him shoot the waiter now but before you shoot the waiter i should mention this part, 00:21:21.420 --> 00:21:26.953 he turns with the gun in his hand and he trains it on gillow in the same way, 00:21:27.429 --> 00:21:31.550 that the guy from the beginning of the film trained it on gillow and said. 00:21:33.210 --> 00:21:37.782 Death to allegra gillow right and you know shoot her but this time fecal was 00:21:37.782 --> 00:21:41.702 like i need to shoot someone but it's not you right no You don't have to say 00:21:41.702 --> 00:21:42.503 that I'm going to shoot you. 00:21:43.054 --> 00:21:44.987 So, shoot the waiter. 00:21:45.597 --> 00:21:49.182 Right? When they call over the waiter and shoot the waiter. Right? 00:21:49.182 --> 00:21:50.740 Now, they mean a store, you know. 00:21:51.422 --> 00:21:56.661 In the restaurant, seeing where you're seeing. And in the restaurant, everybody look on them. 00:21:57.716 --> 00:22:01.092 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. 00:22:03.922 --> 00:22:09.384 Or like AI characters in a scene. Right? We've seen those AI slot videos. 00:22:09.907 --> 00:22:19.408 So, Them return to the game store right where they meet up back with Hugo Carlon, 00:22:19.646 --> 00:22:21.544 right and him tell them say, 00:22:23.196 --> 00:22:30.738 You know say nourish senior there because he's actually a double agent for cortical systems so, 00:22:32.374 --> 00:22:37.024 In the the waiter was supposed to be your actual contact and you murdered him, 00:22:37.739 --> 00:22:38.392 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? 00:22:41.471 --> 00:22:44.037 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, 00:48:30.947 --> 00:48:40.937 or other harm on their hotline at 617-249-4255 or on their website at creatoraccountabilitynetwork.org.