The new HBO series ‘West World’ is a striking example of a deeply philosophical reflection of the world we live in. It poses questions regarding the existence of God, who or what is he? Are people able to ‘play’ God? Is there another world, one which is invisible for us? Or maybe countless dimensions? Are our everyday lives just a meaningless form of existence or is there a deeper meaning to everything? The series suggests that everything happens for a reason and people can, after all, control their own destiny.
Such an interesting topic! The TV series Westworld has gone much further than simply being a remake of the 1973 movie. In the series, we follow human characters but, most of all, we follow the robots and we sympathize with them. We mainly see their perspectives and, sometimes, we even identify with them. The consequences of such a directorial choice are complex. Robots are not presented as others anymore. They have feelings, memories, and back-stories. They are continuously updated in order to satisfy the clients better, in a way that reminds us of the way in which we continuously need to adapt ourselves to the ever-changing external world. Even though these robots are depicted in such a ‘human’ way to us, we also see them treated as objects, as goods by the clients and by their creators. Still, even within their oppressed and objectified position, these robots manage to control their own storylines. In this way, the old motif of the struggle between creator and creature –which recalls Shelley’s Frankenstein– is explore in a new, existential way. Can individuals escape determinism? Can we rewrite a story that has already been written? If not, is there a meaning in our lives?
– CostanzaCasati7 years ago