Blog Prompt 6

In the movie Existenz, the people who are participating in the game are in a church and all are hooked up to “game pods”. From there, they are transported into the game, which eerily feels like reality to them. It feels so much like reality they have trouble differentiating between the real physical world and the virtual reality world. This leads to the two main characters making questionable decisions in the “game”. Existenz represents the “false reality” or virtual reality in Plato’s hierarchical scheme of reality. This confuses the characters in the movie numerous times where they do not know if what they are seeing and doing is in the real life or in a virtual reality. This leads to bad decisions made by the characters when they show no sympathy and commit an act because they believe there will be no consequences because it is a “virtual reality”. This is also very similar to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” in which the shadows are represented by the virtual reality game. Consequently, the two main characters end up committing murder at the end of the movie because they believe they are still in the “game”.