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Nov 3 2019 08:29am
I always like when shows grapple with philosophical ideas, and it is pretty common. The most common philosophical problems and solutions tend to be the ones the existentialists worked on.

My wife is watching Westworld. Its an okay show. It just seemed like a philosophy of the mind show, what is consciousness? And something with the same themes as Ghost in the Shell. GitS does it better IMO, but it is because philosophy is better when it is done with less words and more clarity.

Westworld has a lot of Nietzschean themes though. The one that jumps out most is The Eternal Reoccurance, Nietzsche's idea that if you're living you're life in a way that wouldn't bring you joy to repeat it, eternally, over and over, then you are living it wrong. This ties into Amor Fati, which is love of fate, not explored extensively so far, where you kind of lean in to your light and dark, the pain as well as pleasure, because they're contingent on one another....but to another Nietzschean major theme of Westword: Self-mastery. The maze is literally a map tied to the steps required for the robot to achieve actual consciousness or autonomy. It is symbolic, and represents the protagonists search for self-mastery, and the consequences of failing to master self.

A strong Kierkegaardian theme popped out early on, Repetition, which isn't his usual movie themes...usually Kierkegaardian movies are about the Leap into Faith (Knight of Infinite Regress becoming Knight of Faith) or Despair is a Sickness onto Death.

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Nov 5 2019 06:28am
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Nov 5 2019 02:16pm
If that is how you try to look at every tv show how can you possibly enjoy them lmao
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Nov 5 2019 04:04pm
Quote (Flameyes @ Nov 5 2019 01:16pm)
If that is how you try to look at every tv show how can you possibly enjoy them lmao


Chances are he just found out about wisecrack and wanted to sound smart
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Nov 8 2019 06:00am
Quote (Flameyes @ Nov 5 2019 03:16pm)
If that is how you try to look at every tv show how can you possibly enjoy them lmao


I don't watch a lot of television tbh. That is why I said "my wife is watching Westworld".

I am able to suspend my disbelief. But obvious philosophy is obvious.

I enjoyed it but it was a mess of ideas. Hopefully the third season will be more coherent.

This post was edited by Skinned on Nov 8 2019 06:20am
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