Existenz

When first watching the movie Existenz, I wasn't sure what to expect. Supposedly it was a horror film, yet I would not have categorized it as a horror. The movie itself was just plain creepy. The use of these game consoles that are made out of a living being, and then the plugging into the game consoles was even more creepy. In the movie these game consoles were called game pods. The game pods had umbilical cord type deals that you actually stuck into a hole into your body. It's like being attached again to your mothers womb, I mean where is the placenta. The idea of plugging your entire body into a game is scary. This is can be considered a major fear involved in the gaming industry. It wasn't like normal virtual reality that we can experience in our present time. Instead it was a full blown use of your body in a way that back in "reality" your body was lifeless.
Another scary idea in this movie was the genuine addictiveness of the game. The two main characters were at conflicts with each other about playing this new game Existenz. The female character was like a junkie addicted to this game so fully she couldnt go without the "game pod" anywhere. The male character was like a little kid trying not to be pressured into trying the drugs, because he knows what happens to people who begin to play these video games. The video game itself could be described as heroine to its users.
What also was scary was the idea that the characters became unaware whether they were in a game or in the real world. When people take life as a game they begin to stop thinking about their actions and instead do whatever they feel is necessary to get ahead. I guess you could say that people already do that in everyday life, the only difference is that no one is getting killed in a way that is like a videogame, except for the people who do, do that, but they are f-ed in the head, you can't blame the crazy, society made them that way. Distinguishing reality from a make believe world can be difficult for anyone, even people who don't play video games. Reality is such a difficult concept to grasp, not just for people who love virtual reality, but for everyone.
Now when we look at the present day we already see these addictions taking place. If you look at the game W.O.W. you can only imagine how many lives it has messed up, in even the smallest way. I know so many of my friends who play this game that won't stop playing it for any reason, forget homework, school, friends, family. The people who play these video games use virtual reality to have friends, go to school, and do homework. There are so many video games, I'm not going to list them, that involve you doing homework. I think detaching yourself completely from everything in your reality is in itself the creepiest thing about this movie. In the real world, whatever that may be, their bodies are just portals to a whole other world, where they can be whoever they want.
I was watching another movie called Waking Life. It aso has a lot to do with reality, like our waking life and our dreams. Can we really distinguish the two of them, and when you think about it dreams are just so much more enjoyable than our waking life. The same concept goes for these video gamers who never want to stop playing because they love the idea of an alternate reality, we all do, it's part of human nature. I don't think you need a video game to escape your actual reality. I think being in a dream state is is cheaper, less time consuming, and restful way to spend your time. I mean some people like to stay up all night playing video games, I prefer to dream.