Film Screening: eXistenZ

The film eXistenZ vividly portrays Platos hierarchical theme of reality through presenting false “realities” within what we presume is the main characters reality. They do this through the use of putting our main characters into a game, and then going into a game once more. This alone displays his depiction of the hierarchical theme of reality through having a world within a world within a world. This is furthered in that the conclusion in the movie leaves the audience unclear as to whether or not the main characters are actually in reality, or just another game.

The hierarchy is also described through the characters actions, costumes, and through the acting of some of the characters. As the main characters delve deeper into each game, their costumes become less conforming. For example, the female protagonists hair slowly becomes less straight and even, and it begins to curl more and more as they go deeper and deeper game after game. Their clothes slowly get dirtier and more revealing. This is evident in the main female protagonist as her clothes go from rather classy at the beginning and ends of the movie, to at some points rather radical with her in a tight short black skirt. Also, as they go deeper into the games their actions become more radical. This is evident in the main male protagonist committing sexual acts with the main female protagonist in non conventional ways as well as his blood lust increasing as the games go deeper. We can tell his actions are new from the game as he was evident in showing minimal sexual interest with her at the beginning of the movie, as well as being scared to hurt anyone, even when it was to save someones life. This displays Plato’s view of the distractions and the things that take us away from what is really reality.

The hierarchy in Existenz is furthered by each descent into the game getting more and more fleshy, bloody, and had further focus on sexual experimentation. This descent and hierarchy is put in place to resemble the radical actions people make as they “drift” away from the Forms put in place by Plato.

The game Trancendenz fits into Platos hierarchical theme as the “initial” step out of reality. In the film, it is seen as the initial step into the game world, into their distractions  from reality. While this is the first thing that does literally take them from reality, I would assume Plato would argue the idea of the video games in general a step out of reality; the game itself just finishes the job. Plato’s argument for hierarchical reality was directed towards losing the Forms; getting too distracted my imitations in art and disctractions rather than reality itself. This is paralleled with the video game Trancendenz in Existenz.

This theme of distractions is furthered in the fact that they’re delving into video games, an area in which Plato would’ve assumed a distraction from reality, taking us away from the Forms and introducing us to his hierarchy of reality.

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Ethics of Belief

1. Every time we let ourselves believe for unworthy reasons, we weaken our powers of self-control, of doubting, of judicially and fairly weighing evidence. (Page 6 paragraph 2)
2.  …it has been judged wrong to believe on insufficient evidence, or to nourish belief by suppressing doubts and avoiding investigation (Page 4, Paragraph 3)
3. The harm which is done by credulity in a man is not confined to the fostering of a credulous character in others, and consequent support of false beliefs. (Pg 6 Paragraph 3)
C: It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence. (Page 7, paragraph 2)

Clifford’s general argument throughout discusses that belief with insufficient evidence causes harm in others and can create “false beliefs” to spread. I find his argument to be valid yet I do not believe it is sound. The issues I have with his argument is that he never explains what “sufficient” evidence is, which would greatly strengthen his argument, and that he makes a very absolute conclusion that is not true in every single possible situation; Which only furthers his previous weakness without a concrete definition of sufficient evidence.

The lack of definition for sufficient evidence leaves a large hole in his argument, and this leaves his conclusion to not be true in the absolute form he presented it. Lets take religion as an example. There are many people who believe that there is insufficient evidence to believe in a higher power or God or whatever form you feel fits that category. While others believe that there is an over abundance of sufficient evidence to prove in the existence of a higher power. It can be argued, though, that those who say there is no higher power are making a belief with insufficient evidence, because while they say that there is no evidence that there is a higher power, they themselves have no evidence to support their own claim. This is where the hole in the argument lies, because it brings about the definition of “sufficient” evidence, something of which Clifford does not address.

That doesn’t mean I do not agree greatly with what he has to say; believing on insufficient evidence is often a very bad thing and leads to harm upon our society. His thesis is worth looking at in that it does provide a truth that is not absolute; believing things with what is seen generally as insufficient evidence, in the areas of public safety or court or anything like he presented, can lead to problems in that society due to false evidence and information. However, his lacking of definition leaves a very large hole in his argument that cannot go unaddressed.

Word Count: 440