Pat @Pat@qoto.org

****SPOILERS*****

Virtuosity (1995) isn’t the best in this genre, but it’s certainly entertaining and innovative. It brought together several elements that came to dominate the subgenre of mind films. The Matrix Series borrowed many of these elements. They include:

- The film begins in the virtual world in a manner that leads the audience to believe that it is real life, then later reveals that it is actually a virtual world

- The use of generic, suit-wearing, identical virtual characters

- A stilted super-villain

- Real life characters who sit in special chairs in order connect to the virtual world

- Subjects in real life can experience real life injuries from events that occur in the virtual world

- The protagonist is a bad guy; in Virtuosity he’s a bad cop in real life but a good cop in the virtual world. In The Matrix, the protagonists are bad guys (Trench Coat Mafia) who kill cops in the virtual world, but in the real world they’re the good guys fighting off evil, repressive robot war lords.

- Virtuosity and The Matrix each prominently feature the use of automatic weapons in the virtual world

- The super-villain is able to become an actual human-like being in real life

- The protagonist is implanted with an exploding tracking device

I don’t think Virtuosity was the first to use any of these elements, but it was the first to bring them all together in a film from the mind subgenre.

Virtuosity really hasn’t gotten the praise it deserves and was completely overshadowed by The Martix Series, which was much better written and produced, and included much more action (and unfortunately more violence), and benefited from the improved CG technology that was available when it was produced four years later.

Patsplaining..

This one is partially true…

It makes four claims:

1. Lincoln gave famous fireside chats (not true)
2. The chats were not heard in Illinois (true)
3. Lincoln’s home state is Illinois (not true)
4. The chats were not broadcast in Illinois. (true)

Lincoln did not give famous fireside chats (at least they weren’t famous if he ever did). The famous fireside chats were given by FDR in 1930s and broadcast on the new medium of radio, which many people listened to because they didn't have TV yet.

Radio had not yet been invented when Lincoln was alive, so nothing he said was ever broadcast at that time by radio because there was no radio, so of course they were not heard in Illinois because they didn’t exist and there was no radio.

Lincoln’s home state is Kentucky, not Illinois.

(The “s” in Illinois is silent, but many people still pronounce the “s” anyway, so now either pronunciation has become acceptable, however, some say the first pronunciation, (silent "s") is preferred.)

#Patsplaining
#TruthBeTold

Patsplaining..

This one is 100% true, literally. However, it uses the date "1931", which is way before the first person walked on the moon (1969), which makes it seem like people were walking on the moon earlier in the 20th century. Also, it says, "fewer than 1800 people" which is technically true, but much fewer than that have actually walked on the moon (only 12), so the statement makes it seem like many more people have walked on the moon than actually have.

#Patsplaining
#TruthBeTold

No one ever responds to my #TruthBeTold toots (almost), so I don't know if people understand them or not. So I'm going start Patsplaining some of my old #truthbetold toots...

Shinzo Abe shot during speech...

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-ex-prime-minister-abe-may-have-been-shot-taken-hospital-nhk-2022-07-08/

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #film #movie #telepathy #virtual #crime #supervillain #technology #mind #control #hivemind #neural #AI #future #FTW

Retro SciFi of the Week…

Virtuosity (1995)

Films about the mind comprise a huge chunk of the science fiction genre. They trace their roots all the way back to the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in the 19th century. Themes include mind alteration, mind control, telepathy, direct neural links, the hive mind, virtual worlds and much more.

Virtuosity marked a turning point and a refresh of this subgenre. Although this isn’t the best example of mind films, it’s significant because it began to pull together the elements of the next major phase of the subgenre. This led directly to “The Matrix (1999)”, and later to “Inception (2010), “Time Sleeper (2020)” and many other groundbreaking films about the mind and virtual worlds.

Predecessors influencing this film include “Altered States (1980)”, “Brainstorm (1983)”, “Max Headroom (1987)”, and “Lawnmower Man (1992)”. Most of the earlier influential works were tied more to the “hardware” of the brain, such as “Spock’s Brain” (from ST:OS) and “The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (1962)”.

When Virtuosity first came out, it looked like the subgenre had finally jumped the shark, but the somewhat goofy features in this film came to define the next phase of this subgenre. (I’ll highlight some of those elements under a spoiler content warning in this thread.)

(Image: low-res movie poster, fair use)

@lucifargundam

re boost of "Technology is too powerful"

That "virus" would require humans with awfully weak immune systems in order to procreate.

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This morning I was awoken by a spider crawling on my shoulder.

I hate when that happens...

**** SPOILER *****

I just watched a youtube video review of this film and the reviewer also noticed that the Sonmi character was speaking about the film itself, except they saw it in another scene. When the interrogator asks, “And what if no one believes this ‘truth’.”

Sonmi replies, “Someone already does.”

In the narrative, she is referring to the interrogator believing her truth. But the youtube reviewer saw this as also referring to the audience believing what the film is offering, with the Sonmi character again speaking for the film.

Now I wonder if there are more instances of that character being a metaphor for the film. Obviously the presentation of her philosophy is the overarching message of the film, so it makes sense. I guess I’ll have to watch it again…

#TruthBeTold #independence #US
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It’s surprising that Benjamin Franklin didn’t even make it into the top ten of historians’ list of the rankings of the best presidents of United States.

- - -
#TruthBeTold = A statement that is logically or literally true (or partly true), but seems to imply something that isn’t true or is just plain weird. (for rhetoric, logic or propaganda studies… or just for fun)

(Image of portion of table from Wikipedia, CC-BY-SA-3.0)

scotus: "Abortion isn't in the Constitution."

senate: "Neither is the filibuster."

roe, roe, roe your boat, gently down the stream...

#gameTheory #psychology #society

If I was narcissistic, I would go around and try to convince everyone that they are narcissistic. And perhaps even perpetuate the idea that narcissists are not self-aware, in order to enhance the effectiveness of the ploy. Then the ones who are gullible and not narcissistic, would give up more of what they got to me. Other narcissists would not change even if they were gullible enough to believe me. In fact, they would likely help with the deception. (It may be that people who have clinical narcissistic personality disorder may actually lack self-awareness, but I’m not sure about that. The orange guy appears to lack that self-awareness.)

Is there any doubt at all, that much of society’s problems are the result of too much self-interest, and not enough compassion? Too much brain-fucking, and not enough genuine communication?

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #film #movie #race #bias #justice #technology #progress #future #robot #robots #android #philosophy #EV #inclusion #epic #FTW

Retro SciFi of the Week…

AI: Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Like last week’s movie, this is an epic that spans a period of time. It also has a theme of liberty and justice, among many other topics. The production quality and special effects are among the very best.

Nearly all of the actors do a tremendous job in this film. Haley Osmont gives an amazing performance for a child actor. It also stars William Hurt, who has appeared in many great science fiction films and who just recently passed away.

Ironically, for a film that deals with the topic of justice, this one has significant racial bias, which is all too common in Hollywood movies. Otherwise it’s a great, classic scifi with lots of futuristic technology and special effects.

- - -
If Trump wore a jumpsuit, what color would it be?

#germany #nordstream2 #russia #ukraine #oil #food #hunger #fuel #gas #energy
#nato #eu #europe #driving #electriccar #global

Here’s a good overview on the Russo-Ukranian War and NATO...

https://www.c-span.org/video/?521360-3/washington-journal-dalibor-rohac-discusses-nato-summit-russia-ukraine-conflict&event=521360&playEvent&auto

Purple #haze all in my brain
Lately, things just don't seem the same
Acting funny, but I don't know why
Excuse me while I kiss the sky…

#Hendrix
#MastoPrompt
#SmallPoems
#Poetry
#music

Plunge

It had been so long
since I’d done this,
but they were egging me on…

Peers are motivating, sometimes helpful
they give you courage
but mostly it’s good times and playful.

Okay, ok, I’ll do it, I’ll do it
Take a breath, take a plunge, let go
Exhilaration, motion, ouch!… Now pain go away.

Well, that’s the last time I’ll listen
to you peers of wisdom. No, no.
Why make a playground slide out of wood anyway?

#MastoPrompt
#SmallPoems
#Poetry
#splintered

Tilt

I’m on top of the world
where the sun never sets
in the summer, all the time it gets.

I see the #sunrise everyday
but it never ever goes away
it just bounces, round and round.

But come the fall
it will touch the ground
and stop its round and round.

Then the cold and dark
the pitch, the stark
long winter, forever night.

#MastoPrompt
#SmallPoems
#poetry

This was supposed to be labeled as a #TruthBeTold, but I'm sure you've already figured that out.

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#TruthBeTold = A statement that is logically or literally true (or partly true), but seems to imply something that isn’t true or is just plain weird. (for rhetoric, logic or propaganda studies… or just for fun)