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real and unreal I was thinking some more about The Matrix and the idea of virtual reality in general. Quite simply it does very little for me. Maybe if computer games interested me more than I would care, but I don't. As much as I see myself as a dreamer, a computer based reality does nothing for me. I like reality or what I perceive to be reality. I guess that on one level the basic concept of the movie feeds on paranoia. People are afraid of technology and having the world run by computers would be the ultimate fear. The idea that the world is an illusion is an Eastern religion concept, but the movie melds Western technology onto it. I am reminded of Hindu mythology where Vishnu is dreaming reality. One has to wonder what would happen if the dreamer awoke and in some ways the film gives us its answer. In keeping with the virtual reality theme, I rented and watched the movie eXistenZ starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law. Instead of not knowing that they are in an illusionary realm, they enter into one freely. They want to escape reality to be a part of another one. They do all of this through a virtual reality game called eXistenZ. After seeing eXistenZ and Naked Lunch, I am convinced that Cronenberg has some kind of fixation on creatures with tentacles or fleshy appendages. The whole idea of joining a person with a machine bothers me and I doubt that I am alone in my fear. I know that we already do it to some degree in hospitals, but the melding of machine and human disturbs me. The idea of something alien in my body is neither a pleasant thought nor something that I want to happen. Between my recent video rentals and my reading of leo@fergusrules.com, I think that I have had my fill of virtual reality. I want to read about something more real. I want something warm and human. Maybe because I am around computers all day at work, I don't see them as being magical. They are sterile and cold. They hum, but do not breathe. They make sounds, but do not talk. They are not mysterious, they are simply tools that need periodic if not constant attention. Since there is a freeze on vacation during the month of December, yesterday was probably the last day of vacation that I'll have this year. I know for a fact that I am working New Year's Eve and I'll probably be working both Thanksgiving and Christmas as well.
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