-the Moody Blues
Reality?: X-Cops and First Person Shooter
The last two weeks of The X-Files have presented us with an interesting juxtaposition of realities: reality TV and virtual reality games. "X-Cops" and "First Person Shooter" provided shockingly different versions of reality. So just what is reality?
According to Webster's Online, reality is: the quality or state of being real (not artificial, fraudulent, illusory, or apparent : GENUINE) . And virtual reality is: an artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli (as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in which one's actions partially determine what happens in the environment. Reality television is defined by the NTVS Research Team from The University of Texas at Austin as: non fictional programming in which the portrayal is presumed to present current or historical events or circumstances; the production presents itself as being a realistic account.
So.... X-Cops presented itself in the style of reality television with jerky video, (mostly) banal dialogue, and following events in real-time. It was fictional, but presented as if were non fictional. It was a fresh perspective for The X-Files. It's not often we get to see how others must view our beloved agents. Plus, we got to see how they'd react to public scrutiny in the form of TV cameras-- Mulder loved it, Scully hated it.
The notion of a fear monster who takes whatever form the victim fears most is quite intriguing and creepy. It struck me to be a twist on The Ghostbusters in which the 'Busters were told to choose the form of the destroyer and Ray chose the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. The deputy chose a monster from his childhood- The Waspman his brother had created to scare him. I'd probably choose a "monster" that frightened me so bad in childhood that to this day I can't watch certain parts of The Wizard of Oz-- those %@*# flying monkeys! (I have to agree with David Letterman on that!)
One week after a healthy
dose of reality (-like) TV, we got an equally healthy dose of virtual reality
in "First Person Shooter." My only real problem with this episode was my
inability to appreciate and, therefore, understand computer games, virtual
reality or otherwise. I definitely identified with Scully on that count
last night. However, it dealt with the issue of game players v. non players
very well. It's just a matter of what you like to do with your "free" time.
And, BTW, I have friends of both sexes who enjoy Nintendo and Sega and
Playstation... although I do have to admit there are more of the male gender.
"FPS" left me with
questions that I really couldn't find answers for (even researching on
the 'net):
How did Matreiya get
into the game from Phoebe's computer?
How did Matreiya manage
to kill Retro and Musashi IF she is a virtual character?
Why didn't Mulder
and the boys rush in there as soon as the cyberbabe had sliced Musashi's
hands off?
And... why was Mulder
wearing dark glasses while the others were wearing clear glasses? Is it
related to his color-blindness?
Inquiring minds want
to know....
Some similarities between
"X-Cops" and "First Person Shooter":
-Both episodes dealt
with the dark side of human nature: fear in "X-Cops" and greed in "First
Person Shooter."
-Both bad "guys" fed
on human emotions: fear and agression. [Off topic, a bit-- Ironically,
it took a woman (or, rather, two women- Scully and Phoebe) to beat a woman.]
-Both left us with
the disquieting feeling that it isn't over: the bad guy got away.
So, what is real? Reality television is supposed to be real. One does wonder sometimes if any of it is staged. Virtual reality is supposed to be a faked reality. However, there are many times it seems more real that reality.
Plato stated that reality required man to use his mind, emotion, and body in combination. Does virtual reality qualify? Maybe... depends on your perspective. Are you truly using your body in virtual reality? Well, you are moving but you are interacting with pictures. This might even confuse Plato and cause him to redefine reality in more concrete terms.
According to Mulder's voiceover at the end, we discover our true natures when we go past our imaginations and confront them. Is the intellect at war with the primitive brain? Are we constantly striving for life in more simplistic terms? Perhaps... Poe said that our dreams are the reality and the everyday world is a dream.
So.... what
is reality?
Randomness:
-The Gunmen are back! "First Person Shooter" whet my appetite for the planned Lone Gunmen series next season.
-Loved Steve and Edie in "X-Cops!" That entire scene with Mulder trying to calm an irrational Edie was riotous!
-Those Squiggy-like (from Laverne & Shirley) hand bites in "First Person Shooter" were... distasteful. But, Mulder did get to "be a guy," which he doesn't get to do very often. Since the beginning of the show, the gender roles have been often reversed, with Mulder having qualities usually associated as being feminine and Scully vice vcrsa. In this one they ender roles were clarly defined.
-Amber Blue Afterglow's
leg crossing parody of David Duchovny's award winning parody (on The
Larry Sanders Show) of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct was wonderfully
hilarious!
Extra Credit Research:
Reality Television: Joe Hollywood's Guide to the Best Crap on Television
Virtual tours at The National Gallery of Art ( this is really cool!)
Virtual Reality: a Short Introduction
c 2000 Spookyteacher's Classroom X