The new Home Box Office (HBO) TV show, created by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, “Westworld” is changing the way science fiction is being represented as a genre.
Based off of a film from 1973 with the same name, the show has two main settings: an old western town and an industrialized, futuristic-looking building. This combines two time periods we usually consider sharply opposite into one narrative, but immediately feels enticing.
The western town is actually the setting of a life-sized game where people who have enough money are able to enter and essentially play some kind of version of “Cowboys and Indians”.
This version isn’t as harmless as it may seem when it turns out the “hosts” of this game are androids being created to appear as human as possible, and are being exploited for the sick pleasures of those entering this game. Androids may be subject to anything from engaging in sexual acts with the “players” to getting into fights with them. This brings to question the ethical aspects of whether or not androids who appear entirely human should be exploited just because they are technically machines.
Sure, there have been many similar representations of androids in science fiction: I even took a whole class on post-apocalyptic literature and film at the UW, which had an entire unit on the concept of “the android.” This class showed me you can look anywhere from “Blade Runner” to “Ex Machina” to think about the similar ethical questions surrounding androids.
“Westworld” takes this ethical question one step further, as it explores what it means to be human. Is being human feeling pain or love? Is being human experiencing fear? Is being human remembering?
If these qualities are what define humanity, then what happens when androids start feeling, experiencing fear, and remembering their pasts that are supposedly erased?
The creators of “Westworld” continuously leave us pondering these questions, as many of the android main characters start to see the world around them through different eyes.
Dolores Abernathy, played by Evan Rachel Wood, is a great example of this. She is the oldest host in the park, and at the moment we find her she plays the girl next door/damsel in distress, although she has been reprogrammed to have different identities throughout her life in Westworld.
As a damsel in distress, Dolores is often held hostage, raped, and killed within the park, but she is ultimately reprogrammed to forget all the atrocities that happen to her, and re-enters the park with fresh eyes. When her mind (as well as other androids’ minds) is less willing to forget, those programming the androids start to be concerned that something is going wrong.
At the very least something mysterious is causing things to be awry in Westworld. However, a side storyline suggests that perhaps someone is intending for things to go wrong.
Dr. Robert Ford, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, is the creator of the park. He seems to have an idea of what may be wrong, while others helping to create Westworld are left in the dark.
Meanwhile, a curious player has entered Westworld wreaking havoc — the “man in black,” played by Ed Harris. While the creators of the park are left in the dark about what’s going on, it seems the man in black is on to something, as he searches for a deeper level than what the park is traditionally used for.
After only five episodes, it’s hard to tell which direction the show will go in and whether or not it will be able to answer all the questions it has posed. Like some of my other favorite TV shows that have had complicated story lines, such as LOST or Fringe, there is always the concern that the show will get lost in itself.
However, I have faith in the show that it will be able to maintain its enticing nature while still managing to enlighten viewers to the queries we all have.
Reach Opinion Editor Rebecca Gross at arts@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @becsgross
