eXistenZ

    In today's American society, video games seem to play an important role in kids' lives, to the point where countless studies have been conducted to analyze the effect to which these games affect behavior and mental stability. Since their introduction, video game consoles have constantly evolved technologically in ways that bond player and game more extremely and bring a greater sense of reality into the virtual world. In "eXistenZ" the gamer is physically attached to the game pod through an umbilical cord. Through this cord, the pod "lives" off of the host's energy. This bond blurs the boundary between human and machine since the machine becomes part of the body and lives through it. I think the film is speaking for the need of technology in society and how we, in a sense, allow it to control much of what we do. In the movie, both machine and body need each other for different purposes. Applied to a larger scale, this same idea is visible in daily life. We have become so reliant on different technologies, such as the Internet, that without them, we would not be able to function as efficiently.
   In the film, the virtual world and reality are very similar, which brings up the question of the limitations of virtual worlds. While in the video game, nothing "out of the ordinary" takes place, other than the characters' game urges taking over their personalities, but even then, the virtual world is limited. Although the actions of the virtual body are beyond control, the mind from the real world is still present and guiding the virtual world. While in the game, the characters were still conscious of their real bodies and worried about what was happening to them. They were able to keep a separation of the real world and the virtual world in their minds. Since the mind is present in the game, the limits from the real world still seem to apply in the virtual world, keeping the virtual world as logical and "real" as the real world for the most part instead of completely escaping reality.