Reality Simulation in Science Fiction Literature, Film and Television

by Heather Duerre Humann

Overview

In recent decades, science fiction in both print and visual media has produced an outpouring of story lines that feature forms of simulated reality. These depictions appear with such frequency that fictional portrayals of simulated worlds have become a popular sci-fi trope—one that prompts timeless questions about the nature of reality while also tapping into contemporary debates about emerging technologies.

In combination with tech-driven tensions, this study shows that our collective sense of living in politically uncertain times also propels the popularity of these story lines. Because of the kinds of questions they raise and the cultural anxieties they provoke, these fictional representations provide a window into contemporary culture and demonstrate how we are reassessing our own reality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476677538
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	08/27/2019
Pages:	203
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.41(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Heather Duerre Humann teaches in the Department of Language and Literature at Florida Gulf Coast University. She is the author of multiple books and has contributed essays to edited collections and published articles, reviews and short stories in African American Review, Women’s Studies, South Atlantic Review and Studies in American Culture.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vi

Introduction: Simulation or Reality? The Uncanny Valley 1

Section 1 Simulated Worlds In Science Fiction Literature 27

1 Whose Reality Counts? Subjectivity in Simulacron-3 and The Plagiarist 33

2 Shifting Reality in Amnesia Moon and Chronic City 47

3 Playing in the Virtual World: Ready Player One 57

4 Reconstructing Reality in Tomorrow and Tomorrow 66

5 "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience^trade": Authenticity in the Virtual Realm? 76

Section 2 Simulated Realms In Film 83

6 Simulation (in) Theory: Josef Rusnak's The Thirteenth Floor 87

7 Simulated Dreamscapes in Christopher Nolan's Inception 95

8 Mixed Reality in Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch 105

9 Representation and Reality in Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror: Bandersnatch 115

Section 3 Reality Simulation In Television 128

10 Consciousness and Constructed Realities in Altered Carbon and Westworld 133

11 Reality Simulation Revisited: Black Mirror 143

12 Manic Mind Trips in Maniac 154

13 Virtual Reality in Reverie 165

Conclusion: Slipping into the Virtual 173

Bibliography 179

Index 191