Remediation

In the first few pages of the book, Bolter and Grusin talk about Strange Days, a film that depicts a wire that allows pure content, with no remediation, no censorship, in a way. When one is “plugged in” to the wire, they are receiving a straight feed of their life; nothing is limiting the content of what they are seeing. Enjoying the use of intertextuality quite a bit, I made the obvious connection to The Matrix. The similar idea of “plugging into life” takes over the minds of the characters. Although I have not seen Strange Days¸ the preview which Professor Reilly showed us in class definitely gave me the same feeling. We are not living life to the fullest. Everywhere we go, whether in “A Matrix” or not, the content we are seeing, we are seeing for a reason. Someone, whether intentionally or not, has placed something somewhere, done something close to us or even just walked by, causing a form of hypermediacy to dominate our lives. In The Matrix some powerful group of agents are ruling this computer generated world where humans believe they are living. They are actually just letting a computer run their lives. With the help of some savvy rebels, you can get out and take that blue pill, and see the truth. Which somewhat ironically, is what the people can do in Strange Days, by plugging in, not getting out.

Furthermore, another example of plugging in, or even virtual reality that is also discussed in Remediation is the film Minority Report. One scene in particular sticks out, where Tom Cruise’s character and the Precog are being chased; they run into a building where people have been placed in “pods”. With the help of virtual technology, these people are experiencing whatever they want. Some are enjoying sexual fantasies, while others may just want to see a loved one. It is interesting because in contrast to both Strange Days as well as The Matrix, the use of virtual reality and mediacy in Minority Report, is voluntary. The hypermediacy and what is being mediated, is the person’s own choice, not that of the hegemonic group.

Looking at all three versions of plugging in, whether to experience reality, enter a false reality or a personal reality, we cannot deny the need for mediation, hypermediation and remediation, that all of the population not only allows but opts for.

Bolter, Jay David and Richard Grusin. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, MA.; MIT Press, 1999.
Minority Report. Dir. Steven Spielberg. 2002. Cruise/Wagner Productions.
Strange Days. Dir.Katheryn Bigelow. 1995. Lightstorm Entertainment.
The Matrix. Dir. Andy and Larry Wachowski. 1999. Groucho II Film Partnership.