Sthe theory of imulation argues that reality may not actually be real, but may be an illusion of which we are unaware and from which we can awaken, and it is an idea that has been investigated by everyone since Plato (with “Cave”) and Descartes (with Meditations on the first philosophy) to, more recently, Philip K. Dick and The matrix. It is a fantasy of both escape and enslavement, liberation and manipulation, and it touches our own experiences that move between conscious and unconscious states, as well as we get lost in the fictional world of cinema. As such, it’s just the ideal subject for documentary filmmaker Rodney Ascher, who, after all Camera 237 (about The shining-as-multifaceted-puzzle-box) and The nightmare (about sleep paralysis) ventures once again on unreal ground with An array problem, a convincing look out of the possibility that we are all avatars in a game we can’t understand.
Dick’s 1977 speech in Metz, France, entitled “If You Find This Evil World, You Should See Each Other,” forms the backbone of An array problem (premieres in the Midnight section of the Sundance Film Festival on January 31st, followed by a VOD debut on February 4th). In it, the famous author of A dark scanner, The man in the tall castle, Minority ratio, Androids dream of electric sheep? (basis for Blade Runner), and We can remember it for you wholesale (basis for Total reminder) confesses that a 1974 dose of sodium pentothal for the affected wisdom teeth allowed him to have an “acute flash” of a “recovered memory” of a world and a life that was not his. Dick wrote extensively about this experience (known as “2-3-74”) in posthumous release Exegesis of Philip K. Dickand it also informed its fictitious production, much of which faced the uncertain and volatile nature of reality, while imagining future societies prophetically and agitatedly.
Dick was the modern godfather of simulation theory and An array problem spends considerable time with people who wrote his seminal writing – as well as with Lana and Lilly Wachowski The matrix, herself intensely due to Dick – the heart. In Skype interviews with Ascher, these individuals appear disguised as bizarre digital avatars, including a red-faced armored lion, a Mechagodzilla-ish dragon in a tuxedo, an alien vaping in a fluffy spacesuit, and a warrior with a helmet and digital mouth. Their appearances speak of their own belief in dueling realities (and identities), which also stems from Elon Musk’s public belief that we could live in an artificial simulation led by advanced beings, as well as in a 2003 academic paper. Oxford University professor Nick Bostrom (“Do you live in a computer simulation?”) Who hypothesized that we could be pawns in a hyper-advanced program that either recreates a past that has already taken place (called “ancestral simulation”), or completely new alternative chronology.
The notions conveyed by these speakers depend on everything from anecdotal stories about their own pauses with reality, to arguments about coincidence, probability and synchronicities, to outrageous – and very specific – speculations about the details of our simulation. Suffice it to say that not all of them are convincing. It is, however, entertaining and intelligent about mankind’s continual desire to explain the great mysteries through spiritual-scientific-modalities about foreign realms, puppets-superior powers, and technological exploitation.
To his credit, one interviewee (Paul Gude AKA the “lion”) acknowledges that perhaps simulation theory is just the easiest way for his brain to choose to cope with the complexity of human existence. And in an earlier scene, he admits that his VR-based theory may be a byproduct of people always trying to explain reality through the most advanced technology available at the moment. Offering movie clips from, among others, The Wizard of Oz, The Truman Show, Nightmare on Elm Street, Vertigo, Thirteenth floor, Adjustment office, They live, Defending your life and of course, The matrix, An array problem suggests that films are a major vehicle for both creating and channeling these ideas, which are often rooted in feelings of loneliness, alienation and despair and can therefore lead to particularly frightening consequences.
“As Cooke’s story makes clear, the danger of simulation theory is that if nothing and no one is genuine, ethical concerns about society and your peers are hopelessly undermined, leading to potential chaos.”
This is most terribly conveyed by an extended sequence in which Joshua Cooke explains (through an audio interview, supplemented by CGI recreations) how his love for The matrix, along with his abusive domestic life and undiagnosed mental illness, led him to kill his adoptive parents in an attempt to discern if he was actually living in the Matrix (his conclusion: “I was very upset because I wasn’t I saw nothing The matrix. How real was the more horrible life. It kind of wrinkled me ”).
Cooke was 19 years old when he killed his adoptive parents with a 12-caliber rifle in Virginia and later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He became known as the “Matrix Case,” and as Cooke’s story makes clear, the danger of simulation theory is that if nothing and no one is genuine but ethical concerns about society and your fellows are hopelessly undermined, leading to potential chaos. Surprisingly, the connections between video games and simulation theory are numerous – Jesse Orion (i.e. the alien astronaut) says he spent years doing little more than playing games – and An array problem access this connection using all sorts of computer animated graphics (including from Google Earth and Minecraft) to view the assumptions of its subjects. Illuminating and funny, the playful digital form of the film reflects and reveals truths about its content.
Put it on Jonathan Snipes’ menacing electronic score and also address how deja vu and the ‘Mandela Effect’ relate to his central subject, An array problem continues Ascher’s non-fiction study of common stories, scientific hypotheses, and art analysis. Offering a chorus of voices trying to decipher the enigmas of the universe and the atom through fanciful perspectives on mind, body, and reality itself, his film is an open and wise critical investigation of our evolving perceptions of who we are. , our deep personal connection to big screen dreams and our persistent search for things we (still) don’t understand. It is a treatise on religious and scientific desire, and on human impulses and aspirations, which appears as a portrait of conspiracy theories and mass illusion.