Blog 24: Sleep Dealer and the Coppertop Life Final Essay

Fernando Torres
Dr. Smith
English 101
Final
The Matrix and Sleep Dealer were both outstanding films that I saw for the first time in each class so it was definitely a fresh, mind blowing experience. Both films push the concept of “what if’ and in a way prepares ourselves for the near future in technology which has had the dominate influence in our nation and nations around the world. These films demonstrate how easily controlled and restricted some of us may be.
The director of Sleep Dealer, Alex Rivera, was inspired from The Matrix and used aspects from the films such as the setting is in the near future, the computer programming and controlling of the mind by plugging yourself in, also they carried a story line that involved love. There were three characters that were brought together and risked their lives in order to challenge and break down the barriers of technology. Rivera did add his touch making the setting between Mexico and The United States. He also added present political issues and portrayed them through the film as a militarized world defined by closed borders and virtual labor where they world twelve hour shifts and a global digital network that joined him and his family together also other landscapes and different experiences. The issue today is that so many undocumented people are working off the books and are getting paid the horrible salaries and are working from dawn to dusk. There was a part of the film Sleep Dealer where an employee at Rudy’s job said “This is what America meant as the American dream”. There are so many poor and starving people who are eager to work for anything and go to any level of hours to support themselves and their families and by having the virtual labor, American factories and jobs can abuse and take advantage of the workers because they can’t physically see them and can’t physically touch them or see them. At one point Rudy had fallen asleep and in his dream felt like he had fallen off from overworking double shifts and the computers took off from his salary. These issues exist today as well, minus the technological influence, but many of the issues and workers who are being affected by this are coming from Mexico. Also border crossing and sneaking into the country had been a great issue in the US for years.
The second character was the girl he had met and began to fall in love with, Luz. She would plug herself in to her computer and thought that his stories were sad and that she needed to share them with the world and speak for him. She would sell her memories and she became known online. The stories lead up to meeting the third character Memo, who was a pilot in the military and had killed Rudy’s father due to a militant order. Memo was a fan and figured out that he had killed Rudys father. There was a struggle between him and his loved ones and his father’s death. He wanted to limit the distance and fulfill his father’s wish. Through this all, the man who had killed his father through a military order offered a service that could not be possible without the computer system. He plugged himself in and shot a dam and released water in order to help feed and aid his family and country. The military man was unable to go home after that and nether could the boy. In The Matrix, the red and blue pills each have a different road. The road to the truth which is The Matrix and the other is the fake world. In sleep dealer the computerized world helped him but in the end he chose to stay in the real world where he’d learn to live a normal life.
This story was more “real’ in the sense that he had a reason for all of his moves and that he actually wanted to be better and he chose to live plunged in and work. The Matrix was also a choice but I feel like it was more out of curiosity. I defiantly enjoyed Sleep Dealer more and it had everything that made a great film.

Blog 23

The authors are in this chapter are relating both The Matrix and Marxist beliefs together. Karl Marx in Communist Manifesto and through Communism said how the “working man” or people in general do not realize the effort and sweat they put into and how they seem to be over working and are blinded by religion in the sense that the owners or Capitalists abuse religion to get them to work from dusk to dawn in order to earn their way to heaven. They do not have choices and are working because they have to. The “copper tops” in The Matrix relate to this Marxist belief because they cannot break free as well. They are also unaware of the sweat and work they are providing for the system.

Blog 22 IN PROCESS!!

Blog 21 Part 2

Today we:
- Discussed and understood our plan for tomorrow
- Exchanged materials and work
- Looked up helpful videos online that will help sculpt our final project

Blog 21 Part 1

Goals for the day:
- Find videos of baby beauty queens
- Share magizines with other group members
- Organize thoughts for tomorrow
- Write down items needed to shoot tomorrow

Blog 20

The Matrix is definitely a typical “ Man film”. Throughout the film we see amazing martial arts and special effects as well as sexy costumes and good looking characters. Although The Matrix does concern with the “real” or “fake” world, the story line also concerns the love story of two. The film eXtistenZ was a bit more real in the sense that The Matrix went over the top with special effects and just adding too much. EXtistenZ was a bit complicated at times to understand but overall I felt it was the other side of what The Matrix could have been. Both were really interesting to watch and learn about and really leaves the reader/ watcher with something to think about.

Blog 19

The game is strictly about W. Eugene Smith and interesting facts about him! It will be a card game will resemble the game memory. Smith’s photography and pictures of himself will be on one stack of cards as well as information and fun facts about him on another stack. The players will have to match the photos with the facts and so on. The objective of the game is for the player who wins will also have the most information about him and have learned the most about him.

Blog 18 : Ashley Winehouse & Chris De La Fuente Chi Chi

Ashley, Chris and I are working on a eclectic, artistic video for the final. We will base the video on many different levels and push boundaries exploiting the media through research on politics and the mainstream definition of beauty and what sells in our nation, commercials & television & our voices through art. we will also come up with a kick-ass website. We know that this will take a lot of time and dedication and we are devoting our free & private time to making the best out of our project/ experiment. We will begin working this Friday and continue to meet up during the week to edit and paste things together.

Blog 17

A lot of experimenting and camera footage. I will create my webpage today and gather up my ideas !!! I am really excited about this.

Blog 16

Fernando Torres
Dr. Smith
English 101/103
May 4, 2010

Nixon’s claim in the book “The matrix and philosophy” states how it is possible for humans to be living in the matrix but not probable. It seems to be in the same direction of what I’m thinking. I believe that we may be living in a robotic, computer generated world but in the end it is man that takes control and works the computers and system simple, everyday devices take charge of the way we do things. Alarm clocks cell phones, the internet, stop signs, school bells, sounds in general such as police and fire sirens are a part of our daily lives and it’s become second nature to us. A good example but rather sad experience I had been working in the postal service at JFK airport. Seniorities and regular employees who were in the union and had been there for years were demoted from positions that were being eliminated and were losing their jobs because they were being replaced by robots who could do the job of four men 5 times faster. By replacing employees with robots the service would save millions on costs for health insurance and salary.

This has become very common in the work field especially in the auto mobile industries where robots were replacing mechanics and thousands of workers lost their jobs. Companies would benefit from changes avoiding vacation time and sick days. Televisions and computers have never been this important since we’ve fallen into a recession. Most people, to avoid spending money outdoors, have chosen to stay home and enjoy television or watch a movie. We’ve become dependent on technology.

I believe, although in many ways we are shifting in a more technologically advanced nation or world, that we choose to participate in these activities. TV commercials promote the latest tools and gadgets and there’s no doubt that some of us just want it. We are all being affected by machinery and robots and all of these programs that might be overwhelming and eventually the technology will control the majority of our resources and we will be ruled by machinery. I do not believe that we are living in the matrix but gradually, yes we are fading into a more technological world. We are witnesses to the changes being made by technology such as our transportations and commute, the way we handle our businesses, banks, and you can literally almost do anything online. If in fact we were living in the matrix, I believe that things would run a bit moiré organized and would be a bit more cleaned up.
Although, machines can sometimes fail because of viruses or have to be rebooted, machines should still be strong and our world wouldn’t be as chaotic as it is. I don’t believe we are living in the matrix but something very similar and I believe that computers and robots will be very important in our future.