Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
COULD DREAMS BECOME A CONTESTED SPACE? : THE BLURRING BOUNDARIES OF REAL AND VIRTUAL IN PAPRIKA Münire Bozdemir Abstract: This paper is presenting an analysis of opposition and clash of the Virtual and the Real as presented in the Japanese animated film “Paprika” (2006) by Satoshi Kon. The consequence of this clash is the change in the perception of the “dream space” which is experienced both by the audience and the main characters in the film. In my analysis I am adopting a Deleuzian understanding of the Virtual and Real which he defines in relation to “actuality”. According to him “actual” does not exist in opposition to the “real” but to the “virtual”. Both virtual and actual are real, but only the actual has physical reality and can be considered as (being) present which Deleuze claims to be surrounded by virtual shadows. The actual, according to Deleuze, includes the real acts in the present and experienced reality while the virtual refers to the potential of “becoming anything in very unpredictable ways.” This issue of unpredictability becomes very questionable in the film “Paprika". The film, being about a technological device, DC mini, that serves for watching and interfering in people's dreams with the aim of psychological treatment, presents layers of reality and virtuality. Moreover the boundary between reality and virtuality becomes blurred after the device's pilferage by the headmaster of the DC mini’s production company. With the claim of “protecting the sacred dream world from the evils of science” he becomes the “Master Brain” of a collective dream he himself creates. As a result reality and dream world merge as people participate in a carnival like dream-reality in which they can transform into various objects such as dolls, guitars, cellphones. However, other than the Master Brain, only three people seem to remain “conscious” and (at least to some extent) in control of what is happening: a detective and two of the psychologists in charge of the DC mini. These three people fight against the Master Brain and restore the world to its usual “reality” which makes it possible to question the difference between the two worlds represented in the film. Do we really have the virtual potential of “becoming anything” in very “unpredictable” ways, or has this possibility already been foreseen or determined by some institutions, other than technology, acting in society in visible or invisible ways? How can the actual and the virtual be distinguished from each other? Are the boundaries really very obvious in the usual reality of the everyday life represented in the film? (How) do the blurring boundaries of the virtual and the real challenge the privacy of dreams and make it seem like a physical and even a contested space that is invaded by members of different social classes or institutions? Do the blurring boundaries really bring freedom and equality or are they lost in collectivity? These are the questions this paper will address through an analysis of selected scenes from the film “Paprika”. Keywords: Virtual, actual, dreams, contested space, animation