In Fifteen Million Merits, it depicts the reality of a man named, Bing. Similar to the prisoners in Plato’s story, he only knows one simple truth: pedaling gets him merits. These merits are essential to his life inside the facility, which is symbolically his cave. The puppet masters, aka the people in charge, let him know that this is his only reality through the use of merit deduction and forcing him to watch the programs around him.
In the competition scene, Abi is only offered a position at Wraith Girls. After Abi’s predicament, Bing starts to question what he has previously believed, exactly like the free prisoner in Plato’s story, because he knows deep down that she did not warrant the future she was handed. This shift in thoughts is what led Bing to working his butt off to work up to fifteen million merits again. In his speech on stage, he even states, “Show us something real and free and beautiful. You couldn’t, yeah? It’d break us. We’re too numb for it.” This quote directly implies a similar tone to the prisoners in Plato’s story. The other prisoners were too ignorant to listen to the freed prisoner about what he saw and refused to partake in such silly thoughts. They were too broken in on their own theories to consider possibilities of others.
After his speech has wrapped up, one of the judges speaks, further mentioning that Bing’s take was, “Your truth, admittedly, but the truth nonetheless.” This clarification of different realities mimics the tone of the Allegory of the Cave. Lastly, much like the prisoners in the story at the very end, the other people refuse to accept his concept and cheer at him to take the judge’s radio show offer. Bing ultimately accepts the offer and gives into the flawed reality that he had previously rejected, which is exactly like the freed prisoner. In the end, Plato’s story and Fifteen Million Merits both show that enlightenment can free a prisoner but also hinder them by leaving them in a position of vulnerability.
However, I can’t help but wonder how drastically the story could have changed if Bing had not been cheered on from the audience. Also, do you think the incorporation of “digital” figures convey a certain point? Could the digital avatars been replaced with real people or would the point the producer is trying to make not be fully expressed without them? After all, even CNN wrote an article about how digital avatars could alter the world.
I think you did an excellent job at linking "Fifteen Million Merits" back to Plato's "Allegory of the Cave". What is interesting to me about this episode is how perfectly both philosophical texts work with reflection. I can also see how the "Experience Machine" can come into play in the way that the constant access to virtual reality games, reality television, and other forms of entertainment act as a replacement for developing actual experiences. The people in this episode become like drones who are numb to everything other than the false experiences that they are gaining. Likewise, they are also being held as prisoners to their alternate reality.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was very interesting to relate to "Allegory of the Cave" because he does fall into that trap that I think we all can at times. He sees the problem and wants to change it but when his attempt fails he falls right back into the way things were before. I also think the avatars you bring up are interesting because they are hiding behind their screens which is a flaw that we can all fall into if we are not careful.
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