Submit your answers to these questions as a file (DOC) attachment below:
1 Does the Man in Black live by a system or Ethical Absolutism or Ethical Relatism? Explain your answer.
2 Would a theme park such as Westworld likely be financially successful? Why or why not?
3 What would some of the costs to society be of a theme park like Westworld?
4 In what ways might working in a developing country as an American executive expatriate be like visiting Westworld?
Watch clips from “Man in Black”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5ED9B4mFyw (Links to an external site.)
Cast:
- Evan Rachel Wood (Links to an external site.) as Dolores Abernathy
- James Marsden (Links to an external site.) as Teddy Flood
- Ed Harris (Links to an external site.) as the Man in Black
Premise:
In an unspecified time in the future, a theme park named Westworld allows guests to experience the American Old West (Links to an external site.) in an environment populated by “hosts”, androids (Links to an external site.) programmed to fulfill the guests’ every desire. The hosts, who are nearly indistinguishable from humans, follow a predefined set of intertwining narratives but can deviate from these narratives based on interactions they have with guests.
The hosts repeat their multi-day narratives anew each cycle.
At the beginning of each new cycle (typically following the host’s “death”), each host has its memories of the previous period erased. For guests’ safety, hosts’ programming prevents them from physically harming human guests; this allows guests nearly unlimited freedom to engage without retribution in any activity they choose with the hosts, including rape and murder.
The Man in Black (William):
His first trip to the park began with noble intentions, but the longer William spent inside the park and the more he became enamored with Dolores, the quicker he descended into darkness. But as William himself explains, the process of experiencing Westworld for the first time was like a snake shedding his skin, revealing the monster within. When William looks in the mirror, he sees an agent of chaos. By choosing to believe this darkness is innate to his own nature, William deflects blame for his actions in the park. It was never really a choice, William believes, because this was always what he was like on the inside. William simultaneously acknowledges he’s an awful person without taking any responsibility for it.
Scenes in this clip:
The Man in Black kills Delores’ father and Teddy, then attacks Delores.
