I put this video together a while back. I was deeply researching all the various media that shows the very idea of being imprisoned or displaced in a false reality. The false reality is a much bigger topic that has various branches such as the Saturn Matrix, Brain in a Vat, Prison system etc..
Here's a brief description of what you'll see:
The Commissioner in Batman is trapped in a virtual world (inside a cube, curiously released when a clock melts on top of it... Time Cube? Saturn's Cube?) Due to time constraints I didn't include the scene in which the Riddler is shown to be imprisoned in his own VR due to a malfunction.
Next, Batman is forced into a dream world in which he cannot awaken.. until he decides to kill himself... and self inflicted suicide is taboo in all religions, cultures and governments (not to be confused with assisted suicide). Kinda makes you wonder why...
Roxas from Kingdom Hearts was placed in a virtual town and his memories were erased. Sounds a lot like when we're born into this world, which most now perceive as a false reality. Finding out the truth, he smashes the computer (cognitive dissonance?)
Commander Riker from Star Trek in the episode Frame of Mind is placed into a sleep by aliens. The aliens attempt to interact with Riker in a dream sequence, attempting to get top secret information from him. I saw this episode as a kid, and it has a HUGE effect on me. When I was much younger, I had out of body experiences, sometimes floating around the house at night and reappearing in my bed.. doing it a few times. I was never sure if it was a dream, or I actually even woke up from it.. to this day I still wonder. So this episode reminded me very much of my past. Eventually Riker does wake up by attempted suicide and smashing himself into a door.
I forgot the name of the Twilight Zone episode, but a lady dreams that she's at a picnic with a handsome lover. The dream machine malfunctions and her body dies, but her mind still lives on in the dream. Terrifying...
Lastly, in an episode of Superman, this kid creates a virtual reality and traps some of the characters in there. In this world, he can be anything he wants, but after being foiled by Super Man, he wrecks the program and traps himself within his VR world, similar to what happened to the Riddler.
It is the very idea that we are somehow placed in this world against our immortal will, the will beyond the dream. Something says that we don't belong here and we have to find a way out. In a future post, I might discuss the idea that we have handlers (an invisible enemy) who do have the ability to enter this world at will, yet we the physical cannot seem to do this (yet, as a means of escape).
Keep wondering, it's good for the gray matter in your noggin! Stay cool!
-Izlude
