The Importance of perception – Shutter Island

The story of Shutter Island takes place in 1952 where Detective Edward “Teddy” Daniels accompanied by Detective Chuck Aule is tasked on going to Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island Boston Harbor. There Teddy tries to find a escaped patient named Rachel Solando. The detectives are soon agitated by the staff of the hospital and soon afterwards decided to leave only to be prevented by a raging storm. Eventually the whole island gets darker in perspective as Teddy gets more and more aggressive due to his involvement in World War 2 and visions from his deceased wife.

The closer Teddy gets to the end of it all he soon discovered that what is happening in Shutter Island is all in Teddy’s head as he is the 67^th patient is actually named Andrew Laeddis an anagram of Edward Daniels a persona he developed because of his denial of reality and Chuck Aule is his personal doctor. According to Cawley, the events of the past several days have been designed to break Laeddis’ conspiracy-laden insanity by allowing him to play out the role of Daniels. The hospital staff were part of the test, including Dr. Sheehan posing as Aule and a nurse posing as Rachel Solando. The migraines that Laeddis suffered were withdrawal symptoms from his medication, as were the hallucinations of the “real Rachel Solando”. Some time after Laeddis awakens he is approached by Dr. Sheehan. Instead Andrew calls him Chuck. Sheehan signals another doctor to take away Laeddis for lobotomy, but before he left he asked if it is worse to live as a monster or die as a good man.

Shutter Island is about the idea of inner demons and the denial of truth. As seen in the movie he denies that he is Andrew and tried to argue that he is Edward Daniels. But eventually he overcomes this denial only to have the audience guessing if he is fully recovered and that he pretended to have a relapse in order to get himself lobotomized.

He does not know that it was a test though seen in the background that all the personnel in the island are trying to role with him. Because it is his last chance for redemption if all else fail he will be lobotomized.

His further denial has resulted into alot of defensive structures in his mind as he will further point out that he is a respected deputy marshal. But in fact that he WAS and after killing his wife who drowned their children he became depressive only adding further to his developing of Edward Daniels.

His quote: “Which would be worse? To live as a monster or die as a good man?” and this ending is left for the viewers to decide if he is cured and pretended to have relapsed to get himself killed. What matters most is that the perception is fully understood.

The inspiring lesson of Rogue One

The story takes place days prior to the first Star Wars movie. The movie is based on events that transpired the plot of the whole original trilogy. The story focuses on Jyn Erso a girl who wish no part of the rebellion only to find her father. Eventually she gets involved in the Rebellion and accompanies a ship captain. She soon finds out a weakness in the weapon the Empire is building and gather up a crew. With no permission from the Rebel Alliance they all secretly depart for the base of operation for the Death Star. There Jyn is able to infiltrate the base and extract critical data for the Alliance and soon the Allied Fleet provides support to the ground units. With the data on board and the growing empire assault they are forced to leave the ground team and retreat. One by one the whole team inside the Base die from the reinforcements sent by the Empire but ultimately it is decided that the planet is no longer needed so they fired the Death Star aimed directly at the planet. Jyn and the Captain Cassian are left alive and watch the planet die.

Rogue One tackles the idea of leadership and hope in order to defy the oppressive Empire and liberate the imprisoned ideas of each and every individual.

Leadership to provide a sense of comfort to those who follow should be able to inspire the men who volunteered and must be able to make decisions and accept the consequences

Hope to embrace the idea of freedom and rights. It gives a moment of defiance to the dictatorial empire that is sought out to control the entire galaxy.

Hope is a recurring theme for the entire franchise as all the strength the protagonist’s have is derived from the idea of Hope and being able to become a symbol of freedom.

The burdens of obsession and deceit – The Prestige

The story follows Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, rival stage magicians in London at the end of the 19^th century. Robert Angier performs his trick “The real Transported Man” his Rival Alfred sneaks under the stage. At the trick’s culmination, Angier drops through a trap door into a water tank, where Alfred watches him drown.

Years before Borden and Angier worked as shills to another magician. After a failed trick that caused Angier’s wife to die he developed a grudge against Borden Which lead to years of rivalry and ultimately the death of Borden and Angier.

Unbeknownst to Angier the reason why his take on the “Transported Man” seems so real is that he has a identical brother who shared the same name “Alfred Borden”. He only figured out when he was about to destroy the machine he used to duplicate himself in order to perform the Transported Man trick. The Borden who saw the REAL Angier was hanged and the twin that survived killed the clone. Borden berates Angier for going too far in his quest for dominance. A final glimpse of the burning theater shows what looks like the body of Angier in a water tank near the dead body.

The Prestige is about the concept of obsession to be better than the other through the use of deception. Stated every great magic trick consist of three acts. First being the Pledge. The magician shows the audience something ordinary. He asks for you to observe if it’s real which is ofcourse not. Second is the Turn which takes the ordinary into extraordinary which causes the audience to look for the secret in reality they wont find it since they’re not really looking. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; it has to be brought back. That where the Third act falls, the hardest part called The Prestige.

The viewers are already unaware but they are already victimized by the 3 Acts during the whole movie. Though the situations are obvious people are still amazed by the performance and the execution of each trick. The tricks that play with the mind. The whole movie foreshadowed deceit only to have their audiences on edge at the end due to the well performed magic trick.

Angiers obsession has caused him his own life not knowing who will be real on both ends of the machine he used to deceive not only his audience but Borden as well.

And, Borden’s simple deception has caused him his life, his wife and his daughter. But in return their secret remained.

Interstellar

A thought provoking science-fiction movie. A movie that is based on the fate of Mankind within Earth. A story that compels the viewer to think about life if mankind is destined to die in earth or explore the world above her?

The story takes place in the not so distant future of Earth. War is no longer necessary, Engineers are no longer the needed jobs, instead farmers are required, NASA has been decommissioned since people are more focused on the ground rather than the stars. The crops are struck with a blight soon all the crops will die out. Cooper a former NASA pilot and Engineer now a farmer struggles to provide hope and food on the table besides corn. With only his daughter and son along with his step-father they try their best to make ends meet. But eventually it doesn’t end well for everyone since dust storms are getting stronger everyday.

 

Cooper located a classified area where NASA secretly works out. Their mission to find another habitable planet for the future generation. Cooper being a former pilot for NASA was persuaded by his former professor Prof. Brand. He leaves with an unstable connection with his daughter who tried to reason with him to stay.

The movie takes on the science of extra dimensions, worm holes, time travel and the accurate science of a Blackhole. But in deeper sense it grasps the issue of meaning and purpose.

The possibilities of meaning in interstellar:

– There is no Meaning

– There is only one way

– There are infinite numbers of universes. Which means anything that can happen, can happen

– There is a supreme conscious being

– There is a ground of being that drives the ideology in reality.

The most heart-breaking scene in the movie where-in Cooper finally meets Murphy his now elderly daughter nearing death. She told him that he remembered his promise that he’ll come back but tells him to leave as no father should see his own kid die. That scene tells their renewed father-daughter bond since Cooper have left her in disappointment.

The Morality within the Metro – Metro 2033 (Metro: The Last Light)

The Metro series is a Post-Apocalyptic Moscow after a nuclear warhead was aimed and lunched there. The game is centered on Artyom a soldier in a neutral underground state of the Metro named as Rangers who are tasked to guard and patrol the Metro and minimize any conflicts. The game’s locations reflect the dark atmosphere of real metro tunnels.

There are certain subtle moral choices in the game that provide “karma”. Good actions like rescuing innocent bystanders, or sparing enemy soldiers provides Good Karma, while Bad Karma is provided by killing random strangers or stealing. These moral choices affects the ending and the player experience.

The Metro doesn’t really let or make you evil. It’s the choices of the player that differentiate the outcomes.

In The Last Light, Artyom tasked to eradicate the last of the species known as Dark ones only to find their last to be a child. Much to learn and to understand after initially trying to take the child out Artyom develops a friendly bond with the child. He teaches and differentiate what is right from what is wrong. In general what Artyom does is the representation of the best of what’s left of humanity. You either teach the young one evil by killing and stealing and result into a drastic ending, or be compassionate towards others and teach him the best of humanity and be rewarded with help and redemption.

In the Metro it shows that humanity has nearly died out and what traits it has left is taught to those who will inherit the desolate Moscow and world. These human-like traits are no short-hand of evil and morally good ideas. If a Man so chooses to be evil then let him be, but no deed good nor evil goes unpunished that is his consequence… Thus the bad ending.

If man wishes to become more than what he is he will act good for the rest of his kin to have it rewarded by redemption of previous sins or care from others.

A man only needs to decide. Act cruel and be punished accordingly or be better and strive for redemption.

The Dark Knight trilogy

The Dark Knight Trilogy is already regarded as one of the greatest stories and Batman film adaptation, due to to its compelling story, fascinating portrayal of characters.

Batman begins is the first of the trilogy which takes the story of Bruce Wayne and his journey to becoming the Batman, as well as the burden of fear.

The Dark Knight known as the best of the trilogy where Batman continues his crusade for justice meets his foe the Joker that bends and breaks his spirit. In the Dark Knight it points out the philosophy of Nihilism, chaos and breaking the mind of the hero.

Dark Knight Rises the last of the Trilogy where the story ends. Batman unseen or heard from in years after the battle with Joker resurfaces to stop the total destruction of Gotham. In this 3^rd movie we are shown the traits of Batman the ability to rise from the circumstance and finally cementing himself as a symbol, though with a price of his own death.

The Dark Knight trilogy has recurring themes of primarily fear, Rise and Anger

Fear – being the main tool and enemy of Batman as he uses fear to counter the injustice in Gotham, while he cannot fully accept the death of his parents as he is far too afraid of it.

Rise – to ensure Batman’s success in his struggles he must fall only for him to understand the choices he has to make to guarantee the safety of the innocent he is sworn to protect.

Anger – Batman uses anger as his fuel to keep moving forward to push his limits and stop those who have done wrong. It’s what drove Bruce Wayne into becoming Batman in the first place.

Now, the Fascinating thing about the Trilogy is the portrayal of the Joker. A performance so well done that it terrified its audience and left a mark so respected. The joker here has done what nobody could ever do. Break the Batman’s mind and what is his reason? None he does not he only desires to fight Batman like a game. He has killed Bruce’s childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes which drove the Batman into a depressive state. Not only that he also turned the White Knight of Gotham – Harvey Dent into a killer further proving that all men can be corrupted. With the death of Dent placed on Batman and his failure to save the woman he loves he forced himself into retirement. And that broke the Batman, labeled as a killer and lost the love of his life.

The lessons of the Assassins and Templar – Assassin’s Creed

The setting of Assassin’s creed is similar to the events of the world. Only that there is a secret war between the faction of the freedom fighting Assassin’s and the Templar Order who are bent on controlling the world. Though with these contrasts their similar goal is peace.

The game is highly biblical though the events in the bible are influenced through the decisions of the Assassins – Templar war.

The Templar Order are said to have been started when the two sons, Abel and Cain, if Adam and Eve fought over the Apple of Eden. Cain murdered his brother in order to obtain the apple, he was then branded with the cross. The Templars believe that the people in society should be ruled with a strict system and no free will.

The Assassin Brotherhood are the sworn enemies of the Templar Order they are as secret as the Templars and they have fought for the free will of humanity and to ensure individuality, total freedom and progression of new ideas. They will only emerge whenever a tyrant appeared to restrict the rights of each individual man and woman.

The Templar Order are a group of powerful elite men and women that operate the wealthiest businesses in the world, while the Assassin Brotherhood has their fair share of innovators and powerful figures they are a selection of common men and women.

The Templar focuses on controlling the world because they accept that when mankind has the power they will be afraid of it and will quickly fall in line to serve. But the Assassins believe that mankind must resist control and freedom must be preserved at all cost.

The Assassins have their code of “Nothing is true, Everything is permitted” To say nothing is true is to realize that the foundations of society are fragile, and that we must be the shepherds of our own civilization. To say Everything is permitted is to understand that we are the architects of our actions, and that we must live with their consequences, whether glorious or tragic.

The Assassins focuses on duty towards the people, not to custom that is why throughout the centuries the brotherhood is furthered enlightened, not by following tradition but reflecting on the past in order to better the future for all.

The Arkham Knight – Batman: Arkham Knight

The main concept ideology of this game is Fear and its utilities for either seeking terror into the hearts and minds of the innocent or as a powerful tool for justice.

The game itself delivered an authentic feeling of “being the Batman” the game is diverse in story and in gameplay.

Arkham Knight takes place in Gotham where the crime rates have significantly drop and organized crime has shown little to know action at all after the death of the Joker. In hopes of finally defeating the Batman all the villains he has fought throughout the years have banded together to lay siege on Gotham under the control of Scarecrow.

In efforts to stop them Batman with the help of the GCPD and various Bat-Family heroes have joined to stop these villains and keep Gotham safe. With the mind breaking struggles Batman goes through to ultimately stop Scarecrow and his alliance he is forced to reveal his true identity to the world. With his identity finally revealed he enacted a fail safe protocol not only to protect his loved ones but to protect Gotham as well.

The game focuses on the concept of Fear, Heroism and Sacrifice. Even in the trailer it speaks of Heroism where mentioned in the will of the deceased Thomas Wayne father of Bruce guides his son to give back to the people of Gotham.

Scarecrow who embodies the fear of not only the citizens of Gotham, but also Batman who fears the loose of his parents. Fear is a recurring theme for all Batman medias. Not only because it is the main tool of Batman to fight crime but the main enemy of Batman as well. As every time he goes out onto the world he faces the fear failing his beloved city and his hopelessness to stop the nightmares unleashed upon it. But for every fight he goes to and every struggle he is forced to endure Batman is not shorthanded of sacrifices. As he sacrificed his image of being a hero into a villain and he sacrificed his wealth to better the soul of the city.

In the perspective Batman embodies the desire of Mankind to fight injustice and face the evils within our minds. He has surpassed the level of being just an ordinary hero because he resists the temptation of given in to his desire to rid the world of evil. That is his one rule… Never Kill.

The point of The Line – Spec Ops: The Line

The story takes place in a desolate Dubai ravaged by a severe sandstorm, the United States Army volunteered and tried to rescue as many civilians they can but eventually the storm proves to be too much and caused over 1000 casualties both civvies and soldiers.

You take control of Cpt. Martin Walker who leads Delta Force. Their task is to find the lost soldiers caught by the storm and send in a radio to command to execute a rescue mission for the whole army stuck in Dubai. Along the way they encounter insurgents who wish to take back Dubai from the US Walker and the rest is forced to eliminate the threats. Slowly the events take place and Walker stated “I though we were rescuing people”. The further the story progresses Walker’s mental stability slowly begins to deteriorate.

There is one mission that involves Walker partnering with the CIA and steals all of Dubai’s water source the plan goes south and the trucks crashes and within 4 days the citizens of Dubai will die of dehydration.

One of the most Infamous mission within the game is where Walker commands a mortar drop of White Phosphorus on the soldiers and gathered civilians. Unknown to Walker was that they were trying to help these civilians and what he did was actually kill innocent soldiers and civvies. Walker cannot accept his actions and blames it on Col. John Konrad who was actually dead all along.

In the end you’ll decide whether Walker commits suicide for the crimes he committed or he completely denies and continues to blame it on Konrad.

The game tackles the mental illness Cognitive Dissonance – the state of having two or more inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes relating to behavioral decision making and attitude changes.

Walker suffering from this illness has caused 47 deaths of innocent lives as well as countless soldiers who were trying to help the civilians of Dubai. And the 2 members of Delta Force.

John Lugo the Marksman of Delta Force who was killed by the insurgents of enraged civilians over the water aforementioned.

Alphanso Adams the team Breacher and tracker the one loyal to Walker who will often argue with Lugo because the degree of Walker’s command. But when Lugo died he blames it on Walker. He died sacrificing himself for Walker only to have that death in vain.

Walker being the protagonist of the game is actually the real Antagonist as well due to the consequences of his choices and the deaths that followed. But the game hints that Walker was delusional and completely unfit for service and he only forced himself onward, because he wanted to be a hero.

The Philosophy of Deus Ex (Human Revolution and Mankind Divided)

The story takes place in 2027 where augmentation is now a common thing for amputees and veterans that is if one can afford it. These augmentation has caused an uproar and split the world into 2 ideologies of pro-augmentation and anti-augmentation. The anti-augments think that by doing so much augmentation to one individual is an act of trying to be God. The player is struck between being human or being more than a man.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a game that spans over months where Adam Jensen tackles a secret organization named as Illuminati controlled by wealthy and influential individuals. Throughout the course of the game Adam is forced to make tough choices just to uncover the truth and every time he gets the job done the hole gets even more deeper as he slowly figures out his role in all of this.

Every decision you make is a representation of your morality every life you spare and everyone you try to save effects on how Adam will view humanity. In the end you’re faced with the decisions of:

• revealing the truth that forces the rest of mankind to abandon all augmentation for the dangers they bring;
• Focus the blame on the anti-augmentation group which allows continuation of various experimentation on humans to further enhance augmentation;
• Or the complete opposite stating resulting on a much harsher regulation on augmentations;
• Lastly, blow the whole facility up. In this choice the truth isn’t revealed but instead you took to your own hands that humanity will decide for themselves and that you have no rights to do it on their behalf.

Before making a decision you’re given a question “do you have what it takes to make a decision for humanity?”

 

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

The story takes place 2 years after the events of Human Revolution. Mankind has completely outcasted the augments and have become more racist towards them establishing a mechanical apartheid. Adam struggles to find his role in this after the incident at Panchea.

Here the Illuminati has become more influential and Adam forced to uncover the truth again against the secret organization. But still Adam has his struggles trying to define what is right and wrong and deciding whether to help the terrorized or ignore them. With everything pitted against him Influence of the Illuminati, Terrorism and the racism of naturals Adam finds his strength to rise above this and is determined to bring down the Illuminati… unbeknownst to him that they are actually using him to uncover their enemy Janus.

The ending are more diverse not like it’s predecessor but all actions taken place within the duration of the game directly and indirectly shape the ending.

Knowing like Human Revolution does one man have the decency to decide for others or will he not get in their way and let them take their lives the way it should be. Free and unhindered by others.

But the question arise from all of his actions… Is morality our saving grace and if it’s enough to help mankind pull through?