RE: Symbolism in Westworld: The Archetypal in Dolores and Maeve
I am enjoying Westworld now that the early episodes gratuitous violence has been toned down somewhat.
Im a little behind the UK broadcasts so am intreagued if the show will be able to reveal something to us truly unexpected. Right now the show is focussing on the apparent abuses of the hosts and Fords machiavellian manipulations of all around him. Will the hosts be able to follow Maeve and like Pinocchio become real. What I find most intreaguing is the reactions of the guests would have on returning to every-day life outside of the park; once you get a taste for murder and rape, how does that impact the rest of your life, how many people fail to separate from the park and become experience junkies?
Oh yeah and I love many of the tunes the whore-house piano plays, nice detail.
The Man in Black really portrays it well, he seems to spend his life in that park and think thats only where he can be himself.
I watched all the episodes on streamlord.com
Right, but he never returns to reality and gets upset when his imaginary world is disrupted.
In a sense much like Ford, we know Ford had an abusive alcoholic father and I think this is what drives his need for absolute control, and his inability to be anywhere but in the park; though he has to deal with The Board, he treats them with the same disregard as the hosts.
In terms of your original post on sybolism, there is the basement where hosts who are no longer wanted are sent to stand idle (for eternity, like hell?), is this because Ford (god) loves them? So is the park purgotory then, and the staff angels, watching over and caring fo the hosts? Interestingly, heaven isnt mirrorred, although life outside of the park is supposed to be ideal; so a heaven that is boring an from which we desire to escape perhaps?
There's defs something purgatorily about the host cold storage. It mirrors that the host have a dreamless sleep, which would be torture to the human mind. yet the hosts can keep long memories and its in their programming they can overcome them being wiped out. I think the hosts are more representative of angels, due to their supernatural nature.
I think the non-sentience of the hosts is an Underworld theme. Its not like hell as they forget their torture for the most part, and not everyday bad things happen; its very human as their torture doesnt really span a life narrative but a closed time narrative of a day to months. The cyclic nature of their existence is interesting in the big picture too.