<div dir="ltr">Hi all! <div><br></div><div>Why Westworld? Well, the reason I focus on pop culture on the podcast is because pop culture is made of the stories we tell about ourselves and our societies. Sometimes people are a dismissive of TV, but good shows and terrible shows alike tell us about our cultural values. I think Westworld in particular is interesting because it explores an extreme version of many of the technological feelings we grapple with daily. How different are humans from machines? What does consciousness entail? It also explores larger sociological questions around labor and society. If there were no laws, how would humans act? When we think of others as less real than us—when they're dehumanized—how do we treat them? </div><div><br></div><div>I think Westworld also tells an interesting story about who makes our technology and how their personal interests guide what gets created. Westworld is a theme park made and run by men with money—and winds up being a place built for recreational rape and murder. The show asks us to examine who is in charge of both this microcosm of society and the larger world beyond the walls. </div><div><br></div><div>Those are my initial thoughts! </div><div>best, </div><div>Sarah </div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 18, 2017 at 12:49 AM, Margaret J Rhee <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mrhee@uoregon.edu" target="_blank">mrhee@uoregon.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------<span class=""><br>
Hi All,<br>
<br>
To start us off, I'd love to discuss the larger points Betsy and Lawrence brought up in terms of Westworld and authorship, more significantly Charles Yu's contribution to the show, as a writer and story editor, and how that may shape our conversation. It reminded me of how Sarah and I discussed actor Leonardo Nam's role in the television show, while he is not a robot, the show has much more racial diversity than other (fembot/replicant) television or films, particularly with Black leading characters, and Asian leading characters. Im also wondering how much Yu's presence is within the storyline, and it is interesting that Betsy and Lawrence co-curated the CLT+ALT: A Culture Lab on Imagined Futures, that also included Charles Yu's work: <a href="http://smithsonianapa.org/alt/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://smithsonianapa.org/alt/</a><br>
<br>
Sarah, as an artist, journalist, and a curator of feminist space, also facilitates discussions and creative visions through media activism, and her own comics on Oregon history: <a href="https://shop.knowyourcity.org/products/oregon-history-comics-box-set" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://shop.knowyourcity.org/<wbr>products/oregon-history-comics<wbr>-box-set</a><br>
<br>
Her podcast with Bitch Magazine, Propaganda, is one exciting example, like the Culture Lab.<br>
<br>
I guess I'm wondering if we can begin with Why Westworld? and how might it connect to the culture labs you've curated for the Smithsonian, and for Sarah, the podcast conversations for Bitch magazine?<br>
<br>
Is there any connection between our interests in the show, and what I see, and admire so much about your respective work, on how you also commit to cthe curation of dialogue?<br>
<br>
Margaret<br>
<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Margaret Rhee, Ph.D.<br>
<br>
Visiting Assistant Professor<br>
Women's and Gender Studies<br>
University of Oregon<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Margaret Rhee, Ph.D.<br>
<br>
Visiting Assistant Professor<br>
Women's and Gender Studies<br>
University of Oregon<br></span>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">writer • editor • good ideas<div><a href="http://mirkwork.com" target="_blank">mirkwork.com</a> • <a href="http://sexfromscratch.com" target="_blank">sexfromscratch.com</a> • <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/sarahmirk" target="_blank">@sarahmirk</a></div><div>503-853-0098</div></div>
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