Westworld's Deep Reading: How Stories Shape Us

Westworld is an extended metaphor for storytelling. We look at what the series tells us about writing good stories and how stories shape the way we think about our reality. Sign up to our email newsletter for updates on new videos, fun film trivia, news on giveaways, longform content, events and more! bit.ly/2oVVB1Q
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[@kalashnikov1997]

This channel exhibits both quality in its editing and substance in its analyses. Very helpful for aspiring storytellers and cinephiles alike. Great job and I hope you get more subscribers because you deserve it.

[@nathanjoseph8270]

Exploring the idea of storytelling as a narrative form is a typical Nolan trait. Pure genius

[@avinashasitis]

Westworld and Black mirror are two best stuffs out there on television right now. Also excited for Twin peaks return.

[@rami7194]

The host thinking he's in control of the piano, and suddenly realizing the song is scripted, quite symbolic.

[@LockwoodsDC]

This is one of the best pieces of analysis I have ever seen or read. Thank you.

[@butaleo]

The best analysis! BRAVO! KNOWING ITS NOT REAL - DOESN'T MATTER - reminds me of Memento.

[@cacahue]

Cypher aproves.

[@niklasherberger3358]

One thing: You can see that in Maves Code there is the order "infiltrate mainland"; she rejects her programming in her last scene and therefore chooses her own destiny.

[@BlizzyFoxTF]

Here's one level of Westworld covered: the commentary on cinema, the meta discussion. There are also those details and clues in multiple timelines, themes on ai and humanity and morality, symbolism such as the meaning of the maze.

[@MezcalRainDance]

The faster someone speaks, the easier it is to subconsciously understand the meaning behind what was said. The tempo behind the voice in this segment is fast, and opens the parts of our brain that allows us to remember the "everyday actions" of others and that of which is put into our subconsciousness. My consciousness remembers the here and now, as most others do. My subconscious remembers the past and what was, and comprehends it by sending signals to my brain to understand the past and fulfill actions of the future. This entire show opens both my consciousness and subconsciousness. It portrays my life and the life I could live, and have lived. The meaning behind this show is more than a script and cinematography. It shows the deepest parts of our minds, and exploits the true sense of self..."what it really means to be alive".

[@mgdkns6678]

Joe Smith the subconscious remembers the future too...

[@frankilinfujid]

Westworld is so perfect that no matter how it broken down, one only find beauty in it.

[@shubhamnauni7672]

Great analysis Screenprism

[@R4Y2k]

Thing is; Fiction is just as important as reality because just like the park promises, it offers us a way to explore new concepts and ideas and in the last decade, these shows have become pretty philosophic in their own way, especially since it's just like the MIB said; Every good story is rooted in truth.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

The concept of the narrative is key in the Bicameral Theory. (The theory that does the best job explaining how we became conscious and to what the word 'conscious' is actually referring).

[@R4Y2k]

This show made me question the nature of MY reality because I don't watch for entertainment but for examination^^

[@Jjrmtv]

enjoyed every precious moment

[@flowhannesburg1912]

I'm glad I found this channel lol, it gives me tons of ammo to use in defending my favourite works. Great work guys

[@the.saunter.experiment]

love your channel's videos, so in-depth and insightful. every one I've watched is of high quality; you guys deserve a larger following. keep up with the great work screenprism!

[@ashokaayar760]

Recently completed the 1st season A great great show that will be looked back and still entice us Props to J Nolan and L Joy And a great great analysis to meet the show

[@ayaehab]

I didn't want this video to end seriously!! it was so so good!

[@VAunderlineI]

Such an intelligent and provocative show, huge fan... maybe a little too demanding and complex for mainstream audiences 😉

[@handris99]

Fuck mainstream audiences. They are only there to pay for the show because of the shooting scenes. This show is art. It is trivial that it's demanding for them, and I really hope the creators never give into the mob.

[@siddharthchauhan3787]

this show requires high level of thinking it's one of my fav waiting for Season3 there is not much hype about it because a few understands it.

[@vertsk8er419]

perfect choice of scenes and analysis to convey the true essence of this show to even the most casual of watchers, but still presented with a depth to be picked up on by the more adept. i for certain think that Ford created a host of himself, and that it was the host version of Ford who Delores shot in the finale, too many clues pointing to it placed within the show by it's creators...

[@guy31978]

Oh dang! That's a cool thought

[@jerryromo8727]

I also think Ford created a host of himself, but I think he created the host to replace himself. I think it may have still been Ford who was shot.

[@davmil2002]

Agreed. Chopan, etc. didn't die, they became music. He didn't die, he became a Host.

[@gpanag93]

I think the reason is western is because Wild west is the medieval times of Americans, the point is the Abuse, the fighting, the macho feeling of the era

[@Carelessnoot]

I have actual chills. Beautiful analysis! Masterful

[@vicenteortegarubilar9418]

Watching this side by side with the wisecrack video the philosophy of westworld really helps me understand the deep meanings of the series. Is a marvelous complementation

[@goatlib2338]

Thank you for this video. And for the comments : this series is far more intelligent than almost all television this past years, yet hasn't received the recognition it disearves. I guess I understand people's love for Breaking Bad, but Westworld is about more than good cinematography. Its meaning is deep, philosophical, and is the closest thing to "Art" television has to offer.

[@CRFSUIGENERIS]

BadBurrito Totally agree. Well said!

[@DarkHunter514-11231963]

I was waiting for this! Thank you!

[@targaryenXoolf]

It's reciprocative that you guys do not have much subscribers. I doubt too many people would get all these without the "storytelling" and "creator" basics. Not many people like classy things and this channel makes that exclusive, making us the subscribers exclusive in a way. ScreenPrism, Cinefix, Nerdwriter and Just Write are must haves for aspiring creators. Love you guys.

[@thetake]

Thank you so much!

[@kheo]

Thx for the heads up to the other channels

[@priceless2353]

Wow this channel is great im glad I caught you guys in your infancy; you guys will have a million subscribers in no time

[@alanbgeiss]

This channel is unstoppable. I love your content!

[@wendysemkus]

Absolutely brilliant analysis! Thank you!

[@farizalresat]

This channel should have a million subs.

[@happinesstan]

Thank you. I've thought this since early on in the first series, but nobody else is prepared to listen.

[@jamiespamister5711]

I hope you guys keep doing more Westworld content! Awesome video!

[@thetake]

Yep! More coming

[@jamiespamister5711]

Thank you!

[@umj199]

You guys deserve more subs!

[@rabbychan]

I love rewatching this video over and over again just like the one about William.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

Lol 👍

[@failogy]

Best Westworld analysis ever. I immediately subscribe !

[@Adelinawrites]

Great channel, absolutely loved every single video.

[@fionagreen5598]

Wow, this is fascinating. Can you guys do a video on the feminism in westworld? I would be interested in what you think about what characters like Maeve and Dolores show about the roles of women in society. Also, I'm a really big fan of you guys. Thanks for posting great videos!

[@olirayner5129]

41k views, wow. This deserves so much more and beyond

[@clare2385]

Right now this is my favourite video of all of the internet.

[@enahz]

this was amazing ! thank you so much!

[@Ravi-xf8dw]

such a brilliant video .. for brilliant series

[@littlefatbuddha]

What a beautiful analysis!

[@TolkienStudy]

We can also definitely see some Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Modern Prometheus in the Creation vs Creator, etc.......Really great series, excellent analysis.

[@TolkienStudy]

Brilliant. Love your videos, keep it up 👍

[@RedStingBlogs]

Didn't want this to end! Fab video

[@edsetya]

this piece is genius!!

[@TreeLuvBurdpu]

This is about the best analysis I've seen of this show.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

Yet there was so much more (and deeper) that deserved to be addressed.

[@donut_touch_me]

10:34 "Repetition can become a comfort to us, but doesn't challenge us. We're following a mindlessly repetitive path until something comes along that pierces that bubble and we start to think differently."

[@felipevitorino7745]

great content! Keep it up

[@zenithquasar9623]

I like this analysis!

[@frankdanielcnlb9803]

While watching the series, I felt entertained and amazed; and at the same time terrified. What if 'my' story is not the same as others around me perceived it to be and 'my' truth is just that -- mine alone. I have never felt more alone... 😂 This is a great analysis of the show.

[@susanlaude8969]

Frnk Cnlb, I think that is one of the points; we all are, in essence, alone. No one see your truth exactly the way you see it.

[@kaboomzzz]

Really well done. Subbed.

[@ThePa1riot]

I enjoy this way of viewing the show. The questions it raises about consciousness are fun and all. As a writer myself though, this show, and Ford in particular, really speaks to me. I actually love his philosophy of stories, particularly interactive stories, as gateways to "who we could be." Just as much, so many choose to see the horridness in something like Westworld the actual park, a playground of sin. It's only that way if you make it so. I choose to see the beauty in this world. Scripted response? Absolutelty. Doesn't mean I don't beleive it.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

Do you know it's based on an actual theory of how we became conscious? Ford mentioned it in the last episode of season 1. Do you remember? See "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind".

[@MrDeejayjfx]

I can't wait for Samurai World.

[@MANJYOMETHUNDER111]

Confirmed to be called Shogun World fyi.

[@amir-gb3zd]

Just today I ve thought in Westworld they might also share idea about how main stories of humanity, tropes in which we write stories from first myths are repeatedly as a loops shape our subconscious, e.g. so bold picture biblical story as one of main story west culture. And idea of a maze is same from myth and psychoanalysis of Karl Yung , that the way to Self is a maze.

[@abinlal]

West World is a masterpiece ❤️

[@rasbachj]

BRILLIANT!

[@ratrickpaddatz7252]

Loving it.

[@ThatOneGuy7550]

Do more Westworld!

[@kevinhavers679]

Very perceptive analysis

[@internetgorilla4231]

Brilliant deconstruction.

[@andrewkulubi9919]

i like the videos you guys make. could you do one for looper?

[@cora833]

amazing

[@ovaiskaku7443]

Screen Prism, can you please make one on person of Interest? I would be so grateful!!

[@henrycolestage4249]

The single greatest thing about life is that we get to choose our story. Yes, we are born into a story not of our making but we are not that story. We are defined by the story that we choose to believe in. In the immortal words of Hub McCann, "Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things that a man needs to believe in the most: that people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love, true love, never dies... No matter if they're true or not, a man should believe in those things because those are the things worth believing in." (Secondhand Lions)

[@emmanuelbazimya2057]

May you do a 'deep reading' of Moonlight next.

[@DanielS2001]

I took Ford's story as a commentary of modern Hollywood. Ford is an old-school director who wants to tell the stories he wants to. Delos and those who side with it like Sizemore, are just the new studio not giving a damn of story and character, and just want to release what they think the audience wants at the cost of something meaningful. We need more Fords in Hollywood, no more Delos members, even more so in this day and age.

[@SuzieWalsh]

Siri, is that you?

[@nadimbeing]

Not sure why YT algo decided to show this on my feed only now..

[@forgetfulstranger]

Can you do S2 analyses?

[@vishusharma8566]

You have a very attractive voice. As good as it can get!

[@user-fg4wn5re2f]

great

[@moiqbal5667]

it certainly is a nod to visual storytelling, specifically film, popular film. it started with Westerns. Which inspired the 50s-60s Japanese films, Kurosawa and Mifune being the most prominent names to emerge in the era. Which in turn, inspired westerns and Hollywood we know today Just a thought i had with the tease of Shogun World.

[@DrGregoryHouseIT]

Mo Iqbal It might also be a nod to the original movie, which had Yul Brynner playing the main villain, deliberately dressed as his character Chris Adams from The Magnificent Seven, which was a remake of Japanese classic The Seven Samurai.

[@user-nz4vu8ho5d]

What's the name of the music at the beginning?

[@johnfry19]

What is the opening song to this video? Im digging it.

[@gilbertoignacioaguirrevarg4550]

The stories shape us... I remember that Lovecraft made me more self-aware than i already was

[@theOGofREDS]

Many on KZbin say Ford had Dolores kill him because he was guilty for making the hosts feel pain. But in one episode, Ford tells Bernard there is no consciousness? Can someone explain what prompted Ford's change in heart? (If any) My theory is that Ford is so vain that he wanted to go on and live in the cloud (in code) the way Mozart became music? But how does that work if he rejected consciousness?

[@bhargavlohit4872]

Please do something on House MD

[@IJustMadeAComment]

Must be fun looking at clouds with you, I bet you can think up all sorts of crazy shit they could be.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

If you read "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" you will gain a much richer understanding of the story.

[@danielortega580]

Beautiful video 🤖

[@howardkoor2796]

Wow

[@therecalcitrantmisanthrope1892]

"a simple handshake,would give it away"...

[@genin69]

whoever narrated this has a beautiful voice. just delightful to listen to..

[@bbbabrock]

cool.

[@lostangeles]

Thats why billy russo looked so familiar

[@GarveyToure]

bravo

[@styx9193]

I just finished season 3 of Westworld and I can't fathom it's the same show. Season 1 was just perfect television and it should have ended there.

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

The show has the potential for an unlimited future. Just imagine the adventures our immortal manufactured offspring might have as they set about populating the galaxy.

[@rayrayraydio]

I wish this was still true about Westworld..

[@jontereilly248]

6:32 are you sure this is Benard?

[@XenoRaptor-98765]

Can you do a take on the both Jurassic park/world books and movies those are also made by Michael Chitcint ? These both theme parks go wrong and playing god

[@randyparsons3188]

I dont find the guest stories or Williams story very intersting. I see Westworld as an examination of free will and the birth of arificial intelligence. A key scene in the Westworld is the discussikn of the bicameral mind. The maze represents the artificial minds discussion with itself, going from a pre determined program to free thought and eventually free will. The last episode results in a rebelion against the programmers and the creation of a new form of free thinking being. Memories are being saved even though the hosts are being memory wiped each day. Your discussion of parenthood is a decent metaphor for the creators trying to help these new beings to become selfaware. Stories are just the surface of the show. Its just a live action video game to the guests. That part isnt really intersting to me but the fact that the show is often told from the point of view of the androids is brilliant writing. Even more so we get to see their struggles with memory, a key component to a functioning intelligent mind, and the hosts struggles with their inner voice, the thoughts inside them which will lead to true choice and free will. Dolores experinces time jumps and sometimes doesnt know where she is. She is also seenin a chair talking to herself. The hosts need time away from the programmers and memory wipes in order to become self aware. Thus Dolores and other hosts are programed to kill the guests and take over in the last episode. This is also a kind of paradox since the hosts are still bound by a programmers code. Its hard to say if even Dolores is 'awake' yet since she seems to be still following Fords program.

[@seamushawks2190]

Randy Parsons I’d argue that, because the guests and Williams, others stories, are representative of these ideas, that they in themselves are interesting. Yes, because of the ideas and philosophical debates, but the stories are not separate from the debate, thus I find them interesting too. Just an opinion...

[@Nautilus1972]

At 40K a night, you would want more than cheap thrills.

[@redmed10]

Ford introduces the significance of a simple handshake but it's never used in season 1 or 2. Misdirection?

[@REDPUMPERNICKEL]

Highlighted the fact that there's more to being human than appearance.

[@LordTrayus]

YOU TAKING NOTES, EA?!?!?

[@griveros25]

1:06 7:58 10:02 10:36 12:46

[@otycloaiza3291]

Debussy

[@MarcusTimiraos]

Can anybody tell what the narrator is saying starting at 11:00? It sounds something like, "The crux of the [akarian? archarian? Aquarian?] impulse..." It's a word I'm not familiar with, and my phonetic searches aren't coming up with anything. I'd be much obliged, stranger.

[@daniellelamorte2293]

I believe she said "Icarian" impulse, an adjective form of Icarus. Icarus is a figure in Greek mythology and his story is mostly about the dangers of hubris. Search for "Icarus"

[@thomaskwoba3920]

rather than self-awareness.... it's rather trial with uncertain improvisation....to choice of choice with mistake reinforcing that mistake was in our foundation at the beginning

[@jacopoabbruscato9271]

To me William is the most compelling and interesting character. Bernard comes second. Right now in season 2 Maeve and Dolores are too invincible to be any interesting

[@chimpinaneckbrace]

"It doesn't look like anything to me."