World of Tomorrow: Humanity in the OuternetMain Menu"We mustn't linger. It is easy to get lost in memories"- Looking at Archives in World of TomorrowAn intro to the director, and archive work in World of Tomorrow"I was very proud of my sadness because it means that I am more alive.": Humanity in the OuternetDefining Humanity in the Outernet"Now is the Envy of All the Dead" : Teaching Humanity in the Digital AgeElizabeth Connord04120b7260872020b5742615e3fd8ffd57272f8Tannis Weavere65961abb006529a8a8cb47ad858d29abf9a88bbAustin Rogersf6032d00a05cd49d2ba108fdc3cb4239144a3b2e
12016-04-22T22:35:24-07:00Tannis Weavere65961abb006529a8a8cb47ad858d29abf9a88bbLower Class Attempting to Escape the End of the WorldTannis Weaver2plain2016-04-22T22:43:11-07:00Tannis Weavere65961abb006529a8a8cb47ad858d29abf9a88bb
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1media/Screen Shot 2016-04-22 at 10.19.09 PM.png2016-04-23T11:40:01-07:00"They're Ok?"2The lower class and humanity in World of Tomorrowimage_header2016-04-24T16:38:08-07:00Emily Prime’s time travel experience ends with the sobering images of hundreds of people from the lower class being transported into Earth’s atmosphere. They are attempting to escape the end of the world by time traveling, but the discounted time travel is not reliable. The devastation of these images seem to be lost on both Emily Prime and Emily III. The viewer, however, fully experiences the sheer amount of people dying in the atmosphere. This literal loss of human life illustrates the imminent end of the world.
This is not the only instance that Emily III mentions the lower class. Throughout the movie, she refers to them over and over again. One instance is when she introduces Emily Prime to the outernet. Emily III talks about how the outernet can be a sad place and that some people who belong to lower class disappear into the outernet to escape the world. From the bits and pieces of information that the viewer gets about the lower class, it is easy to assume that the lower class are the ones who cannot afford to clone themselves. The lower class represents literal humanity in this future society. They do not have the ability or access to “extend” their lives by cloning.
Emily Prime does not understand that the shooting stars are actually falling bodies. While Emily describes the event, Emily Prime happily counts what she thinks are the stars. The only time the lower class is shown in the movie is when they are either escaping into the outernet or dying in the atmosphere. Emily III world does not seem like a happy one. The clones are not sure of their emotional capacity, and the lower classes seek to escape the world. Technology in this future is embedded into everything that everyone does. This technology has created a gap between humanity and life. The clones may seem to be an extension of their primes, but they do not have the same level of humanity. The society in which they live has been broken down into who can afford to clone themselves.
We live in a society where technological advances happen daily. Cloning and the outernet might one day be a reality, but how can we keep ourselves from losing humanity in these digital spaces?