Questioning the Nature of Reality: The Emancipatory Politics of Westworld (2016-)

Abstract

The myth of the American West is rooted in a visual language of commodification, nationalism, and violence. The Western film genre codifies this aesthetic representation of space; it naturalizes the United States’ continuing colonization of the American West. To critique this popular geographic imaginary of the West, I analyze the long form television series Westworld (HBO 2016-). Drawing on film geographies, feminist geopolitics, and Jacques Rancière’s politics of aesthetics, I argue that the first season of Westworld can deconstruct our perceptions of the West, illuminate the power structures we take for granted, and create new emancipatory space. Keywords: Westworld, film geographies, feminist geopolitics, Jacques Rancière, aesthetic politics, emancipatory politics, Western, geographical imaginary, landscape, American West