In the Netflix series 1899, reality is split into multiple versions. So much so that the very substance of what the characters believe to be true is sustained and linked to subjective ideas. What are time, identity and experiences when everything can be transformed over and over again? That is the premise that raises the argument of the series and that, for its final chapters, leads to a more elaborate, strange and surreal level.
But in 1899In addition, the version of what is happening has several facets. The script structures a kaleidoscopic vision of time, space and even the elements that support the psychology of its protagonists. Each circumstance depends on the point of view from which it is analyzed.. Also the story that a character can offer about what surrounds him. For his last chapters, 1899 it shows that his stage not only has countless planes of interpretation. Also that each of them obeys an individual perspective independent of the rest.
It is then that the series finds its most philosophical point. If up to chapter six, 1899 He played with the interpretation of reality, as he moved towards his end he incorporated the element of probability. At the same time, that of the subjective or very personal conception of each fact. The argument then begins to make it clear that whatever happens obeys a specific order. Which, in addition, is related to an old conception of the partial truth that the series uses as a link with something deeper. It is about Plato’s allegory of the cave.. In 1899the premise makes it possible to represent the levels and dimensions of reality from a completely new point of view.
The underlying philosophy in 1899
The Serie 1899 uses Plato’s allegory as an entry point towards a more elaborate concept of reality, the mind and the interpretation of the world. According to the philosopher, what we perceive as tangible is a perspective that may or may not be true, depending on the depth. To exemplify the idea, Plato describes a hypothetical scenario in which a group of prisoners is confined in a cave. All the small crowd can see is the wall that reflects the shadows of the real world. In other words, a tertiary or derivative projection of what may actually be — or may not — be behind it.
However, the prisoners never receive a detailed explanation of the transposed world they see, so they must find their own concept. There is no precise explanation of reality. This causes the limitations of what they can see, hear and interpret to define the world around them. The most curious thing is that Plato delves into the possibility that the prisoners will accept the world as it is shown to them. In such a way that they do not question the meaning of what they see, much less can they reconstruct through the data at their disposal.
Plato’s allegory has been used in various films, especially science fiction, such as interstellar by Christopher Nolan and Shutter Island by Martin Scorsese. In both one and the other, reality is limited to being translated through the resources of its characters and the way in which they can understand it.
The same thing that happens on a colossal scale in 1899. In the series, reality is a distorted perception. So much so that it can change, deconstruct and be forgotten in precise cycles. All without the characters questioning what they see or understand through the most elaborate ideas available to them.
It all starts with Plato
In fact, 1899 She is very direct when presenting the idea. Henry remembers that Maura was obsessed with Plato’s allegory when she was younger. It is more than likely that Maura employed the idea of a reality that can be interpreted through his limitations of the philosopher’s premise. However, after she lost her memories of her and Henry she took control of the successive reinventions of reality, she herself was a victim of his experiment.
Time and time again, reality for Maura became a series of interlocking symbols and objectives that sustained the possibility of reality in 1899. Much more when, since Henry is also part of a simulation, Plato’s allegory becomes an infinite repetition of decisions. To deconstruct reality until it is unrecognizable and even to create a mere confused version of a much bigger idea.