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This trend can also be traced in recent tele\u00advi\u00adsion series. In Apple TV<\/span>+\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Sev\u00ader\u00adance,<\/i> bio\u00adcorp giant Lumon man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtures brain chips that allow users to \u200b\u201c<\/span>sev\u00ader,\u201d or switch on and off between, their work and per\u00adson\u00adal lives. Griev\u00ading wid\u00adow\u00ader Mark Scout (Adam Scott) is com\u00adpelled by the sci\u00adence as an oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to for\u00adget his wife\u2019s pass\u00ading for eight hours a\u00a0day, ren\u00adder\u00ading a\u00a0ver\u00adsion of him\u00adself that is not only a\u00a0pro\u00adduc\u00adtive work\u00ader, but also lives rel\u00ada\u00adtive\u00adly pain-free. The pro\u00adce\u00addure is not with\u00adout its down sides. The sev\u00ader\u00adance chip, acti\u00advat\u00aded by a\u00a0spa\u00adtial bound\u00adary, ulti\u00admate\u00adly affects a\u00a0tem\u00adpo\u00adral dis\u00adso\u00adnance: office-bound \u200b\u2018<\/span>innies\u2019 expe\u00adri\u00adence life as a\u00a0con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous work\u00adday \u2013 \u200b\u201c<\/span>A week\u00adend just hap\u00adpened? I\u00a0don\u2019t even feel like I\u00a0left,\u201d notes Britt Lower\u2019s Helly R \u2013 while their \u200b\u2018<\/span>out\u00adies\u2019 miss whole chunks of time. The show real\u00adizes this dis\u00adcrep\u00adan\u00adcy in episodes that take place in \u200b\u201c<\/span>real time,\u201d like sea\u00adson one\u2019s whirl\u00adwind finale, or entire\u00adly with\u00adin the warped lin\u00adear\u00adi\u00adty of the sev\u00adered floor, as in the sec\u00adond season\u2019s pre\u00admi\u00e8re, in which the time elapsed since the events of sea\u00adson one is delib\u00ader\u00adate\u00adly mis\u00adrep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded to audi\u00adences and innies alike.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As with\u00a0<\/span>Inven\u00adtion<\/i> and\u00a0<\/span>The Shrouds<\/i>, the func\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adi\u00adty of the tech at the root of\u00a0<\/span>Sev\u00ader\u00adance<\/i>\u200b\u2019<\/span>s sci-fi con\u00adceit is echoed by the tele\u00advi\u00adsu\u00adal tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy that pro\u00adduces the show. His\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly bro\u00adken up by ads, episodes, and sea\u00adsons, tele\u00advi\u00adsion \u2013 per\u00adhaps even more so than cin\u00ade\u00adma \u2013 relies on time as its orga\u00adniz\u00ading prin\u00adci\u00adple and pri\u00adma\u00adry medi\u00adum. \u200b\u201c<\/span>The major cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry of tele\u00advi\u00adsion\u201d wrote the\u00ado\u00adrist Mary Ann Doane in 1988<\/span>, \u200b\u201c<\/span>is time.\u201d The lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly mind-bend\u00ading tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy of\u00a0<\/span>Sev\u00ader\u00adance<\/i>, employed in the case of its pro\u00adtag\u00ado\u00adnist to mit\u00adi\u00adgate grief, splices time in the same mode as, well, a\u00a0TV<\/span> show.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In some ways, this reflex\u00adive pat\u00adtern harkens back to the ear\u00adli\u00adest days of mov\u00ading image cul\u00adture , when the technology\u2019s\u00a0new\u00adness often saw it put it in con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtion with mod\u00adern anx\u00adi\u00adeties over acci\u00addent, dis\u00adas\u00adter, or death. Ear\u00adly films like, for instance, the afore\u00admen\u00adtioned com\u00adic trick film,\u00a0<\/span>The Big Swal\u00adlow<\/i> \u2013 in which a\u00a0man approach\u00ades a\u00a0cam\u00adera pho\u00adtograph\u00ading him and, in an act of irri\u00adta\u00adtion or amuse\u00adment, eats it whole \u2013 played on the film appa\u00adra\u00adtus\u2019 abil\u00adi\u00adty to cap\u00adture or depict nonex\u00adis\u00adtence. Where\u00a0the film might be assumed to end with a\u00a0black screen, as the cam\u00adera itself is swal\u00adlowed, we\u2019re instead shown the tri\u00adpod and pho\u00adtog\u00adra\u00adph\u00ader dis\u00adap\u00adpear\u00ading into dark\u00adness, sug\u00adgest\u00ading that film has some\u00adhow been able to cap\u00adture an after\u00adlife, even after its own demise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The effect of film\u2019s abil\u00adi\u00adty to rep\u00adre\u00adsent death has been the sub\u00adject of much crit\u00adi\u00adcism and foun\u00adda\u00adtion\u00adal the\u00ado\u00adry. In 1951<\/span>, French crit\u00adic Andr\u00e9 Bazin sug\u00adgest\u00aded that film\u2019s abil\u00adi\u00adty to cap\u00adture and then repeat the unre\u00adpeat\u00adable moment of death \u2013 as in the doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtary he was review\u00ading, Myr\u00adi\u00adam Bor\u00adsout\u00adsky and Pierre Braunberger\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Bull\u00adfight<\/i>\u00a0\u2013 might both \u200b\u201c<\/span>des\u00ade\u00adcrate\u201d the final\u00adi\u00adty of loss, while also ren\u00adder\u00ading it \u200b\u201c<\/span>even more mov\u00ading.\u201d That ambiva\u00adlence is then affirmed in these recent works where the sci-fi tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy mar\u00adshalled to coun\u00adter\u00adact their char\u00adac\u00adters\u2019 grief does lit\u00adtle more than com\u00adpli\u00adcate it. Mark Scout\u2019s inabil\u00adi\u00adty to recall the loss of his wife leads him to turn his back on her by the end of the sec\u00adond sea\u00adson.\u00a0<\/span>Inven\u00adtion<\/i>\u200b\u2019<\/span>s Cal\u00adlie, after oper\u00adat\u00ading the heal\u00ading machine, is moved to help\u00adless tears rather than some deep\u00ader sense of peace or com\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsion.\u00a0<\/span>The Shrouds\u00a0<\/i>ends ambigu\u00adous\u00adly, with Karsh seem\u00ading to move on from his wife while, of course, con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00ading to see her everywhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But the lack of res\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion is what makes these recent works such effec\u00adtive med\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtions on what mov\u00ading image tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy knows of \u2013 or owes to \u2013 death. Over the past few years, images of dev\u00adas\u00adta\u00adtion have pro\u00adlif\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded across mobile plat\u00adforms, stream\u00aders, and big screens alike. Fears that such images might ren\u00adder view\u00aders desen\u00adsi\u00adtized to grief or vio\u00adlence are coun\u00adter\u00adact\u00aded by projects that explore visu\u00adal medi\u00adums as tools for fac\u00ading the fall\u00adout of death head on. If there is no treat\u00adment for grief, cin\u00ade\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly, it\u2019s per\u00adhaps only because such treat\u00adment is nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly ongo\u00ading, always unre\u00adsolved. As tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy con\u00adtin\u00adues to advance into realms some might call post-human, these recent works affirm that it can still remain a\u00a0tool for explor\u00ading the most human thing: life and our respons\u00ades to its end\u00ading. By invit\u00ading view\u00aders to see film and tele\u00advi\u00adsion as a\u00a0kind of \u200b\u201c<\/span>GriefTech,\u201d these works under\u00adscore the blind\u00ading inevitabil\u00adi\u00adty of loss with\u00adout turn\u00ading from it. That is: we only tru\u00adly lose if we refuse to keep looking.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n