Beware of deep fakes

Rating: 6/10 (10 January 2020)

Carrie Fisher, who acted as Princess Leia since the beginning of the Star Wars since 1977, died on December 27th 2016. But thanks to computer-generated imagery, she is kept alive in the movies until her character gets a decent burial. She appears in almost half of this movie due to the unused footage from Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
Imagine someone who had died two years previously still featured in a movie that demands continuity. As we see in this film also that there is a thin line between being alive and dying, especially if one is a Jedi Master. A departed soul can still perform ground shattering literally 'out-of-this-world' feats. One has to tune in to the correct frequency to receive the intended instructions on decision making. Do I sense a speck of Vedanta teaching here?
This kind of make-believe is no longer confined to the celluloid industry and fantasy but has permeated into the mainstream. Cybertechnology has advanced so frighteningly fast that algorithms can digitally manipulate audio and visual inputs to create fake videos. These are called deep fake videos and have the potential to create disaster when conflicting information is inserted for nefarious intentions. We have to be aware of this ability and be ready to differentiate what is real and what is not.
Now, coming to Star Wars Ep 9, it was not the fresh idea that came to change the world when the first episode (or rather Ep 4) hit the screens back in 1977. Since then, many have changed in advances in storytelling and film technology. Many copycat franchises have also emerged competing for a share in box office collection.
It is the same good-over-evil message, but this time around, the storytellers are telling us that there is a thin line between living and dying, as mentioned earlier.