|
"The Veldt" is a science fiction tale from Ray Bradbury about two children with a virtual nursery. The room could conjure up any environment the children wanted. Despite the mass capabilities of the virtual environment, the children would only have the room display the environment of the African Veldt. Their parents became concerned that their children shouldn't be in such an environment so they forbade their children from going into the virtual room. The children protested tremendously but the parents still held strong that they were not allowed to go in the room. The children lashed back by pleading for help from the room and when their parents went into the room to find out what was the matter, the door locked behind them and the lions of the African Veld attacked the parents and killed them. When a visitor came to the door the next day, the children would not tell him that the parents had been devoured by lions from their virtual reality room.[1] |
|
The episode starred Damien Atkins and Shana Alexander as the children Peter and Wendy. Their parents were played by Linda Kelsey and Malcom Stewart. Thomas Peacocke played the visitor that discovers that the parents are gone and the mechanical voice was provided by Del Mehes. [2] The Veldt aired on the Ray Bradbury Theater on November 10, 1989 and probably made some people fearful of the future of virtual reality[3]. Granted it was only science fiction but it did present the problem of technology being able to take over our lives. It portrayed children as being able to rebel against their parents with the use of technology, allowing them more control than the parents would have let them have. |
 |
| "The Veldt" was included in Ray Bradbury's 1951 collection The Illustrated Man. The virtual nursery was able to take any image from the children's mind and create that environment in the nursery. Because the children chose to think about the scorching sun and the distant watching lions turns this seemingly harmless science fiction tale of advancing technology into an all out horror story. But the idea of the "Happylife Home" is not always considered to be a horror topic. In fact, home automation, which is now beginning to arrive in the consumer market, is intended to provide convenience and security to the suburban home. The developers design the home automation systems to offer personal enrichment, hopefully without the nasty side effect of laziness.[4]. |
|
For more information on The Veld: [1]Ray Bradbury's Virtual Reality Universe by Gary North: http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north19.html
Marissa Cleaver |