Syfy’s Alice in the Age of Technological Addiction

Courtesy of Amazon.com

We’re all guilty of it. Pick up your phone to check the time or reply to that one e-mail and pretty soon, you’re sucked into a cyber rabbit hole that would put Wonderland’s to shame. It’s only natural, then, for television and film to begin portraying this type of obsession.

The 2010 Syfy take on Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice, dives headfirst into a world overrun with people who will do anything to feel alive. They’ve become numb to the world around them. This is seen most prominently in the oysters—the people kidnapped by the queen’s “suits” or minions to be drained of their emotions.

Image courtesy of Syfy

Social media, though it’s touted as serving as a connection to the world, it is widely critiqued by many as being a clear disruption to normal human interaction. Having a phone in public areas has opened up a world of technological addiction. Much like the oysters of Syfy’s Alice, the present day populace is kept docile and oblivious to their surroundings in favor of the alluring cyber-world. The internet, then, is our Wonderland.

Image courtesy of Syfy

Amid the sea of characters overcome with addiction, there is one character that stands out. Charlie, the last white knight of Wonderland, has spent decades in a forest away from technology. In the absence of everything and everyone else, Charlie focuses all his effort on inventing things. He has his own alarm system set up around the perimeter of his home, his own hunting traps (a pit full of spikes), and time to reflect on the world around him.

What were your thoughts on Syfy’s Alice? Was there another message you saw in the film? Discuss it below.