The show is a mashup. However it deserves a mention of its originality. Mr Robot accurately portrays hacking culture, ideology, methodology and technique like no other show has. The producer Sam Esmail has family that took part in the Arab spring which inspired him to portray hacking as close to realism as possible. The show has a team of professional consultants working in information security, penetration testing, experienced black hat hackers and other related fields who come up with real world solutions to how they would pull of the hack and make sure the execution is accurate key stroke for key stroke. Instead of filling the screen with flashy graphics and pounding on a keyboard, The characters take months of planning, work out all the details and real hacking takes place (which happens to be far more interesting in my opinion). It also brings up and is based on real events and relates to the problems that we are facing in society today. So where it is easy to chalk the show up as a cultural mashup (which it is and makes it great), I feel it deserves to be noted on its originality and relevance to today's real world events as well.
Also represents MKultra pretty well. The black army is a tool of the elite. And the black guy protecting Eliot is a Mindhandler who works for them in order to control Eliot and his second personality Mr. Robot so that the Elite's plan of chaos succeeds.
@Channeling Divinity linux is a type of operational system, like windows and mac. debian is a distro (distribution) of linux and a lot of hackers in real life use this SO (operational system), since it's a lot safer, cheaper, and easier to customize than windows/mac (linux is free).
The problem is not the outcome that is 'original' in your opinion, it's the main concept that is merely a replica. It's much less effort to copy another's work in comparison to starting from scratch and trying to do something 'original'. You say 'The characters take months of planning', well did you see Fight Club? It's the same, but with fight club it's funnier and goes deeper, in a single movie. The problems they target also are the same as in Fight Club, inequality, power abuse etc. (the usual concepts exploited by producers that make millions of the backs of people's conception of inequality while not sharing any profits they make or doing something to directly to improve something). Fight club is 20-years old and the problems still match it, it also shows how these movies have commercial purposes and aren't meant to actually make a difference. The writer actually ADMITTED it!
I love how the show takes so much inspiration from great classic movies, but at the same time manages to be one of the most relevant contemporary pieces of media.
I'm more than a bit salty that I hadn't realized my obsession with this show goes beyond how much I relate to Elliot, and is also encouraged by how much the creator has based his life around the consumption of media. Just like I. Kinda makes a dude feel like he can do anything, if he sets his mind to it, slow decent into madness or not.
nah, that takes TALENT... it's talent that transforms experience into something valuable, whatever the source material may be. You can share the exact same history as to someone successful, but you can't expect the same results because you may just don't have IT. And chances are, you don't. Sry
Lmao. Get the fuck out of here. Talent isn't inherent. Elliot wasn't born a damn genius computer hacker. It takes perseverance to become talented. It takes hard work and practice to be great at something, obviously. I wasn't simply implying that because we share similar experiences that I can just randomly pick up a pen, and do exactly what the creator of this show does. Just that we all come up from being nothing, from being kids, and if you work hard enough then you can be anything you set your mind to. Including 'talented'. Srrrryy you're ignorant to that.
JFC. No. Talent is earned. How hard of a concept is that? Stop putting so much damn stock into genetics. Sure, some people are born with an above average intellect... or genes that will make them grow to be 6'4 , which will help them obviously be great at basketball. But guess what? That wouldn't mean shit if they didn't put in the hard work, dedication, and time it took to HONE their skills. No one is born able to paint a masterpiece, or act so well they bring tears to crowds, or write the next Emmy award winning show. Is that really so damn hard to understand?
Good shout! Also look up the Enron logo (full name Enron Corp.) - Massive company that was embroiled in corruption and scandal with a very similar logo, I think there's a few parallels there!
This video made me finally give in and go watch the first episode. I loved it, but now I'm frankly just shocked that you didn't include Dexter in this analysis. The entire first episode at least is uncannily similar to Dexter -- from the in-head social commentary to the vigilante destruction of bad people, and then the "digital cemetery" where he keeps records of his victims, exactly as Dexter kept blood slides. Eerie, but exciting, because I really loved Dexter.
I'm seeing more negatives comments towards the show than positive ones. It's kinda funny, if some classic movie like Matrix or Fight Club makes a negative comment to society (which is the true, you guys want to believe or not) it's fine, but when it's Mr. Robot, the show is edgy for teens? But I know, you guys thinks that Mr. Robot is like Watch Dogs 2 (just watch the trailer, it's edgy as fuck) but you are wrong, the show is much more than that shit.
Well, I think both Mr. Robot and Fight Club goes deeper than a simply negative comment on society, it's about questioning reality itself and how we may be prisioners of ourselves (I hope I'm not sounding too edgy here).The premisse of the show is indeed FSociety against society, but it's just the surface, in season two we can see Elliot and other characters struggling with himself and with the reality they created, it's not just simple ''oh yeah, fuck society, I'm a rebel''. The show even shows how shallow childsh revolutions are when in season 2 Fsociety makes the world wrost than was before, and can't even command themselves. Anyway man, I think you may be right about the fans who may take the show too seriously but at the same time is wrong to diminish it as something ''edgy for teens''.
I was so happy you guys finally got onto this show, I love it so much I can't wait for the philosophy of I've never seen a show do what this one does as far as its marketing and easter egg websites, and in my time there hasn't been a TV narrative quite like it. There isn't filler and the characters can not be pegged as good or bad guys and I've never found a show so engaging to such a wide array of people this good
Have you Seen the film Who am I? It's a German movie, that came out just a few months before Mr. Robot. It also deals with a protagonist that is a hacker and who struggles with his social life. After a while he meets a guy who helps him together with a few other people to form a underground "terror" hacking group. The Film completely feels like Fight Club the whole time and also has a fight club poster hanging in the background at one time. At the end the protagonist is caught by some German agency. He tells an agent the whole story and after listening to him she has a feeling that his friends might not be real and does some research. After a little bit of research she's one hundred percent sure, that his friends aren't real. Because she likes him, she lets him go. But the big twist is actually that his friends are indeed real and they all just messed with the agent's head, so the protagonist would be free. Except for the last part, the second twist, it's really really really close to the first season of Mr. Robot! Pretty funny that two cinematic products are made at the same time, in two different countries and than turn out to be almost the same movie without knowing about each other! Great minds think alike, it seems!
the protagonist of who am i hacks the BKA agent. great move, at first you think its like fight club but the twist in the end makes it original and great. i cant believe mr robot and who am i had no influences on each other, it cant be a coincidence ...
I see it as paying homage and/or giving shout outs to other films. They're fun Easter Eggs to go through and try to find and/or figure out. It's also an argument against intellectual property. I'm the same age as Sam and this show captures the experience of someone born in the late 70's (even though Elliot is approximately 10 years younger than us, Elliot's experience through technology feels very much like our age group, but it makes total sense to age him down 10 years for a host of reasons, someone in their late 20's entering 30's as opposed to 30's entering 40's. It captures the film experience from an aging kid born in this time into adulthood as well as the inception of both video game and computer tech catching both at ground level and witnessing them explode into behemoth's, while being active participants in them. It's really weird because most of it takes place in modern times, however with flashbacks among many other things, at times it almost feels like the early 90's with modern technology. It's a period of time that is rarely referenced in films that do callbacks. Many shows like to call back to the goofy 80's, which we were just at the age that was too young to get into the goofy fads of the 80's and our middle school highschool years were 89-95. One of the only things to latch onto in our generation is the inception of technology and perhaps the inception of rap/gangster rap (I would also add guitar/metal music as well). Obviously Sam referenced tons of films growing up throughout this time... and of course stuff outside of this time like several Kubrick references throughout. Several movies and tv shows beyond 95 are referenced as well and of course the corny tv shows we grew up with was referenced in that one episode in the second season, which was straight up horrendous 80's television.
The graphics, composition of shot and production design stand out for me in this series.. The acting by supporting cast is absolute crazy good.. there are many aspects of this show that keep me watching and even though the references are throughout I still find the approach of production original and inspiring.
Jim Jarmusch said it best: "Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery. celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.”
Someone has to say it! The CD collection, the imaginary friend, the advices from "his father" that actually it's him, clearly has more from dexter than any other film.
no one thinks he's a great person. he's a great entrepreneur and a skilled marketer who revolutionized an industry. but that's it. he's a classic villain of wits and talent and incredibly complex/interesting. but do not mix great person up with great business man. those are two very different "greats"
guigosul a good villain is a good villain. he's a fantastic one who made a great, overpriced product that managed to change the way people viewed their phones. it would be naive to say otherwise. your comment is like saying the dark knight sucks cuz the joker was a terrible person. that's just not how the world works
First off, before i watch the video. I love this channel so much and wanted to watch this video almost a month ago. That i went and watched the whole series just to watch a 13min video breakdown! so you know, keep doing your thing.
I love all the film references! It needs references to more films! Cynical: Donny Darko, Ghost World, Daria, Sev7n, House Tech Thriller: Pi, A Scanner Darkly, Matrix, Blade Runner, 12 Monkeys, Existenz, The Thirteenth Floor, Minority Report, Total Recall, Cypher Arthouse: Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind, Drive, Vanilla Sky, Being John Malkovich, Videodrome, Mr Nobody, A Clockwork Orange, Big Lebowski, Fear and Loathing in Loss Vegas, Pulp Fiction, American Beauty, Synecdoche, Brazil, Dancer in the Dark, The Dark Knight
I can't believe this comment was buried so far under all the bickering. I mean it's a youtube comment section so i should have expected it, but 9 months on and...
I gotta give that show credit, it may not have came with the idea but the amount of involvement and interplay with the audience is almost genius, particularly with season 2
Lots of lines, if that's a product placement it very quickly devolves into a terrible one. Get a plastic tube you can talk to about the end of the world when you're really lonely! I guess Amazon gave them carte blanche to use Alexis.
This is a super good video essay that captures the essence of the show perfectly. I don't believe nowadays art is made that is completely unique. Asides from being always extremely exposed to images and our entire world always influencing our ideas, I actually think there's nothing new left to make. Everything is already done (when it comes to art). All we can do is make eclectic art, using what we know to create a fusion of good things.
2:08 If I understood correctly (which you can't be sure with this show), Elliot meant to work at Allsafe. It wasn't an accident, it was part of his plan to take down E Corp.
Juan Pablo Mina I took it as that way too. At the same time, it could be possible that he formulated his plan while he was working there, because it would be a weird coincidence that his life long friend Angela worked there at the same time
The climax of S1 was two people united by the protagonist’s alter ego witnessing a major act of terror being orchestrated by said alter ego while ‘Where Is My Mind’ by The Pixies plays. The finale season 2 features the protagonist getting himself shot in an attempt to prevent the explosion of a building which would bring about the erasure of financial records freeing people of debt etc. So at the end of season 3 can I expect the main protagonist to look at the dishevelled-looking chain-smoking eyeliner-heavy female protagonist and say ‘you’ve met me at a very strange time of my life’ just before a single frame of a dick flashes? I really like this show, but come on, lay off the Fight Club!
I was surprised, cause the show for the most part ditched the Fight Club thing for a lot of S2 (or in it's own way acted like a quasi sequal to it with Mr Robot actually sticking around instead of dissapearing like Tyler Durden) and then in the finale they revealed that Phase 2 was literally Fight Club (admittedly there's a lot more going on behind the scenes then with Fight Club with Whiterose influencing everything)
As I've loved your take on Bojack Horseman, this was one was delightful as well. Seeing all those fantastic references put together (which I've tried on my own, but couldn't think of that many), specially the 90s TV show reference from Natural Born Killers - I knew it that was on some of my favorite movies! Thanks. Mr. Robot is funny, a really pleasant and UPDATED sum of existencialist questions spoken through an elaborate (sometimes corny or biased) plot. Loving it.
Kinda dystopian when you think about it. I mean escaping death through tax means that the governement can provide immortality and you have to pay to stay alive. Anything short of eternity is a complete waste of time though.
I've heard somewhere that this shows overwhelming feelings and lack of understanding between characters (like they feel so small that everything else seems bigger).
Actually Drive doesn't use this. It uses quadrant framing, which is different. Also the cinematography in Mr. Robot is hardly minimalistic. That'd be so in a film like The Life Aquatic. But Mr. Robot goes out of its way to help convey messages through cinematography. It uses everything from constantly breaking the rule of 3rds to very obvious Dutch angles during high tension and confrontation to a shallow depth of field whenever Elliot is by himself. But yeah surely label it pretentious. And if other aspects of this TV show were so pretentious you wouldn't see many analysis videos on it, would you?. To call Mr. Robot pretentious would be (by proxy) calling the things this show is inspired and referenced from pretentious as well
Who says it's stylish or nice? I think it's plain awful. I want to watch the scene, see the body language on the actors.. I don't need to see the ceiling.
There was a later episode where Angela was doing something in (I think) Price's house. The entire segment was basically a recreation of the first Resident Evil game.
Good artists borrow, great artists steal! This is why I love Mr. Robot. It is built on the foundations of great artwork of the past, while making a few improvements of its own to create something entirely unique. Anyone who says that stealing ideas in art is bad is not an artist.
While loving Mr Robot I started to think of the Fight Club similarities. You just wrapped those thoughts up in a neat package and put a bow on it. Thanks RUclips. Im subbed.
Interesting video! When I saw Elliot killing himself in the head I immediately associated that with the Fight Club Tyler trying shooting himself in the head
oh they reference so much more. not even american movies and tv. they did a major Death Note style scene in season 2, when Mr. Robot was eating an apple. and the obvious Steins; Gate reference shown through the clocks that white rose had
Holy shit, you're right. The way Mr Robot speaks to Elliot and gives him "advice" from beyond the real world, when no else but Elliot sees him, mirrors Ryuk and Light's relationship.
Great video! Def helped me realize some references I never even noticed. 1 reference I noticed a lot is actually from TV not film but I see a lot of Dexter in this series as well. The voice over, the insider info, and even the way they speak.
Just great research and commentary , at last a deeper and more sophisticated look at this beautiful place called cinema and it's evolution . Borrowing ,stealing or being influenced might seem different things or the same thing from a differnt perspective ,but the significnance in this whole story is the way one does it and the means it serves in ones art. This is what builts up the border between good taste and bad taste , an original film and a regular spin off...
Sorry, but whoever thinks Mr Robot is just a copy, or amalgation of different other movies, or outright plagiarism, really doesn't understand art. No art exists in a void. We are a product of what we saw, whether we like it or not. Here there's a lot of references to different works of art, and they are simply a bit more obvious than usually. But Mr Robot still brings to the table more than simply just a remake of a couple of movies. It makes a statement. It creates a new story. It is nostalgic, sure, but it's also new.
you know when I started watching the show I didn't like it very much partly because of all the sampling. now I'm a big fan though because I came to appreciate all the homages or samples, much like Overwatch. it's hardly anything new or original, but it's well made and entertaining, also you can clearly see that the people making this show love making it. btw your video was excellent, good job. glad I already watched the show before watching this
While SEL is great, i don't really see how it's that big of an inspiration for Mr.Robot, sure both explore very similar concepts with regards to god and alienation, but i'd argue if anything SEL is more of a cyberpunk-done-in-contemporary-setting/near-future while Mr.Robot is a lot more contemporary and makes effort to be so. If anything SEL and less so NGE and other experimental anime from the 90s influenced The Matrix, and Mr.Robot takes it's inspiration from The Matrix, so it's a lineage of references really, you can keep going down that route and say that SEL is inspired by Ghost in The Shell and NGE being a success thus proving that experimental genre deconstruction works, and that in itself is inspired by Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta which also deconstructed the mecha genre and delved into psychology and had a confusing ending, but that in itself is inspired by Space Runaway ideon... You get the idea. Also the brutally slow pace of Season 2 of Mr.Robot reminds me of Texhnolyze in the fact it is damn near unwatchable lol.
I would add Dexter and The Social Network to this list. Not necessarily because of cinematic/thematic influences. The first episode (especially the coffee shop scene) resemble Dexter's pilot so much. They introduce us to the character, his moral values and him being a vigilante. Also the relationship to the father (and how he is some sort of "moral compass") the flashbacks and the voiceovers reminded me of Dexter. The Social Network influenced the choice and tone of music, imo. I think in one episode they even borrow a track from Trent Reznor.
Casey Tatum watch it.. and don't take the movie lightly.. otherwise you will misinterpret the movie.. and also the "sucker punch" it tried to give the audience...
ok so usually I'm the first to say "if they don't want spoilers they should ignore any media on it" but fuck me if I didn't want to see that elliot/Norton parallel bout their split personalitiea.
so because I CAN listen to your opinion, it then becomes my own. man do I feel sorry for whoever shacks up with your sorry, self-centered ass. I understand that this entire negative exchange could be the outcome of a simple grammar error, but to be quite frank, I'm not in the mood.
a huge corporation that makes money creating bullshit made a tv show about a group of freedom fighters taking down huge corporations that make money creating life ending products & services.
Just because a show samples other references it doesn't mean it lost its quality. They literally explain it in the video. Nothing we do is entirely original. Hell, art and litterature in their first forms and movements were more about recreating/rewriting an original work than trying to be unique.
Mr Robot is the show that's on TV at the moment that is being the most expressive with form at the moment (use of camera/framing/pastiche and mise-en-scène for effect) even if the themes and subject matter have been covered before. Never thought of the Taxi Driver comparison! That's a huge shout! I think that it's really interesting that all of the references for the show are very much part of the modern counter-culture movement that all riff on the theme of 'man against society' - potentially it shows us that we haven't come a long way in trying to 'fix' the world if we're still having the same arguments in our cultural output... ?
I waited until I finished watching the first two series to view this. I’m a little surprised “Death Note” was not mentioned. I found there were a lot of similarities/references. Great video though, I hadn’t thought about “The Matrix” until it was pointed out.
Disappointed he didn't mention the completely overt references and homages to both Kubrick (that gorgeous ceiling in the board room!) and Lynch. Design aesthetic, details, entire scenes are all love letters to both film directors. Also Angela becoming Rachel from Blade Runner in s2 but that's beside the point.
+Adam It was the way the scenes were shot, it was obvious that Elliot was not with his mom. The Basketball court, the support group, and the steady routine made it obvious he was either in prison, or a psych ward.
You guys forgot Neil Breen movies, the ultimate hacker that hacks society? and a corporate commiting suicide live? all stolen from the real human breeeeeen
![Seungmin "그렇게, 천천히, 우리(As we are)" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kAzmhLHePqU/mqdefault.jpg)
The show is a mashup. However it deserves a mention of its originality.
Mr Robot accurately portrays hacking culture, ideology, methodology and technique like no other show has.
The producer Sam Esmail has family that took part in the Arab spring which inspired him to portray hacking as close to realism as possible.
The show has a team of professional consultants working in information security, penetration testing, experienced black hat hackers and other related fields who come up with real world solutions to how they would pull of the hack and make sure the execution is accurate key stroke for key stroke. Instead of filling the screen with flashy graphics and pounding on a keyboard, The characters take months of planning, work out all the details and real hacking takes place (which happens to be far more interesting in my opinion).
It also brings up and is based on real events and relates to the problems that we are facing in society today. So where it is easy to chalk the show up as a cultural mashup (which it is and makes it great), I feel it deserves to be noted on its originality and relevance to today's real world events as well.
Also represents MKultra pretty well.
The black army is a tool of the elite.
And the black guy protecting Eliot is a Mindhandler who works for them in order to control Eliot and his second personality Mr. Robot so that the Elite's plan of chaos succeeds.
he uses linux debian, that's when i knew this show is originality at its finest and i don't care what anyone else says
@Channeling Divinity linux is a type of operational system, like windows and mac. debian is a distro (distribution) of linux and a lot of hackers in real life use this SO (operational system), since it's a lot safer, cheaper, and easier to customize than windows/mac (linux is free).
@@juliacorrea7549 it also has various tools making it good for computer science in general
The problem is not the outcome that is 'original' in your opinion, it's the main concept that is merely a replica. It's much less effort to copy another's work in comparison to starting from scratch and trying to do something 'original'. You say 'The characters take months of planning', well did you see Fight Club? It's the same, but with fight club it's funnier and goes deeper, in a single movie. The problems they target also are the same as in Fight Club, inequality, power abuse etc. (the usual concepts exploited by producers that make millions of the backs of people's conception of inequality while not sharing any profits they make or doing something to directly to improve something). Fight club is 20-years old and the problems still match it, it also shows how these movies have commercial purposes and aren't meant to actually make a difference. The writer actually ADMITTED it!
I love how the show takes so much inspiration from great classic movies, but at the same time manages to be one of the most relevant contemporary pieces of media.
Another inspiration is Blade Runner. Tyrell's name is taken from the replicant manufacturing company, the Tyrell Corporation.
And Angela morphs into Rachel throughout s2.
Very, Very smart. You may unlock the next level.
Are you sure ?!! Because I always thought Tyrell's name was from Fight Club, Tyler=Tyrell, like the F of fsociety.
I knew that name rang a bell!
Coincidentally, he also has a god complex.
I'm more than a bit salty that I hadn't realized my obsession with this show goes beyond how much I relate to Elliot, and is also encouraged by how much the creator has based his life around the consumption of media. Just like I. Kinda makes a dude feel like he can do anything, if he sets his mind to it, slow decent into madness or not.
nah, that takes TALENT... it's talent that transforms experience into something valuable, whatever the source material may be. You can share the exact same history as to someone successful, but you can't expect the same results because you may just don't have IT. And chances are, you don't. Sry
Lmao. Get the fuck out of here. Talent isn't inherent. Elliot wasn't born a damn genius computer hacker. It takes perseverance to become talented. It takes hard work and practice to be great at something, obviously. I wasn't simply implying that because we share similar experiences that I can just randomly pick up a pen, and do exactly what the creator of this show does. Just that we all come up from being nothing, from being kids, and if you work hard enough then you can be anything you set your mind to. Including 'talented'. Srrrryy you're ignorant to that.
+joshin'round here here!
talent is inherent joshin, humans can't create talent lol that's why it's called a gift*
JFC. No. Talent is earned. How hard of a concept is that? Stop putting so much damn stock into genetics. Sure, some people are born with an above average intellect... or genes that will make them grow to be 6'4 , which will help them obviously be great at basketball. But guess what? That wouldn't mean shit if they didn't put in the hard work, dedication, and time it took to HONE their skills. No one is born able to paint a masterpiece, or act so well they bring tears to crowds, or write the next Emmy award winning show. Is that really so damn hard to understand?
"Good Artists Copy, Great Artists Steal"
- Pablo Picasso
AC Music “Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole”
- Jonathan Richman
@@dethkon explain sire
Naman Shah ruclips.net/video/Kc2iLAubras/видео.html
Anybody else wants to have a Mr. Robot marathon or is that just me?
i just finished fight club andddd i wanna watch the hole show again
I love the idea but I suspect it could fuck me up severely
The E from E corp is the E from DELL
Good shout! Also look up the Enron logo (full name Enron Corp.) - Massive company that was embroiled in corruption and scandal with a very similar logo, I think there's a few parallels there!
@@thekul121 why not both?
Sam Ramsay Sam actually confirmed that it’s the Enron logo.
😂
Devilll
Now I understand why I love Mr Robot so much, every movie you talked here is on my favorites.
Great video can't wait for the philosophy of Mr Robot.
This video made me finally give in and go watch the first episode. I loved it, but now I'm frankly just shocked that you didn't include Dexter in this analysis. The entire first episode at least is uncannily similar to Dexter -- from the in-head social commentary to the vigilante destruction of bad people, and then the "digital cemetery" where he keeps records of his victims, exactly as Dexter kept blood slides. Eerie, but exciting, because I really loved Dexter.
Should i watch dexter?
We need a Philosophy of Hannibal episode.
That would be amazing
OMG yes!!
YES ! YES, YES, yes !!!
No No No ..........Noooooooooo,..... No.
Bout time
Lots of 12 years old people here in the coments who didn't watch the show calling it ''dumb'' or ''edgy'' just to look cool and adult.
Sheeps stay sheeps.
@João M. I'm pretty sure it's the other way around.
I'm seeing more negatives comments towards the show than positive ones. It's kinda funny, if some classic movie like Matrix or Fight Club makes a negative comment to society (which is the true, you guys want to believe or not) it's fine, but when it's Mr. Robot, the show is edgy for teens? But I know, you guys thinks that Mr. Robot is like Watch Dogs 2 (just watch the trailer, it's edgy as fuck) but you are wrong, the show is much more than that shit.
Also, I doubt edgy teens will handle watch Mr. Robot's season 2, they will drop in the third episode.
Well, I think both Mr. Robot and Fight Club goes deeper than a simply negative comment on society, it's about questioning reality itself and how we may be prisioners of ourselves (I hope I'm not sounding too edgy here).The premisse of the show is indeed FSociety against society, but it's just the surface, in season two we can see Elliot and other characters struggling with himself and with the reality they created, it's not just simple ''oh yeah, fuck society, I'm a rebel''.
The show even shows how shallow childsh revolutions are when in season 2 Fsociety makes the world wrost than was before, and can't even command themselves. Anyway man, I think you may be right about the fans who may take the show too seriously but at the same time is wrong to diminish it as something ''edgy for teens''.
I was so happy you guys finally got onto this show, I love it so much I can't wait for the philosophy of
I've never seen a show do what this one does as far as its marketing and easter egg websites, and in my time there hasn't been a TV narrative quite like it. There isn't filler and the characters can not be pegged as good or bad guys and I've never found a show so engaging to such a wide array of people this good
Have you Seen the film Who am I? It's a German movie, that came out just a few months before Mr. Robot. It also deals with a protagonist that is a hacker and who struggles with his social life. After a while he meets a guy who helps him together with a few other people to form a underground "terror" hacking group. The Film completely feels like Fight Club the whole time and also has a fight club poster hanging in the background at one time. At the end the protagonist is caught by some German agency. He tells an agent the whole story and after listening to him she has a feeling that his friends might not be real and does some research. After a little bit of research she's one hundred percent sure, that his friends aren't real. Because she likes him, she lets him go. But the big twist is actually that his friends are indeed real and they all just messed with the agent's head, so the protagonist would be free. Except for the last part, the second twist, it's really really really close to the first season of Mr. Robot! Pretty funny that two cinematic products are made at the same time, in two different countries and than turn out to be almost the same movie without knowing about each other! Great minds think alike, it seems!
the protagonist of who am i hacks the BKA agent. great move, at first you think its like fight club but the twist in the end makes it original and great. i cant believe mr robot and who am i had no influences on each other, it cant be a coincidence ...
MRX right?
I see it as paying homage and/or giving shout outs to other films. They're fun Easter Eggs to go through and try to find and/or figure out. It's also an argument against intellectual property.
I'm the same age as Sam and this show captures the experience of someone born in the late 70's (even though Elliot is approximately 10 years younger than us, Elliot's experience through technology feels very much like our age group, but it makes total sense to age him down 10 years for a host of reasons, someone in their late 20's entering 30's as opposed to 30's entering 40's. It captures the film experience from an aging kid born in this time into adulthood as well as the inception of both video game and computer tech catching both at ground level and witnessing them explode into behemoth's, while being active participants in them. It's really weird because most of it takes place in modern times, however with flashbacks among many other things, at times it almost feels like the early 90's with modern technology. It's a period of time that is rarely referenced in films that do callbacks. Many shows like to call back to the goofy 80's, which we were just at the age that was too young to get into the goofy fads of the 80's and our middle school highschool years were 89-95. One of the only things to latch onto in our generation is the inception of technology and perhaps the inception of rap/gangster rap (I would also add guitar/metal music as well). Obviously Sam referenced tons of films growing up throughout this time... and of course stuff outside of this time like several Kubrick references throughout. Several movies and tv shows beyond 95 are referenced as well and of course the corny tv shows we grew up with was referenced in that one episode in the second season, which was straight up horrendous 80's television.
Will you ever do The Philosophy of Mad Men?
Love your profile pic man. I have that album on vinyl.
yea good album can't wait for the latest one.
of what album do you speak?
I Rosencrantz mgmt
ughhTBHh
The graphics, composition of shot and production design stand out for me in this series.. The acting by supporting cast is absolute crazy good.. there are many aspects of this show that keep me watching and even though the references are throughout I still find the approach of production original and inspiring.
Steal My Sunshine 1999
Matrix 1999
Fight Club 1999
twas a great year
whats steal my sunshine ?
the last hurrah! of nihilism
good thing 9/11 woke America from its middle class apathy
Eyes Wide Shut 1999
Jim Jarmusch said it best: "Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is nonexistent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery. celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from - it’s where you take them to.”
Am I the only one who is dying to see season 3?
But if you die you won't be able to see it! Hang in there buddy! :)
wtf dude you should call an ambulance.
ME LIKEY Season 2 was so trash, hopefully it will get better
Dying.
Is it a spectacular death or boring death, or no death at all.
what about the Dexter references...his CD collection
Wow, that makes sense!
kevincarter2020 you sir, you got it🎩👌🏽
talks with ghost dad
is socially alienated
monologues all the time
has hot,kooky yet lovable sister whom he had a crush on
angela and elliot arent related
Someone has to say it! The CD collection, the imaginary friend, the advices from "his father" that actually it's him, clearly has more from dexter than any other film.
who else hates society for thinking steve jobs was a great person?
no one thinks he's a great person. he's a great entrepreneur and a skilled marketer who revolutionized an industry. but that's it. he's a classic villain of wits and talent and incredibly complex/interesting. but do not mix great person up with great business man. those are two very different "greats"
and still, you´re giving praise to a villain
Many people use their motivational phrases on facebook, as if it were a great man
guigosul a good villain is a good villain. he's a fantastic one who made a great, overpriced product that managed to change the way people viewed their phones. it would be naive to say otherwise. your comment is like saying the dark knight sucks cuz the joker was a terrible person. that's just not how the world works
robert daniel those people are also hopelessly naive
First off, before i watch the video. I love this channel so much and wanted to watch this video almost a month ago. That i went and watched the whole series just to watch a 13min video breakdown!
so you know, keep doing your thing.
I love all the film references!
It needs references to more films!
Cynical:
Donny Darko, Ghost World, Daria, Sev7n, House
Tech Thriller:
Pi, A Scanner Darkly, Matrix, Blade Runner, 12 Monkeys, Existenz, The Thirteenth Floor, Minority Report, Total Recall, Cypher
Arthouse:
Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind, Drive, Vanilla Sky, Being John Malkovich, Videodrome, Mr Nobody, A Clockwork Orange, Big Lebowski, Fear and Loathing in Loss Vegas, Pulp Fiction, American Beauty, Synecdoche, Brazil, Dancer in the Dark, The Dark Knight
when you just finished the series ten minutes ago and Wisecrack posts a video
*Mind Blown*
Still waiting for the philosophy of Mr Robot video.
I can't believe this comment was buried so far under all the bickering. I mean it's a youtube comment section so i should have expected it, but 9 months on and...
I gotta give that show credit, it may not have came with the idea but the amount of involvement and interplay with the audience is almost genius, particularly with season 2
You missed one inspiration. When Dipierro lying in bed and talking to some gadget
(equipment) . This scene is really similar to the movie "Her".
Martyna Nowak I'm pretty sure that was just a product placement advertisement, hopefully not tho.
and I loved the movie "Her"
Huh, I never even thought of that and I really enjoyed "Her". I think that one is either very subtle or just coincidence perhaps.
Lots of lines, if that's a product placement it very quickly devolves into a terrible one. Get a plastic tube you can talk to about the end of the world when you're really lonely! I guess Amazon gave them carte blanche to use Alexis.
Mr robot is on amazon prime so I'm sure they made a deal. Ugh so frustrated with Mr robot
Very, Very smart! You pick up a surprise weapon!
"Or perhaps its just theft." I really love mr.robot its such a good show and im so sad we probably wont be getting a new season until next year
This is a super good video essay that captures the essence of the show perfectly. I don't believe nowadays art is made that is completely unique. Asides from being always extremely exposed to images and our entire world always influencing our ideas, I actually think there's nothing new left to make. Everything is already done (when it comes to art). All we can do is make eclectic art, using what we know to create a fusion of good things.
I am glad this channel exists
2:08 If I understood correctly (which you can't be sure with this show), Elliot meant to work at Allsafe. It wasn't an accident, it was part of his plan to take down E Corp.
9:15 Again, the way I understood it, Mr. Robot was shooting Elliot in the head so that Elliot wouldn't believe Tyrell's gun was real.
Juan Pablo Mina I took it as that way too. At the same time, it could be possible that he formulated his plan while he was working there, because it would be a weird coincidence that his life long friend Angela worked there at the same time
Nathan Lowe I think Angela was already working at Allsafe and so she helped him get hired.
Thank god you made one of this for MR ROBOT! You're awesome!
Is this show worth watching? I've seen some commercials and this video makes me want to try it.
It's amasing. I got all my friends to watch it and we love it.
thanks. I'll try it.
Well, personally I hated the show. I'm not gonna discourage you from watching it, though.
The reason is more of a personal and also the show itself.
It's really good
Hope you're watching it by now
I know I’m five years late but if you haven’t gotten around to it you should Watch it, probably one of the best shows ever made in my opinion
I'm a film graduate and LOVE your work. Once again a mindblowing cinematic analysis keep the good work :)
The climax of S1 was two people united by the protagonist’s alter ego witnessing a major act of terror being orchestrated by said alter ego while ‘Where Is My Mind’ by The Pixies plays.
The finale season 2 features the protagonist getting himself shot in an attempt to prevent the explosion of a building which would bring about the erasure of financial records freeing people of debt etc.
So at the end of season 3 can I expect the main protagonist to look at the dishevelled-looking chain-smoking eyeliner-heavy female protagonist and say ‘you’ve met me at a very strange time of my life’ just before a single frame of a dick flashes?
I really like this show, but come on, lay off the Fight Club!
I was surprised, cause the show for the most part ditched the Fight Club thing for a lot of S2 (or in it's own way acted like a quasi sequal to it with Mr Robot actually sticking around instead of dissapearing like Tyler Durden) and then in the finale they revealed that Phase 2 was literally Fight Club (admittedly there's a lot more going on behind the scenes then with Fight Club with Whiterose influencing everything)
i absolutely love you guys for answering to my request!! amazing!!
Can they do Wisecrack on Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia! Please!!!
I'm Convinced that Mac or someone is always wearing a t-shirt in that show that relates to the previous episode.
Any examples Dennis?
As I've loved your take on Bojack Horseman, this was one was delightful as well. Seeing all those fantastic references put together (which I've tried on my own, but couldn't think of that many), specially the 90s TV show reference from Natural Born Killers - I knew it that was on some of my favorite movies! Thanks. Mr. Robot is funny, a really pleasant and UPDATED sum of existencialist questions spoken through an elaborate (sometimes corny or biased) plot. Loving it.
Unfortunately we will never escape death nor tax in this realm
Now, if only we can find a way to escape death by tax....
Kinda dystopian when you think about it. I mean escaping death through tax means that the governement can provide immortality and you have to pay to stay alive.
Anything short of eternity is a complete waste of time though.
eh, I'll take 120 years over 110, you know.
You can escape tax by being a corporation, which are apparently people now too.
Unless you're Donald Trump
no ads until end, respect subscribed
i'm really curious why the camera guy only films the upper-half of every scene.
Like, i'm mostly watching the ceiling in this show.
I've heard somewhere that this shows overwhelming feelings and lack of understanding between characters (like they feel so small that everything else seems bigger).
"stylistic style" good use of the english language there buddy
Actually Drive doesn't use this. It uses quadrant framing, which is different.
Also the cinematography in Mr. Robot is hardly minimalistic. That'd be so in a film like The Life Aquatic. But Mr. Robot goes out of its way to help convey messages through cinematography. It uses everything from constantly breaking the rule of 3rds to very obvious Dutch angles during high tension and confrontation to a shallow depth of field whenever Elliot is by himself. But yeah surely label it pretentious. And if other aspects of this TV show were so pretentious you wouldn't see many analysis videos on it, would you?.
To call Mr. Robot pretentious would be (by proxy) calling the things this show is inspired and referenced from pretentious as well
Who says it's stylish or nice? I think it's plain awful. I want to watch the scene, see the body language on the actors.. I don't need to see the ceiling.
fair enough lol
There was a later episode where Angela was doing something in (I think) Price's house. The entire segment was basically a recreation of the first Resident Evil game.
Good artists borrow, great artists steal!
This is why I love Mr. Robot. It is built on the foundations of great artwork of the past, while making a few improvements of its own to create something entirely unique. Anyone who says that stealing ideas in art is bad is not an artist.
While loving Mr Robot I started to think of the Fight Club similarities. You just wrapped those thoughts up in a neat package and put a bow on it. Thanks RUclips. Im subbed.
Interesting video! When I saw Elliot killing himself in the head I immediately associated that with the Fight Club Tyler trying shooting himself in the head
Man, I picked up on the "Fight Club" & "Matrix" rips, but not the rest. Pretty cool break down.
You still haven't done The Wire. What's going on?
Always love your content , happy to be a patreon supporter
The scene when the Dark Army guy hack the FBI guy reminded me of the scene in The Shining.
Same here man like exactly when he put the axe in his heart i remembered the shinning scene
The opening titles when tyrell is getting taken to the hideout I think is another shining reference.
Great video! I loved it!
We're working on the Philosophy of Mr. Robot - 6 months ago.
I was literally about to suggest this. Great job wisecrack!👍
Looks a really good show, I'll have to check it out
It isn`t
@@willemhendrikplug2104it is, tf u mean
this format is wonderful. i'm definitely gonna check out some of these movies!
oh they reference so much more. not even american movies and tv. they did a major Death Note style scene in season 2, when Mr. Robot was eating an apple. and the obvious Steins; Gate reference shown through the clocks that white rose had
Holy shit, you're right. The way Mr Robot speaks to Elliot and gives him "advice" from beyond the real world, when no else but Elliot sees him, mirrors Ryuk and Light's relationship.
You forgot to mention Mr. Anderson vs Mr. Alderson use in Matrix and Mr. Robot
I thought hackers had to be at least 400 pounds.
that was a joke come on 😂
they're plenty of fat hackers as well like in Mr. Robot.
Donald hahaha
i know
this show is very innacurate
not a Dorito or Dew in sight
mosha is the fat hacker on the show
hey "it's not nice and I don't deserve it"
Great video! Def helped me realize some references I never even noticed. 1 reference I noticed a lot is actually from TV not film but I see a lot of Dexter in this series as well. The voice over, the insider info, and even the way they speak.
There's nothing original; everything that has been written and ever will be written is just a variation of another story we've already heard before.
- The Alphabet
SIMPSONS DID IT!
De Wolfie O RLY
"All this has happened before, and all this will happen again."
De Wolfie Yesterday i just downloaded a app called mercari, my friend gave me the code JKRGTW and i actually got $100😱
Just great research and commentary , at last a deeper and more sophisticated look at this beautiful place called cinema and it's evolution . Borrowing ,stealing or being influenced might seem different things or the same thing from a differnt perspective ,but the significnance in this whole story is the way one does it and the means it serves in ones art. This is what builts up the border between good taste and bad taste , an original film and a regular spin off...
Sorry, but whoever thinks Mr Robot is just a copy, or amalgation of different other movies, or outright plagiarism, really doesn't understand art. No art exists in a void. We are a product of what we saw, whether we like it or not. Here there's a lot of references to different works of art, and they are simply a bit more obvious than usually. But Mr Robot still brings to the table more than
simply just a remake of a couple of movies. It makes a statement. It creates a new story. It is nostalgic, sure, but it's also new.
Well said.
Great work guys!
who's hyped for season 3 thou !!!
Thanks for the in-depth work on this video! I learned a lot in this video
do the philosofy of bojack jorseman please
id like to see that, ive heard people say it gets really deep, tho ive never seen it myself
Thank you!
watch it!
yes please
It gets so fucking depressing at a certain point that not even the humor works anymore, you are only left with the bitterness of life.
Your best video so far... keep it up guys!!!!
you know when I started watching the show I didn't like it very much partly because of all the sampling. now I'm a big fan though because I came to appreciate all the homages or samples, much like Overwatch. it's hardly anything new or original, but it's well made and entertaining, also you can clearly see that the people making this show love making it. btw your video was excellent, good job. glad I already watched the show before watching this
Loved this. Very brilliant friend.
You forgot Serial Experiment's Lain
I guess they don't know what that is though...
While SEL is great, i don't really see how it's that big of an inspiration for Mr.Robot, sure both explore very similar concepts with regards to god and alienation, but i'd argue if anything SEL is more of a cyberpunk-done-in-contemporary-setting/near-future while Mr.Robot is a lot more contemporary and makes effort to be so. If anything SEL and less so NGE and other experimental anime from the 90s influenced The Matrix, and Mr.Robot takes it's inspiration from The Matrix, so it's a lineage of references really, you can keep going down that route and say that SEL is inspired by Ghost in The Shell and NGE being a success thus proving that experimental genre deconstruction works, and that in itself is inspired by Mobile Suit Gundam Zeta which also deconstructed the mecha genre and delved into psychology and had a confusing ending, but that in itself is inspired by Space Runaway ideon... You get the idea.
Also the brutally slow pace of Season 2 of Mr.Robot reminds me of Texhnolyze in the fact it is damn near unwatchable lol.
While Lain is profound and brilliant, with both sharing hacking as a subject, I see few similarities, I'm afraid...
I'm stoked for you to do a philosophy video on Mr. Robot. It'll blow my mind i already know it
i don't know never seen it but the guy looks like josh from until dawn right?????
because he's the voice actor/model for that character
tubekiller26 i know i just wanted to make sure
tubekiller26 thank you anyways for being nice
Thank you !! Couldn't figure out where I knew him from until now
I would add Dexter and The Social Network to this list. Not necessarily because of cinematic/thematic influences.
The first episode (especially the coffee shop scene) resemble Dexter's pilot so much. They introduce us to the character, his moral values and him being a vigilante. Also the relationship to the father (and how he is some sort of "moral compass") the flashbacks and the voiceovers reminded me of Dexter.
The Social Network influenced the choice and tone of music, imo. I think in one episode they even borrow a track from Trent Reznor.
If normal life is watching crappy movies, drinking hipster lattes and liking boring pics on instagram, then thank god I'm not normal
Perfect timing for this video. I've just finished season 2 and I absolutely loved it.
👍👍
Please do one on FARGO
Absolutely love Mr. Robot, thanks for finally covering this series
Jared.. do BvS & Sucker Punch ... let's see what they unfold
as being clunkey pieces of garbage?
too much allegory and symbolism
they can't handle this
Gay Lord I know. but this guy is awesome @ analyzing. He will do it if enough people request it.
Casey Tatum watch it.. and don't take the movie lightly.. otherwise you will misinterpret the movie.. and also the "sucker punch" it tried to give the audience...
yeah, it is better.
Excellent video! Please keep going with more Mr. Robot!
ok
so
usually I'm the first to say "if they don't want spoilers they should ignore any media on it"
but fuck me if I didn't want to see that elliot/Norton parallel bout their split personalitiea.
that reveal isn't that week hidden.
was very obvious from day 1 so it's not that big of a deal
um
since when do third parties decide what's not a big deal to me?
mrRexninja since the time you had ears to take in information from external sources?
so
because I CAN listen to your opinion, it then becomes my own.
man do I feel sorry for whoever shacks up with your sorry, self-centered ass.
I understand that this entire negative exchange could be the outcome of a simple grammar error, but to be quite frank, I'm not in the mood.
Amazing serie, awesome video
Could you do a video about Community
The series logo, many times, the way it shows up on the foreground of a wide well-crafted shot... it reminds me of Barry Lindon
Actually, Agent Smith is the One, not Neo.
But that's just a theory, a film theory!
TTate
Aaaaaaand cut
You both made my days, guys ahahahahaha
sigh fucking matpat fans think every fucking theory he makes is pure fact. go home kid get a mind of your own you fucking sheeple.
Templar Enforcer I mean, the theory itself makes no sense; but you don't have to be so insulting.
as always, great content keep it up
*_Mr. Robot_* seems brilliant Now I wish I'd never seen this video.
could you tell me why it isn't?
a huge corporation that makes money creating bullshit made a tv show about a group of freedom fighters taking down huge corporations that make money creating life ending products & services.
That's not really a good argument.
Just because a show samples other references it doesn't mean it lost its quality. They literally explain it in the video. Nothing we do is entirely original. Hell, art and litterature in their first forms and movements were more about recreating/rewriting an original work than trying to be unique.
Mr Robot is the show that's on TV at the moment that is being the most expressive with form at the moment (use of camera/framing/pastiche and mise-en-scène for effect) even if the themes and subject matter have been covered before. Never thought of the Taxi Driver comparison! That's a huge shout!
I think that it's really interesting that all of the references for the show are very much part of the modern counter-culture movement that all riff on the theme of 'man against society' - potentially it shows us that we haven't come a long way in trying to 'fix' the world if we're still having the same arguments in our cultural output... ?
Wait a second mr robot is not 400lbs trump lied
First 4min 30 was fantastic. About to watch the rest. But wow. Those similarities.. good observations. glad u made this video buddy. GoodJob
everything is remix
excellent video and very informative :)
I think everyone saw the fight club similarities XD I did anyway
I waited until I finished watching the first two series to view this. I’m a little surprised “Death Note” was not mentioned. I found there were a lot of similarities/references.
Great video though, I hadn’t thought about “The Matrix” until it was pointed out.
...and Blade runner and twin peaks.
how?
I can see Twin Peaks in some of the abstract visions/hallucinations
Sudev Sen The penultimate episode of season 2 is a clear homage to Lynch's work.
Disappointed he didn't mention the completely overt references and homages to both Kubrick (that gorgeous ceiling in the board room!) and Lynch. Design aesthetic, details, entire scenes are all love letters to both film directors. Also Angela becoming Rachel from Blade Runner in s2 but that's beside the point.
And Sucker Punch!
great work!
Expertly hiding that he was in jail? Ha ha ha ha ha. NO. It was painfully obvious.
just like FC twist
VyseN1 IKR, people have been saying it's very clever and that Sam Esmail is a genius.
Smh wtf even any more it was so easy to guess since ep 1 of S2
what made it that obvious?
Adam for me it was the basketball match that gave it away
+Adam It was the way the scenes were shot, it was obvious that Elliot was not with his mom. The Basketball court, the support group, and the steady routine made it obvious he was either in prison, or a psych ward.
The Picasso quote fits here perfectly “good artists copy, great artists steal” . I love the show.
You guys forgot Neil Breen movies, the ultimate hacker that hacks society? and a corporate commiting suicide live? all stolen from the real human breeeeeen
mr robot is nothing compared to the breen machine
YAAS been waiting for this for so long !!! 😆
Please do an episode on neon genesis evangelion
I can't wait for the 'Philosophy Of' episode of Mr. Robot