What Would Postman Think of Westworld?

As we've talked about in class, Postman isn't a fan of the way television has made public discourse more fragmented and fast-paced, in lieu of the logical, slow procession of information that is evident in a print-based society. Previously, I felt that Westworld's narrative followed the logically-ordered progression that Postman discusses in his book. This was because of the way the show heavily implies a conclusion to the story after it draws out all of its parts from beginning to end, over the course of 10 episodes (hours). Similar to the texts Postman references that used to dominate Western society, the narrative followed a logical, temporal progression over a lengthy period of time.

 However, as the narrative goes on and picks up more and more characters and plot points, it seems that the narrative favors the fragmented and "Now... this" pattern that Postman describes. I fear also that this set up results in the lack of ability for analysis that Postman describes results from this type of discourse.

 In episode 5, we’re not only following Dolores’ story, but also William’s, the Man-in-Black’s, Teddy’s, Ford’s, Elsie’s, Lawrence’s, Arnold’s, and those two new doctor guys that keep having to fix Maude (what the hell is she getting herself into?). Not only are we being given plentiful information about these character’s and the many aspects of their stories, but we’re following these stories in a very segmented fashion. That is, one story is interrupted to follow another story, and then the same is done repeatedly before we get back to the story we started with.

Is this set up conducive to the audience’s ability to 1) follow the story and 2) be able to analyze it? I find I’m having trouble not only remembering what happens to each character, but being able to put those things together to understand where the narrative might be leading. Not to mean that I’m trying to “predict” what’s going to happen in the future, but that I can’t understand clearly what is driving the characters, why they are doing what they’re doing, or what brought them to this point. Which, of course, ends up with me not being entertained by the show. So, the “Now…this” structure has been so fragmented that it becomes the opposite of entertaining. Watching the show is actually quite draining because of it. So, perhaps the narrative is inspired by both print-based and image-based discourse, but not reaping the benefits of either.

Questions:

Does anyone else feel they don’t understand what’s going on? Or am I asking for too much narrative explanation? Anyone else bored?

Why is Teddy so willing to die? He keeps asking the Man in Black (does he have a name yet?) to kill him. He doesn’t seem to be suffering that bad, especially hours later when he’s hanging out under that tree. Isn’t he super inspired by his love for Dolores and revenge fantasy regarding Wyatt to keep going? Or did one torture session put him off from the whole thing, including life in general?

Why does Ford both 1) want Westworld to keep going and 2) let the Man-in-Black and Dolores keep doing what they’re doing, even though the result may be the destruction of the park?

I definitely missed what made those two doctors so important (annoying beard guy and bird man). What’s their purpose? And why are they so afraid of Elsie?

What was the purpose of Logan telling William off for caring about the androids and not “letting lose” again? Why does that bother him so much? Does it have relevance to the story?

I know I’m supposed to suspend belief while I watch the show but, how are these androids programed not to kill people, but literally 1) choke Logan and 2) beat him nearly to death twice in one day? Am I supposed to believe that these androids know how much or how hard to hit him before he dies? Are the guests really willing to be hurt that bad?