Abstract

In the layered and deeply modernist approach, this chapter explores the tension between Westworld as an entertainment commodity and Westworld as “high art” utilizing the kind of self‐reference that typifies aesthetic modernism. To do this, elements of the series are connected to classic works of aesthetic theory by Immanuel Kant, Clement Greenberg, Theodor Adorno, and Arthur Danto. Michael Crichton's original Westworld film of 1973 selected the Western as the prime focus of the amusement park, grounding the story in the very notion of kitsch consumerism and heteronomous commodification. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy's reworking of The Original, the first episode of Westworld, presents further layers ‐ a developed production team, engineers, “narrative and design department”, and corporate executives. Thus the show explicitly draws on the kitsch elements of the Western to highlight entertainment art as commodity.