Technology orgasm nightmare

March 15, 2014 10:11 AM

My friend asks: "I once saw a sci-fi film where people had worked out how to record conscious experiences and then others could experience it directly themselves. There's one bit where a guy ends up driving himself into an insane catatonic state when he loops this recording of someone having sex at the point of orgasm and plays it for 12 hours straight." Q: what is that film?
posted by urbanwhaleshark to Media & Arts (13 answers total)

Best answer: Brainstorm
posted by jquinby at 10:14 AM on March 15, 2014 [3 favorites]

jquinby has it in one.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 10:32 AM on March 15, 2014

The ending is a bit incoherent because Natalie Wood died during the production and she hadn't finished all her scenes.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:35 AM on March 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks. Googling "film record orgasm insane" was bringing up all kinds of unwanted results :)
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 10:35 AM on March 15, 2014 [5 favorites]

Yep. Great movie in my opinion. I actually love the ending.
posted by xammerboy at 10:36 AM on March 15, 2014

Ha. I don't think the film was on repeat, and I'm not sure the guy was in a catatonic state. I think he was just experiencing someone else having sex. He does look insane though :-)
posted by xammerboy at 10:38 AM on March 15, 2014

You see the tape looped, and the viewer is a wreck when he is extracted from the device. I don't remember what happens to him afterwards though. There's a similar sequence where the hero's son watches a "toxic" tape.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 10:46 AM on March 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Strange Days also features a brain recording device.
posted by lovecrafty at 11:12 AM on March 15, 2014 [3 favorites]

My recollection is that the experience transforms him for the better.
posted by xammerboy at 11:15 AM on March 15, 2014

The worst sitter I ever had wouldn't allow my grandmother to take me and my brother to Flashdance ( I was 15, my brother 12 and our parents had gone to Scotland) but agreed to this because it was PG.

Horrible movie.
posted by brujita at 4:02 PM on March 15, 2014

Just have to mention that seeing it on DVD is a totally different experience than seeing it in the theater. This post goes into the technical details and has pictures of the scene the op asked about.
posted by Sophont at 6:50 PM on March 15, 2014 [1 favorite]

Three minutes to the right answer! Nice work.
posted by SpacemanStix at 7:14 PM on March 15, 2014

The same kind of technology is referenced in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
posted by Cheese Monster at 4:01 AM on March 16, 2014