Abstract
Popular culture offers a lense through which we can understand and examine how law functions in practice. While doctrines and legal themes are slow to change, the cultural values that underpin both how people understand law and experience it in their lives can change rapidly as society shifts to a digital age. The dystopian sci-fantasy 'Westworld' is set in a world without the rule of law, rather it is governed by click-wrap contracts and a shadowy corporate culture where android hosts offer a sublime vacation in exchange for the complete commodification of the human "guests", mirroring the rise of surveillance capitalism in the real-world. This article will examine how 'Westworld' might work in practice, and show that the concepts that underpin it, killer sexbot androids notwithstanding, are not so very far removed from our present-day common experience of law in Australia.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 73-85 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Canberra Law Review |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2020 |