Escape From Pleasure Planet -20... File

In the summer of 2023, I deleted Instagram, stopped ordering takeout, and slept on a hardwood floor for three weeks. My friends thought I had joined a cult. In reality, I was conducting a desperate experiment. I call it my

By Jordan Reeves

You are that hero. And your countdown is already in the negative. Escape From Pleasure Planet -20...

Remember the movie The Matrix ? When Neo takes the red pill, he doesn't wake up in a penthouse. He wakes up naked, hairless, floating in slime, connected to a tube. Reality is disgusting at first.

Soon, you can’t feel anything at all. This is —the clinical inability to experience pleasure from activities usually found enjoyable, like reading a book, having a conversation, or finishing a work project. In the summer of 2023, I deleted Instagram,

You aren't escaping to a better life. You are escaping from the inability to enjoy a normal one. Every escape from Pleasure Planet begins with a crash.

The "minus twenty" indicates you are running late. The engines are smoking. The last shuttle leaves at midnight tonight. I call it my By Jordan Reeves You are that hero

This isn't a review of a film. This is a survival guide. In science fiction, the "Pleasure Planet" is a trope. It’s the glowing casino world in Total Recall , the hedonistic ring-worlds in The Culture series, or the dopamine-drip pods in Wall-E . The hero crashes there, gets offered a drink, a beautiful companion, and a warm bed. For ten minutes of screen time, the hero enjoys it. Then, they realize the pleasure is the trap. The food is a sedative. The lovers are wardens. The planet is a battery farm for human dopamine.