Where Is TransWorld in 'Upside Down'?
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OTHERWORLDLY ROMEO AND JULIET. Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess play interplanetary lovers in Upside Down. |
In Upside Down, star-crossed lovers are really crossed by the stars. They reside in two worlds that almost kiss each other. The attendant "dual gravity" spells doom: Something or someone upright in one world is upside down in another. For better or worse, a building of the business empire of the same name, TransWorld, bridges these two worlds:
This is not that silly a situation. Here on Earth, NASA has consistently shown defiance against gravity. The agency gives would-be astronauts a taste of zero gravity inside the famous Vomit Comet.
Photo via USAFA |
Alternatively, NASA owns humongous water tanks that simulate the weightlessness of space. Enter the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator:
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via ESA |
Civilians would have to make do with SkyVenture's tall tunnels that blast occupants with winds at hurricane speeds. You'd be singing "Defying Gravity" in no time.
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Wind tunnel coach Ari Perelman in a Skyventure facility. Via Ari Perelman |
Maybe this is all missing the point. Upside Down may not be suggesting microgravity simulators or flight chambers at all. The movie could rather be a thinly veiled reference to the income disparity between the Global North and South, if not the volatile armistice between South and North Korea.
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