Super Sad True Love Story

The äppärät device, through which Eunice’s perspective is mediated, is the center of the post-literacy world in which she lives. It is a way to connect with others, but it is also a way to be reached by commercial interests. It offers a form of control, for those with the power to control or restrict use. The devices both project into the world and project its scenes elsewhere.

Noah’s and Amy’s media jobs surround the constant use of technology to communicate information and perceptions. Barraged with this information, one hears individual opinions unfiltered through any formal channel. Because äppäräti can register any information, they make it easy for one person to learn about another, to see even their darkest experiences. The invention of FACing makes a new “way to judge people” and to “let them judge you” (86) without ever speaking. Technology thus creates the experience of living, rather than just projecting or recreating it.

In this context, art and literature are not necessarily different technologies, just regressive technologies of mediating experiences and shaping the way people think about the world. During the Rupture, when äppäräti no longer work, Lenny and Eunice each develop a desperation for communication.