The film "Be Right Back" carried a very powerful and innovative message. The use of technology interfering with human morality definitely struck a nerve with me. Martha struggled with this very thought as she contemplated using technology to contact her dead partner Ash. But, her vulnerability set in, and she reluctantly contacted him. Martha fails to realizes that she has been given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to contact a dead partner, a thing that many would kill for. The profound use of technology may, in the future, give people like Martha these types of chances. But, this decision could definitely interfere with an individual's belief and morals.
Ash is a great example of being in the Uncanny Valley. From his appearance to his speech, Ash #2 was very unsettling. But, Martha soon realized something very significant about Ash #2: he did not have any feelings as Ash #1 did or he did not have any morals that he held. This began to anger Martha as she felt unwanted pressure sink in on her. It is at this point that Martha is questioning her morals and the choice of contacting Ash #1 in the first place. Also, it is at this point that Martha realized that she has confused the accessibility of technology with her morals. This seems to be very dangerous because something like technology can ruin important values and morals that many hold today.
In conclusion, Martha lets Ash #2 live in the attic, which is ironic. It is ironic because at the beginning of the film, Ash states that his mother put all of his siblings pictures in the attic, but left a silly picture of him down. Martha is repeating this action due to the decision she made Hopefully, in the future, we would not want to see such situations as Martha and Ash. But, as the continued improvement and design on technology expands, this could become daily struggles for people across the world.
2 comments:
The idea of the meshing of human morality and technology is quite unsettling. It is an entering a world to which many don't feel comfortable progressing. It is really interesting to think of any human experience like grief and see technology being engineered to make it that more manageable, while simultaneously causing its own harms.
I understand your idea that having communication with Ash 2 would interfere with an individual's belief and morals. We could clearly see an example of this throughout the episode, as Martha changes her mind about communicating with Ash 2. In the beginning of the episode, Martha refuses the idea of being signed up in a program that could allow communication with Ash; however, she completely changed her belief that using this type of technology is not helpful, and created a relationship with Ash 2. However, in the end, we can see that in some cases, this type of technology may be helpful. Although Martha could not shut Ash 2 down, she refrained herself from keeping him alongside her everyday, which would have created some type of obsession. As with other technology, this may be one that can improve of worsen a problem.
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