In ‘Be Right Back’, Martha’s partner Ash dies abruptly in a car crash. She spirals into a deep depression and the only relief she can find is in talking to a simulation of him. This isn’t a huge taboo in our day, but what happens next is odd. Her curiosity grows all the more and she eventually buys a life like robot of her husband. She even recognizes this as taboo this by her hiding of him from her sister and later herself. They did everything they used to, but the new Ash just can’t seem to be as real as the old Ash was. She loves old Ash’s imperfections, and hates how perfect new Ash is in comparison.
I found it extremely sad when she finally caved and signed up to talk to the simulation. It was all over as soon as that happened. Accepting his death is part of the grieving process, and she can’t properly forget him if he never fully leaves. The girl at the funeral took advantage of Martha in her time of despair by offering a pseudo-sense of closure with her lover. Anyone would have done what Martha did, but probably not to the extent that she did. I can relate to Martha’s wanting to talk to Ash through text and even hearing his voice, but having a 3D model of someone you love is too much.
Old Ash was by no means perfect. He was obsessed with his phone and only partially listens to Martha, but he has an obvious love for her. New Ash is basically like having a walking Siri. He is programmed to think, act and look however Martha wants him to. New Ash may sound, look and feel like him, but she could never love him like she loved Old Ash. New Ash is simply raw data about her old lover, but not the emotional, flawed man she fell in love with. A computer can never fully replace a human.
This technology should never be made publicly available or even available at all for that matter. It’s a perversion of life. Just because we could do something this advanced doesn’t mean that we should. It would severely mess with the psyche of everyone involved, and it would definitely mess with the creators’ minds. It’s scary to think that yesterday’s science fiction, like the Terminator films, are a possible thing to happen in our near future.
I found it extremely sad when she finally caved and signed up to talk to the simulation. It was all over as soon as that happened. Accepting his death is part of the grieving process, and she can’t properly forget him if he never fully leaves. The girl at the funeral took advantage of Martha in her time of despair by offering a pseudo-sense of closure with her lover. Anyone would have done what Martha did, but probably not to the extent that she did. I can relate to Martha’s wanting to talk to Ash through text and even hearing his voice, but having a 3D model of someone you love is too much.
Old Ash was by no means perfect. He was obsessed with his phone and only partially listens to Martha, but he has an obvious love for her. New Ash is basically like having a walking Siri. He is programmed to think, act and look however Martha wants him to. New Ash may sound, look and feel like him, but she could never love him like she loved Old Ash. New Ash is simply raw data about her old lover, but not the emotional, flawed man she fell in love with. A computer can never fully replace a human.
This technology should never be made publicly available or even available at all for that matter. It’s a perversion of life. Just because we could do something this advanced doesn’t mean that we should. It would severely mess with the psyche of everyone involved, and it would definitely mess with the creators’ minds. It’s scary to think that yesterday’s science fiction, like the Terminator films, are a possible thing to happen in our near future.
5 comments:
The real Ash's imperfections do in fact make him who he is; that is what made Martha love him so much. Once those corrections were made with this machine, not only were those qualities lost, but the charm that Ash had with his character is also destroyed. Without a doubt, all humans are imperfect; so once something is made to simulate a perfect form of someone, it seems alien to us. Without the flaws found in a normal person, the likable qualities won't stick out. It is the darkness surrounding the light that makes it stand out. Without the darkness, it is only light; and if it is only light, then we are blinded by it to where we cannot even see it. We must have this darkness, these flaws, in are personalities to make our light, our good qualities, stick out and remain enjoyable.
Nicholson, I agree with your statement about technology advancing too far. It does seem like the creation of something that imitates life almost perfectly should not be made. I also agree with your statement on the robot's effect on the psyche of people. It could possibly twist it and change the personality of the creators.
I definitely agree that technology is moving towards a direction that is too advanced. I really hope that humans are never able to do something like what was capable in Be Right Back.
I agree that Martha can never fully recover from Ash's death due to having a robotic version of at her beck and call. I think for this reason she hates New Ash. Old Ash never used to be available, even when he was sitting right next to her.
I also agree that the technology behind the new Ash negatively impacted Martha by not allowing her to move on and accept old Ash's death. The natural grieving process of accepting someone's death is required by all humans and I believe the new technology ruined this process. Martha fails to let go of Ash by trying to fulfill her emptiness with the new Ash out of constant curiosity. She becomes more and more demanding of the new Ash, that he become more and more like the old Ash which he is unable to fully provide despite his incredible adaptation abilities. I also agree that this technology is not so far from where we are now.
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