In the “Be Right Back” episode, Martha and Ash moved to Ash’s childhood home in the country. The day after moving Ash died in a car accident leaving Martha by herself. To help her cope for her loss, a friend signs her up for a new online service that lets people keep in contact with people who have passed away. At first, Martha is completely against it, but uses it when she discovers she is pregnant. She responds to the email sent by the online service to comfort herself and ends up continually using it. She eventually upgrades to a phone service and then to the android. Throughout the episode, Martha becomes emotionally dependent on the emails and phone calls. When she decides to get the android upgrade, she seems very happy because it looks exactly like Ash but does not possess all of his human characteristics.
Personally, I have not lost someone as close as Ash was to Martha in my life, but I do not think this was a good way for her to cope with his death. I think using the emails are alright because it is another way for Martha to express her emotions without getting too connected. The emails have no face or voice and make it less human. If I was given the option of using an online email service similar to in the show, I would use it, but I would also try to talk to my friends and family. Martha’s new living situation out in the country might have been another factor that led her to only talk to online Ash. She did talk to her sister a few times, but did not talk to her as much when she received the ability to talk to a computer simulation of Ash.
When Martha bought and received robot Ash, she was excited and happy. In the beginning, she was happy because it was like Ash never died but the robot’s nonhuman qualities (smooth skin, obeying orders, instantly looking things up online) got to her. Her attempt at bringing Ash back from the dead did not work and her grief grew. It seemed like she never really got over her sadness, but instead pushed it back and pretended it was not there. When she accepted Ash’s death, she tried to get rid of the robot Ash by making him jump over the cliff. In the end, she could not do it because robot Ash pretended to beg for his life. She did not want to see Ash die and live through that grief again even though she knew the robot was not really Ash.
3 comments:
Michael, I agree that the email communication is probably relatively acceptable as an alternative to phone or face to face contact. Ash 2, or "almost Ash" as I like to think of him, was intoxicating because of all of his similarities to Ash 1, yet creepy because of his few differences. I don't think that Martha's dependence on robot Ash was healthy or good, even as a way to heal.
I understand what you're saying, but since Martha had already started talking to Ash2 on emails and gotten used to him, do you think she could have easily turned down the opportunity to hear his voice? After she started talking to him on the phone, do you think she could have turned down the opportunity to see a version of him that seemed like it was living? In my opinion, once she started with the emails, it was a slippery slope to robot Ash.
Ami, I see your point with her desire for more. It is hard for me to say what she could have done, but I think you are right about the emails starting everything. The discovery of her pregnancy made her a little unstable or very scared for her current situation causing her to follow her emotions more.
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