We all have different perceptions of death and dealing with the grieving process. Often when we lose a loved one, we don't really want them to be gone. We try to accept it and move on, but deep down there is still the feeling of, "I wish you were here." We desire them to be here on Earth with us, in the flesh. We want to talk to them, touch them, and enjoy a normal daily life with them. Knowing that this idea is not necessarily possible is what makes coping with death and managing grief challenging.
The film, "Be Right Back", aimed to make death and grief less challenging by incorporating the use of technology. The film centers around a young woman, Martha, who has lost her boyfriend, Ash. At Ash's funeral, Ash's mother, who has now lost everyone in her immediate family (husband and two sons), informs Martha on how she copes with death. She tells Martha that there is a technology available that allows you to talk to your dead loved ones through email. Even though it is computer generated, the responses are as if it were that person actually communicating. Martha was annoyed and completely opposed the idea.
After discovering that she is pregnant with Ash's baby, vulnerable Martha becomes confused and upset. Looking for help and guidance, she stumbles upon an email, sent by Ash's mother, containing the death communication information that she signed Martha up for. The Martha that opposed the idea completely is now anxious to try it. She begins to email "AshBot", and when the computer responds as Ash she slowly becomes consumed and controlled by the technology. Martha begins the process by sending emails, but this quickly turns into phone conversations, and later into an actual "human" interaction.
The program was able to use technology to create an nearly exact replica of the original Ash in human form. Martha tried to use this to her benefit, but was quickly annoyed and disappointed with the glitches AshBot had. AshBot was just a robot and even though programmed to behave like the actual Ash, he never did. He wasn't able to display actual emotion. He wasn't able to think on his own. He was just a set of instructions programmed to complete certain actions.
The idea of AshBot was uncanny, and even though he made Martha feel better temporarily, he would never be able to fully take the place of the original Ash. Martha knew this, and decided to store AshBot in the attic as a way of parting ways.
Robots can't replace the human heart.
2 comments:
Putting Ash in the attic was a good idea because he only made her grieving worse. Creating Ash2 was a bad idea. He could never truly replace Ash. He did not have a soul, and he did not have all of Ash's memories and feelings.
"Robots cant replace the human heart" is a great ending line. They can't feel the emotions that we feel with grief. even in the movie Ash 2 had to look up what emotions felt like and pretend to have emotions. Robots can't make you love them because love is having the understanding of each other, and meeting each others needs.
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