When individuals lose someone they love, they often feel like they would do anything to get them "back" or to establish a sense of normalcy again. People often find comfort in memories whether it be watching home videos, listening to voicemails over and over, or flipping through photo albums. People even go to great lengths such as stuffing their dead pets. With advances in technology, the potential of more sophisticated coping mechanisms after a loss is becoming a reality. Could this have an affect on the mourning process?
When Martha's friend Sara first introduced her to the idea of a software that could mimic her dead husband, Martha said, "It won't be him." Sara, who has been in a similar position before, said, "No, it's not, but it helps." Later when Martha found out she was pregnant, she immediately called her sister, but when her sister didn't answer, she replied to Ash 2's initial email. This shows that Martha was very reluctant to the idea of having an Ash 2 to talk to; however, when she found herself in a position where she desperately needed comfort, she turned to Ash 2.
Martha became attached to Ash 2 relatively quickly despite her initial disapproval of the idea. This attachment could be classified as unhealthy when looking at the scene when Martha accidentally dropped her phone while she was leaving her doctor's appointment. Martha became rather distraught and she kept apologizing to Ash 2. She says that she "dropped him" when in reality she only dropped the phone. This shows that she started clinging to Ash 2 like he was Ash 1, instead of working to move past her loss.
Another situation that showed Ash 2 having an impact on the mourning process is when Martha's sister told her that she was happy to see that she was finally moving on. In actuality, Martha was not moving on because she was really spending her time with Ash 2 instead of another man like her sister thought. If this type of technology were to be used by widows, it may hinder their desire to get back into the dating scene and be able to start a new life with a real person. This type of technology may even hurt other personal relationships. An example of this can be seen when Martha ignored her sister's phone call and instead of hanging up with Ash 2 to take the call. This shows that she would rather choose Ash 2 instead of working on the relationships with the people who she loved that were still around. Overall, I think Ash 2 had a negative impact on Martha's mourning process because her clinging so hard to ideas of the past were preventing her from working to start a new life after the death of her husband.
4 comments:
I agree with what you said about Ash 2 having a negative impact on Martha. Ultimately, humans can't be replaced. Sure, you can move on, or try to find someone similar to the one you have lost, in this case, Ash 2, but in the end it will never be that person. It will never be the same. I believe the main reason Martha started talking to Ash 2 was because she was vulnerable and pregnant. If she wasn't pregnant with original Ash's baby, then maybe she would have moved on more easily instead of clinging to Ash 2.
I agree with you, instead of Ash 2 helping Martha with the mourn of her husband it affected her because she was avoiding everyone else to spend time with her "husband" who was just a robot. In the long run it was also affecting her state of mind because she relied on Ash 2 which was just a robot. instead of just seeking help with her sister or by spending time with other friends who could've helped her through the process.
I feel that your judgement of the relationship between Ash 2 and Martha as unhealthy is a fair assessment. In the scene where Martha tells Ash 2 to jump off the cliff, it is evident that Martha is cognizant of the fact that Ash 2 is not the real Ash. It also shows that she realizes their relationship is unhealthy, so she attempts to sever it in a drastic manner. In the end, she only distances herself from him by locking Ash 2 in the attic, and I think this shows that humans are extremely reluctant to part with objects that remind them of passed loved ones.
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