In the episode "Be Right Back," I was introduced to Ash
and Martha, a couple who live in world with very sophisticated technology. When
Ash untimely passes away, Martha is left to grieve like any loving girlfriend
would. However, her grieving, in my opinion went extremely too far. She opts to
do anything that could make Ash seem to be there with her and must live with
the positive and negative consequences of her actions.
To begin, I believe the things Martha does are completely
disrespectful because she was not letting Ash rest peacefully. True enough, Ash
II isn’t technically Ash, but she sought to replace Ash with Ash which isn’t
morally right or healthy. To keep memories and cherish the past, but she set
herself up for failure and disappointment. Even though her terrible excuse for
a friend signed her up, Martha didn’t have to respond or at least stop after
she told “Ash” she was pregnant. However, she became attached to something that
could never be. The thing about loving someone is you love them for their
uniqueness. By expecting anything to be exactly like Ash was, Martha completely
undermined his uniqueness.
The reason why Ash II was not a good idea is because he was
created only by the data that was procured from the internet, and Ash may have
put a lot on the World Wide Web but it was not everything. The gap in “Ash-ness”
coupled with the lack of human intuition makes Ash II the fake. Ash II was
built with the intent of perfection whereas humans are anything but. Ash II is
nothing more than a dedicated yes-man and servant. The short attention spans,
the inhibition of fear, the disposition to argue- these are things that are
inherent to Ash. These are things you can’t will Ash II to do because he is
programmed to be nearly perfect in every aspect possible. It’s a case where you
don’t know what you have until it’s gone. While Ash was alive, Martha would detest
his attachment to his gadgets and the arguments, but when Ash II gave her all
of his attention, conformed to her every rule, and acted as a slave, it drove
her insane because she expected Ash II to be Ash.
The dynamic changes in the Ashes were subtle, and even though Ash
II may have been a better Ash objectively, he was not the Ash Martha craved.
1 comment:
I completely agree with your opinion about Martha's actions. My argument was very similar to yours in that I felt that having Ash 2 was completely immoral and ultimately caused Martha disappointment and more sadness. I like your point about how you said that you love someone for their uniqueness and there was nothing unique about Ash at all. I do not like the idea of trying to recreate a person, who no person can be recreated. I don't necessarily agree with your view that it was disrespectful. I understand your point, but I don't think the problem was as much that as it was that she was doing something that was unhealthy for her and her grieving process.
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