Be Right Back

In class, we watched the Black Mirror episode titled "Be Right Back." Recently, we have been discussing The Uncanny Valley and what it entails. This short episode perfectly displays a common human reaction to androids that mimic real and familiar humans all too well. In this episode we meet a couple that has just moved in together. They are a pretty typical couple. They appear to be in love and they care deeply about one another. One day, Ash, the male in the relationship leaves to go into town and is gone for a little too long. His girlfriend Martha becomes filled with worry and starts to panic. She immediately assumes that something has happened to Ash. After hours of contemplating and contacting friends in regards to his whereabouts, there was a devastating knock on the door. This was exactly what Martha thought would happen. Police lights create an eerie glow and the news of Ash's death is delivered. After this scene things get very... weird. The funeral comes and goes however, Martha still remains drowning in her grief. She makes the unsettling discovery that she is pregnant with her deceased boyfriend's child. This makes the grieving process even more difficult for her as it would for most people. Martha hears of a solution for her grief that is so peculiar it scares her. It is a program that allows you to talk to a loved one you have lost. This idea seems so... uncanny to her that she is hesitant to try it. One day she finally gives in a tries it. This program was designed with Ash in mind. It talked and typed as he did and and it even had the same sense of humor that he had. Martha became fascinated with this program and started to feel like she was actually communicating with her boyfriend Ash. She talked to "him" everyday, all day. She didn't want to miss any opportunity she had to talk to him. There was one instance where Martha dropped her phone in the middle of talking to the program and she went into shock. Causing a scene in public by panting and crying, she then rushed home to place her phone on the charger. After this incident the program introduces her to the idea of programming an android type clone of Ash. She's all for it with a lot less hesitation than before. This replica of Ash is up in no time and she is frightened. It is ridiculously similar to the Ash she remembers. Eventually she becomes comfortable with the idea of it. She has to show him how to do many things the real Ash would know how to do. Martha grows tired of this teaching act and becomes frustrated with all of it. I think this reaction is common to that of android human look alikes. They are so similar in looks however the full functions aren't all the way there. In this episode, the android version of Ash was just too good to be true for Martha.