While observing the film “Be Right
Back”, I quickly realized that Martha used each version of Ash 2.0 as a way to
cope with the loss of real Ash. It was quite obvious that Martha was struggling
very hard to deal with the tragedy of her husband’s death, and rightfully so. She
was, like anyone else who experiences grief in their life, going through the
five stages of grief in order to recover. They play out in this order: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.
While the use of Ash 2.0 may appear
to be an unhealthy way of grieving, those who came up with the concept may
actually have studied how these sorts of technologies can actually help someone
properly maneuver through these five stages and learn to live life without the
one whom they have lost. In Martha’s
case, she was stuck in the denial stage before beginning her method of coping
by messaging Ash 2.0. Martha was truly haunted by the randomness of Ash’s death.
She refused to accept the reality of the loss, and her surprise pregnancy only
halted her ability to move forward since her growing child was a constant reminder
that Ash was once alive.
Ultimately, once Martha progressed
in her “treatment” and purchased the Ash 2.0 robot, the uncanny valley
prevented her from viewing Ash 2.0 as her actual husband. This, in turn,
allowed her grieving process to move forward to the next stage, which was
anger. Multiple times throughout the film, Martha was seen being quite hostile
and belligerent towards Ash 2.0 and his lack of empathy towards her outbursts
only angered Martha even more. This then leads to Martha silently bargain with
herself as to why Ash 2.0 was a necessity, she quickly realized that having him
around was impossible. Her depression, or breaking point, is where Martha finally
grasps that Ash 2.0 is not good for her. Finally, at the end of the film, we
see Martha and her daughter almost ten years visiting Ash 2.0 where he was
being preserved in the attic. With the help of Ash 2.0 all of those years ago,
Martha was able to use the lessons she had learned from that experience to come
to terms with the reality of the situation and accepted Ash’s death once and
for all. Even though unorthodox, technology such as this can have a positive effect.
2 comments:
Is it possible to go through the stages in a different order? It appeared to me that Martha went through Depression after getting past the initial Denial. This led to her Bargaining with Ash 2.0 as a replacement for Ash before eventually leading to Anger at the disappointment that Ash couldn't be replaced by the shallow imprint of him within Ash 2.0. I definitely agree though that she had gained Acceptance by the end with proof being that Ash 2.0 was stashed in the attic like the pictures of Ash's brother and father.
I think you and I are both in agreement with the fact that Ash 2.0 did more harm to Martha then good. I assume this because of how you talk about how she fell into depression/had a breaking point when she realizes Ash 2.0 is not good for her.
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