Title : A.I. Artificial Intelligence, 2001
2h26min
Ian Watson, Brian Aldiss, Steven Spielberg
Lead actors:
Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor, William Hurt
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_19pRsZRiz4
https://omsi.edu/calendar/ai-artificial-intelligence
The movie A.I., short for artificial intelligence, portrays a young robot (known as Mecca in the film), named David, who is designed to imprint the love of a real child onto human parents. David, created by Professor Hobby, who breaks the boundaries of what robots are known for in the society, is entirely life-like and differentiates very little from how human beings look and behave. David faces the difficulty of being judged by the people surrounding him and treated as if he were simply a toy. The movie is inspired by the story of Pinocchio, as both explore the desire to become a real boy, instead of a being created for the needs of humans.
David begins living with Monica and Henry, whom are struggling to wait for their son, Martin, as doctors treat him. Professor Hobby designed David to love a mother unconditionally and so through Monica initializing this process, David is seemingly reminiscent of a son. Although, one day, Martin returns home and David begins to face the realities of who he is and truly isn’t. After many challenges, Monica is forced to pit David against society, although with the company of a stuffed animatronic, Teddy, alone and pleading for his mother. He is thrown into adventure as he searches for the answer, for what will win back his mother: the mythical Blue Fairy, the only one who can turn him into a real boy.
Costumes
- An example of costume in the film was at the beginning when David makes his first appearance. He comes into Monica and Henry’s home wearing all white clothes, just like those one would wear in a lab. The costume does a great job at displaying to the audience that he is newly created A.I. as white also represents purity, as a child’s (in this case, David’s) initial innocence. Another costume is of Joe’s and other sex robots seen in the film. They wear a uniform of leather material with a tucked-in, button-down shirt and greased, black hair. It perfectly portrays him as what he was built for; a sex robot designed only to please humans through intercourse.
https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/2GP1JdAg7Yv1yMP3MLr95J/What-sex-robots-say-about-us.html
Props:
- Props are a key factor that help portray to the viewer the sense of being in a futuristic time period. The car owned by Monica and Henry, for example, shows what else improved technologically in the society. Another prop used in the film that supports the ever-changing improvements of science is Martin’s device that helps him walk after being released from doctors’ care.
Settings:
The Flesh Fair depicts the cruel acts of humanity. The tools of abuse, the cage, the dark lighting all help the setting come to life in order to depict a dark and cruel nature of the human personality, signifying humanity's hatred towards the robots as the Mecca are humiliated for all to be entertained.
When David was trapped in the cage preparing to be destroyed at the flesh fair, along with all the other A.I. The cage, which held all the half-destroyed A.I. waiting to be completely obliterated, is literal symbolism of oppression towards the robots. The scene itself was suspenseful, as we didn't know if David was going to be saved or destroyed due to the viewer knowing what the Flesh Fair is there for.
Rouge City is where Joe takes David to find out where the Blue Fairy is located. It has the Las Vegas vibe; extravagant and flashy, overcrowded with neon signs and advertising for erotic endeavors. This setting shows viewers another eerily true aspect of the human nature, and what exactly the sex industry is like with robots running the show.
https://robotprideday.com/
Sound:
Internal diegetic sound is largely significant when David is walking around Monica’s house in the aliens’ simulation and only hears her voice in his head, making us feel closely connected to the character and his perspective, one that makes us see him as more human. Non Diegetic sound plays as the camera pans over the ruined setting of earth 2000 years later. Melancholy music is used to evoke emotion and show how desolate it is after humanity is no longer.
Lighting:
Side-lighting is used when David is talking to the “real” David. The film does this to show us that his anger is starting to show from underneath, as the other David is bathed in bright light. Low-key lighting is used earlier in the film, when David and Joe are sitting in front of Dr. Know, to show just how particular and unknown the space felt.
The movie touches upon many themes, but the three most prominent would be; Solitude, Romance, and growth. First of all, David is in great solitude while he is living at home because he is surrounded by real live human beings segregated from the rest. “People fear what they do not understand”. The people surrounding David fear him because they do not understand him, David is in the metaphorical depression of the uncanny valley. He stands in the depression because he may look human, but he does not have the same emotional responses as a human does, which is what distinguishes the difference between David and the people surrounding him. While David is now on his own and must face the difficulties on his own and does not have Monica to protect him from the dangers lurking around him, he is now alone. Although some can believe that he is not alone because his robotic teddy bear is following him wherever he goes and somewhat guiding him in important decisions.
Secondly, romance is a strong theme expressed in this movie. Romance could be at the base of the movie, it is what drives David to experience so much and keep striving forward. His love for his mother is all that matters to him, all he desires is her acceptance. Unknowingly, Monica never stops loving David the reason she had to let him go, basically making him an orphan, was because she loved him and did not want David to be used and abused at home by martin or any other human that did not accept David. Thus, romance plays a big factor because it is one of the rudimentary causes of all the actions that the characters undertake.
Lastly, growth from innocence to a tainted soul is a theme that lies in the background of this movie. In the beginning David is innocent and kind hearted. His ultimate goal in life is to please his mother and to be with her every waking moment of his life, although that does not go to plan he encounters many hardships that will mold him to be able to withstand society. David in the beginning would not hurt a fly, as shown in the time where Martin’s friends were trying to hurt David, but at the end when David had found an identical copy of himself “where the world is more full of weeping” which is common day New York City. In New York City, he had found an identical copy of himself and tore it to bits, showing hate, anger and discontent at not being unique. This shows how society and the world surrounding David had tainted him during his growth as what some may argue to be considered a person. (Word Count: 1215 words)
★★★★☆
A.I was a very intriguing and interesting film with both its strengths and it’s weaknesses. Although the film was generally astounding, a noticeable weakness was the transitioning from scene to scene in this film. By this we are referring to every time the screen faded to black and continued on to the next scene. It left it’s viewers very confused at some points, for example in the scene when Monica drops off David in the woods and the scene switches to when Joe was introduced. It was a completely different setting and caused some of us to question if we were still watching the same film. This occurred a quite a few times throughout the film and felt like the film was fast forwarding too fast. The film in general had an amazing plot that kept the audience’s eyes glued to the screen for the entire 2 hours and 26 minutes. The movie’s use of special effects were astonishing at times for the year it was released in 2001. Although it may not be that long ago, it is still mind boggling when comparing it to new films currently in 2018.
- An evident concept we’ve discussed in the past that is extremely related to and correlates with “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” is objectification. Objectification refers to “Viewing them and treating them like objects, not sentient beings.”. This key concept was very clear in a specific scene in the film; when David was captured to be destroyed in front of an audience of humans, almost like a sports game. In this scene, the flesh fair scene, the host of the show says “where he belongs; the show business.” in response to “what are you doing with him” asked by one of the workers. This is an example of objectification in the way that despite David’s A.I self, he still feels emotion and pain. The host of the show displays objectification by treating him like an object.
- Another concept is personification, which is really the base of the film. “Personification is any attribution of human characteristics (or characteristics assumed to belong only to humans) to other animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities”. The concept of personification is portrayed throughout the entire movie how these artificial intelligence are created to be like a human, but they’re not. Humans in the film personify them by treating them and speaking to them like humans even though in the end they’re just a bunch of metal and wiring. When David is introduced to the family, he’s treated just like a human. His “parents” speak to him, tell him what to do and what not to do, dress him, put him to bed, etc. It’s evident throughout the entire film. There is no specific quote from the film to extract because every time a human speaks to David or any A.I, it is an example of personification.
- Lastly, the final key concept is the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley refers to the unsettling and uncomfortable feeling humans experience when coming face to face with artificial intelligence that is almost indistinguishable when comparing it to a human. An example in the film that refers to the uncanny valley is when David is introduced to Monica. We see that she becomes very uncomfortable and uneasy. She begins crying and yelling at her husband Henry because of her frightened reaction to David. In another scene, David and Monica are at home together. Monica is doing her daily routine when David keeps spawning out of nowhere frightening her and making her very uncomfortable. She ends up placing him into a closet so she can go on with her chores.
Questions:
- Can Teddy truly be considered a prop? If so, would that mean David is also considered a prop?
- Do you think we could ever love a robot back, once they’ve begun to show this emotion towards us?
- Assuming our technology will become advanced enough, do you believe robots can become driven by personal motivation and desire?
This article questions how artificial intelligence would be able to feel and perceive human emotions. It relates on the theme of romance; Monica’s love for David matters so much that he will do anything to get her acceptance. David’s love could be coming from a sensor or it could be actual feelings.
This article talks about how sex robots are used. Sex robots have à big influence on the market and are often illegal in certain countries. Gigolo is à sex robot and one of his clients says that she does not want à real man after being with him, sex dolls could affect the future human desires.
Joseph, Manu. “What Sex Robots Say about Us.” Https://Www.livemint.com/, Livemint, 15 July 2017, www.livemint.com/Leisure/2GP1JdAg7Yv1yMP3MLr95J/What-sex-robots-say-about-us.html.
Hay, Maciamo. “Could a Machine or an AI Ever Feel Human-like Emotions ?” h Media, 29 Apr. 2014, hplusmagazine.com/2014/04/29/could-a-machine-or-an-ai-ever-feel-human-like-emotions/.
“Star Symbols Alt Codes.” Alt Codes Symbols, www.alt-codes.net/star_alt_code.php.
“A.I. Artificial Intelligence.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 29 June 2001, www.imdb.com/title/tt0212720/.
Technically, teddy bears are considered a prop because they are inanimate objects that add detail and even meaning to the setting. At the very beginning of the movie, Teddy is considered a prop when Monica first unboxes him. However, Teddy eventually becomes a sentient being of a teddy bear that can feel, reflect, experience, talk and is conscious of himself and his surroundings in the eyes of David only, therefore making him more of a character. The only discrepancy here is that since only David can see that, Teddy would be considered a prop in the point of view of the human characters, because he remains an inanimate object in their eyes. The same idea applies for David: although he is a robot, he is still a sentient being with who other characters can interact with, therefore he is a character.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI think that us humans can love robots back because once they start to love you it’s as if the love seems and feels real. In A.I if i were the mother of that son i would’ve immediately gotten attached to david because at a point it was almost as if you couldn’t differentiate between the robot and the humans. Sometimes we fall in love with toys, perhaps a stuffed animal, and many people love them just as much as they do for say their mother. Therefore I’m implying that we can compare a robot to a stuffed animal to see how they relate and how their emotions can effect us enormously. The only issue to me would be that humans will try to keep thinking that “this is a robot i cant love it”, they try to make themselves believe they don’t love it but they do.
ReplyDelete-Demaya Mayers
The photos used in the blog attracted me to read it and I'm glad I did. The plot seems very interesting and after reading this blog I definitely want to watch the film. The blog is also very ascetically pleasing and makes it easy for the reader.
ReplyDeleteOne of the themes that was discussed was romance and after reading the examples given with this theme I believe it would be more appropriate to use the theme of love rather than romance. It is mentioned that his love for his mother is very important and since his love directed to his mother rather than to a significant other I feel like romance isn't as appropriate.
When it comes to the question about ever loving a robot back, at first I thought it was impossible. I would never see myself loving a robot. I am very big on human connections and even if they are extremely human like the thought of moral deskilling scares me. As I continued thinking I thought these robots may love me back more than a human would and a connection may be sparked and this film from what I read in the blog post clearly showed it is possible. I think it's hard to really tell until we experience it, if we ever do.
This blog made me realize that this film is different than what I thought it would be since the title is AI so thank you for making me realize this!
Justine Beghuin
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on this post, this was very interesting, and I still managed to learn something new even though our group did this as well.
To respond to your first question about Teddy:
It is hard to decide on what is a prop and what isn't a prop in this movie, and this is mostly due to your final key concept, which is the uncanny valley. It should normally be very easy to distinguish a character from a prop, but not when it is practically undifferentiable from a human’s appearance or behavior. Granted, teddy looks nothing like a human, he certainly behaves like one; he feels compassion, and he seems to have cognitive capacities.
If one thing is for sure, the reason Teddy cannot be considered a prop is because he too, just like David, develops as a character. Teddy first begins by being a bland talking toy, but as the story develops, he builds a strong relationship with David and becomes more aware and conscious. In fact, the relationship was so real and strong that I myself was distressed when David and the Teddy were separated.
Now that I’ve made my point, lets just propose that Teddy was undeniably a prop, would that make David a prop too?
This question is a little bit harder to answer because the only thing that technically makes David and Teddy different are their “outer shells”, and perhaps their technological capacities. Because of this, I believe that if Teddy was to be considered a prop, David should be considered a prop too, even though he is the main character. I do think that both are inseparable when it comes to considering whether they are props or not. If Teddy is a prop, David is a prop too, and vise versa.
-Mathieu Remillard