Surrogates & Transhumanism
So a few people have asked me (in RL) what I thought of Surrogates. It might say something that I saw it last night early in the evenings and came home and did some work instead of writing a review. But it probably doesn't say what you think it says. Let me explain.
Surrogates is a good movie. Bruce Willis once again portrays a character I feel for and identify with despite having no similarities. He is tough and plastic, as well as soft and human, both roles very much needed for a film like this. James Cromwell was excellent as was every doll portrayed in the movie. The world was well introduced and there was plenty to see. Aspects of it were touched upon lighting. The story was coherent and without holes. The characterization was was nothing to sniff at. Special effects were realistic and subtle, which is pretty much what I asked for.
Based upon the above, you'd think I'd say that it was a good movie. Maybe even an excellent movie. And you'd be right. However the reason why I didn't run home to tell you all this is a bit more of a personal quandary than any jibe at the movie. It has to do with my slow readings into Transhumanism. So I'll split up my spoiler reviews into two parts. One for the movie, one for my issues with the movie and Transhumanism.
So the movie is awesome. I'd love to have a surrogate. As I'm sure almost every geeky or socially maligned person on the planet would. It'd be our chance to be one of the pretty people. Assuming we could afford it. It'd be our chance to to all the types of jobs our bodies might not allow. Being an FBI agent, a cop, a construction worker, a spy. Its our ticket to pretending to be section 9. Or a fat guy pretending to be a skinny woman. Heh.
I also liked the story. Everybody can see the obvious advantages of surrogacy but not everybody can see the downsides. I do like that James Cromwell (the old guy/Cantner) basically reprised his entire roll from I, Robot as the creator of amazing technology taken control of by an evil corporation and decides to try and destroy it through complicated means.
I know an over generalization but still kind of amusing.
I loved the atmosphere of this movie. How the dolls were just a little off. I love how they played up Bruce Willis getting injured to show just how different it was. The known side effects of anxiety of being out in public without a surrogate. How the surrogates had no sense of personal space. I actually thought several times during car chase scenes that "Wow, it really is not safe to be a human in that society".
I felt the mystery of the murders took a back scene to Tom Greer (Bruce Willis)'s slow realization of how surrogates have ruined his life, or more particularly his wife. I suppose some will focus more on the mystery than that characterization.
Two things that bothered me about the film (because I am critiquing I can't just say its all good). First off was Catner's relationship with his son confused me a little once we discovered he was the prophet. I suppose it was explained away a little in that "I grew distant from my son" comment. Maybe it was surrogacy with his son that made him go so radical? But did his plan to kill everyone using the software virus formulated after his son died, or did he plan it before? Just for it to make sense it'd have to be after...
The other thing was how society handled children. There were no children in the film except for in the dreads conclaves. There is mention of surrogates for children and Tom's partner was a pregnant woman using a surrogate. But it would seem that since the world really isn't safe unless you're a surrogate, children would be forced to be raised indoors. They're only outside contact would be surrogacy. I don't know... the technology was very new and quickly adapted, so its implications weren't fully addressed by society. Obviously. I'll discuss more of this in the Transhumanism section.
Overall a good movie that I wouldn't mind seeing again on DVD.
So Transhumanism, as I understand it, is a movement or field of study that deals with the improvement of humanity through almost any means but primarily scientific and technological. Improvements in this case would mean things like the ability to cure death, disability, diseases, and other aspects of the human condition. Ideas which were wild in the past that now are looking closer and closer to being possible. But the technologies that could give us this could lead to disasters, as could just achieving these things.
Now I don't know if I'm a Transhumanist. I think I am but I'm really not sure. Transhumanism doesn't require any kind of faith but it does require belief which can contradict with a lot of modern faiths and religions. Not all. But quiet a few, that put the human experience on a pedestal. We actually see it in the movie as the prophet uses god and Christianity as a way to unit humans against the surrogates.
So the reason why I had a hard time with the movie, despite it being a good movie, is that with my mindset on the concept of Transhumanism and the idea of using technology to better humanity, Bruce Willis ultimately deciding that surrogates needed to be destroyed or at least turned off. It was like the movie was saying that technology was bad.
But then I thought about it more and thought about a lot of sci-fi dealing with technological advances. And 90% of the time the future is full of technological advances that screw up humanity. How many movies do you see AI running rampant and killing people? Or a society hooked up to computers forever losing themselves in it to the destruction of everything? Sci-fi in general actually seems to dream up the worst about technology and well known/good sci-fi tends to try and to tell a moral lesson about the abuse of technology.
Does that mean that sci-fi in anti-transhumanism? That was the question that bothered me walking out of the movie. One that I had to think about, and writing this post has helped me decide. The answer is no. Actually sci-fi movies, literature, television, new media, etc. All of it is actually a fairly fundamental core of where the Transhumanist movement came from. Transhumanity is about assessing the good and bad of the next evolution of humanity. Of the technologies that will help improve humanity. And the consequences of that improvement.
Surrogacy is a great idea. But it was taken too far. The movie was about the mis-use of the technology. The use of surrogacy disabled and hurt people as much as it helped them. It created a minority of "meat bags". It created psychological diseases and problems. The technology itself was obviously not well perfected. In fact the movie gives us a time line of how quickly the technology was accepted. No technology accepted that quickly could honestly be safe. It'd be like giving everybody a car as soon as it was invented, without creating roads or a traffic system. Even the internet is still growing through its teenage hood as it become more secure, safe, manageable vs free, world wide, and unfettered. (See prior posts about Net Neutrality).
So the Transhumanist that I may be would take away from this movie the failures of the surrogacy technology but not that the technology is inherently flawed. If I had realized this sooner my enjoyment of the movie wouldn't have been overshadowed by deeper thoughts as I left the movie.
No I have no read the graphic novels although I plan to. If people want, I'll review the graphic novels as well. Leave comments.
Surrogates is a good movie. Bruce Willis once again portrays a character I feel for and identify with despite having no similarities. He is tough and plastic, as well as soft and human, both roles very much needed for a film like this. James Cromwell was excellent as was every doll portrayed in the movie. The world was well introduced and there was plenty to see. Aspects of it were touched upon lighting. The story was coherent and without holes. The characterization was was nothing to sniff at. Special effects were realistic and subtle, which is pretty much what I asked for.
Based upon the above, you'd think I'd say that it was a good movie. Maybe even an excellent movie. And you'd be right. However the reason why I didn't run home to tell you all this is a bit more of a personal quandary than any jibe at the movie. It has to do with my slow readings into Transhumanism. So I'll split up my spoiler reviews into two parts. One for the movie, one for my issues with the movie and Transhumanism.
So the movie is awesome. I'd love to have a surrogate. As I'm sure almost every geeky or socially maligned person on the planet would. It'd be our chance to be one of the pretty people. Assuming we could afford it. It'd be our chance to to all the types of jobs our bodies might not allow. Being an FBI agent, a cop, a construction worker, a spy. Its our ticket to pretending to be section 9. Or a fat guy pretending to be a skinny woman. Heh.
I also liked the story. Everybody can see the obvious advantages of surrogacy but not everybody can see the downsides. I do like that James Cromwell (the old guy/Cantner) basically reprised his entire roll from I, Robot as the creator of amazing technology taken control of by an evil corporation and decides to try and destroy it through complicated means.
I know an over generalization but still kind of amusing.
I loved the atmosphere of this movie. How the dolls were just a little off. I love how they played up Bruce Willis getting injured to show just how different it was. The known side effects of anxiety of being out in public without a surrogate. How the surrogates had no sense of personal space. I actually thought several times during car chase scenes that "Wow, it really is not safe to be a human in that society".
I felt the mystery of the murders took a back scene to Tom Greer (Bruce Willis)'s slow realization of how surrogates have ruined his life, or more particularly his wife. I suppose some will focus more on the mystery than that characterization.
Two things that bothered me about the film (because I am critiquing I can't just say its all good). First off was Catner's relationship with his son confused me a little once we discovered he was the prophet. I suppose it was explained away a little in that "I grew distant from my son" comment. Maybe it was surrogacy with his son that made him go so radical? But did his plan to kill everyone using the software virus formulated after his son died, or did he plan it before? Just for it to make sense it'd have to be after...
The other thing was how society handled children. There were no children in the film except for in the dreads conclaves. There is mention of surrogates for children and Tom's partner was a pregnant woman using a surrogate. But it would seem that since the world really isn't safe unless you're a surrogate, children would be forced to be raised indoors. They're only outside contact would be surrogacy. I don't know... the technology was very new and quickly adapted, so its implications weren't fully addressed by society. Obviously. I'll discuss more of this in the Transhumanism section.
Overall a good movie that I wouldn't mind seeing again on DVD.
So Transhumanism, as I understand it, is a movement or field of study that deals with the improvement of humanity through almost any means but primarily scientific and technological. Improvements in this case would mean things like the ability to cure death, disability, diseases, and other aspects of the human condition. Ideas which were wild in the past that now are looking closer and closer to being possible. But the technologies that could give us this could lead to disasters, as could just achieving these things.
Now I don't know if I'm a Transhumanist. I think I am but I'm really not sure. Transhumanism doesn't require any kind of faith but it does require belief which can contradict with a lot of modern faiths and religions. Not all. But quiet a few, that put the human experience on a pedestal. We actually see it in the movie as the prophet uses god and Christianity as a way to unit humans against the surrogates.
So the reason why I had a hard time with the movie, despite it being a good movie, is that with my mindset on the concept of Transhumanism and the idea of using technology to better humanity, Bruce Willis ultimately deciding that surrogates needed to be destroyed or at least turned off. It was like the movie was saying that technology was bad.
But then I thought about it more and thought about a lot of sci-fi dealing with technological advances. And 90% of the time the future is full of technological advances that screw up humanity. How many movies do you see AI running rampant and killing people? Or a society hooked up to computers forever losing themselves in it to the destruction of everything? Sci-fi in general actually seems to dream up the worst about technology and well known/good sci-fi tends to try and to tell a moral lesson about the abuse of technology.
Does that mean that sci-fi in anti-transhumanism? That was the question that bothered me walking out of the movie. One that I had to think about, and writing this post has helped me decide. The answer is no. Actually sci-fi movies, literature, television, new media, etc. All of it is actually a fairly fundamental core of where the Transhumanist movement came from. Transhumanity is about assessing the good and bad of the next evolution of humanity. Of the technologies that will help improve humanity. And the consequences of that improvement.
Surrogacy is a great idea. But it was taken too far. The movie was about the mis-use of the technology. The use of surrogacy disabled and hurt people as much as it helped them. It created a minority of "meat bags". It created psychological diseases and problems. The technology itself was obviously not well perfected. In fact the movie gives us a time line of how quickly the technology was accepted. No technology accepted that quickly could honestly be safe. It'd be like giving everybody a car as soon as it was invented, without creating roads or a traffic system. Even the internet is still growing through its teenage hood as it become more secure, safe, manageable vs free, world wide, and unfettered. (See prior posts about Net Neutrality).
So the Transhumanist that I may be would take away from this movie the failures of the surrogacy technology but not that the technology is inherently flawed. If I had realized this sooner my enjoyment of the movie wouldn't have been overshadowed by deeper thoughts as I left the movie.
No I have no read the graphic novels although I plan to. If people want, I'll review the graphic novels as well. Leave comments.