Robots
Like us, only more so. Robots can demonstrate our most delicate sensibilities, or harden their clockwork hearts into soulless killing machines.
“I prefer the term ‘artificial person’ myself.” ~Bishop, Aliens
By the very premise of its existence, a robot is not in control of its destiny. A robot was created for a purpose, and its functionality beyond that purpose is limited. They are not brought up with an understanding of choice. Their design is geared toward their intended use. Why let a robot taste or smell when it’s only intent is to drill processors into motherboards? They may dream [of electric sheep], but their dreams are seldom fulfilled. If they find “success,” it is often with the realization of a new dream.
origins from Robert Showalter on Vimeo.
Robots depend on external factors to keep themselves moving—spare parts, a power source, etc. Not so different from humanity in this respect, but the point is compounded to the nth degree. A story seldom grinds to a halt because a character is hungry, whereas a robot’s story is all but finished if it winds down. They are a constant Icarus subjected to the shortcomings of their nature, or lack thereof.
The killing robot is an interesting case because so often they bear the closest semblance to their human counterparts. James Cameron’s Terminator is a fitting depiction: the bare skeleton, stripped of individuality, polished and honed to flawlessness. A figure given over to nothing but the practicality of the hunt, even mocking death in its Charon-like depiction.
By contrast, the short film The Second Renaissance, a prequel to The Matrix, shows the steady decline of robots shedding their humanity out of hatred and practicality, seeking to craft a more efficient form than that of their previous masters.
“I don’t want to be human! I want to see gamma rays, I want to hear x-rays, and I want to smell dark matter. I want to reach out with something other than these prehensile paws, and feel the solar wind of a supernova flowing over me. I’m a machine, and I can know much more.” ~Brother Cavil, Battlestar Galactica
A character who breaks this mold and never ceases to amaze me is Futurama’s Bender. One would think that Bender’s name says it all: he bends things, discussion over. While Bender certainly has a knack for his intended purpose, he’s really a Swiss army knife of unfolding possibility. I’ve witnessed him serving as a can opener, brewery, refrigerator, card shuffler, film projector, stapler and credit card scanner. Of all his functions, he excels at bending our preconceived notions of the common robot.
Like a good Twilight Zone episode, robots exaggerate the beauty and horror of humanity. They showcase the ultimate expression of how wonderful and terrible we can be. With this in mind, Bender is a truly unique example. His functions are limitless, and his only obvious restrictions are tied to his vices (he runs on hard alcohol). As a result, a robot is often the most human character on the screen.
[...] idea branches off of my previous rant on the nature of robots. (On a separate note, I appreciate when things “branch.” A couple of years ago, things started [...]