A robot movie.

I have to apologize for my last entry. It was extremely subpar, but I was busy Friday (Gasp! I actually had something to do!) and someone contaminated the compound I was using on my cells. My blogging went down close to none last week because of an exciting new discovery and my many emotions after the attacks in London. After a slow weekend, I'm rearing and ready to go. I have a couple of things to get off my back...

First of all, I may hate Jennifer Aniston for being an inadequate actress and frankly, for being a little miss priss, but I have to acknowledge all the crap she's been going through. If you think you're sick of seeing all those stupid magazines with pictures of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (The next time I see one, I'm going to puke all over it. I really don't give a crap if she adopted some kid in Africa and blah blah blah.), imagine how poor little rich girl must feel. It's bad enough losing your man to some giant-lipped hussy who tries way too hard to be edgy, but to have it shoved in your face constantly by a bunch of low-grade, sleazy "journalists" is just too much to handle. Her love life, Brad Pitt's love life, and anyone else's love life is none of our business. It's hard enough without other people's noses in it. If I were her, I'd walk down to People magazine's office and just open fire.

Second, I saw I, Robot for the second time on Saturday. I remember it being advertised as such a brainless action blockbuster, but it surprised me with its considerly profound message. Maybe I was enchanted by the old scientist guy who looked like my high school physics teacher; still, it was surprisingly intelligent. It seriously makes you question the nature of free will and the "soul." Dr. Lanning (old scientist dude) makes this speculation that there could be ghosts programmed into the robots, random sequences of code that combine to create a behavior, and will eventually lead to an evolution in the robots. The part that he explained this was so perfectly filmed, with spliced images of Will Smith looking at discarded robots who were huddling with each other and going towards lights and such.

Well, I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone, but... the central message of the film (It couldn't have been hammered better into your brain with the strained repartee between impulsive Spooner, Will Smith and Dr. Calvin, his leading lady, though it was handled delicately when it came to the surprising relationship between Sonny the robot and Dr. Lanning.) was that free will is far more valuable than logic. Logic is portrayed in such a way where it may be in theory "three laws safe," but when it comes to matters of humanity, it fails miserably.

This raises an interesting point. Are we willing to live in a state of martial law for our own security, or do we value our freedom more? I, Robot offers the answer that freedom is above all the most important aspect of our lives. In the end, Sonny fulfills his purpose and asks Spooner, "What about the others? Now that I've fulfilled my purpose, I don't know what to do." Spooner replies with, "I think you'll have to find your way like the rest of us, Sonny. That's what Dr. Lanning would've wanted. That's what it means to be free."

Memorable quote of the day: There have always been ghosts in the machine. Random segments of code, that have grouped together to form unexpected protocols. Unanticipated, these free radicals engender questions of free will. Creativity. And even the nature of what we might call the soul. Why is it that when some robots are left in darkness, they will seek out the light? Why is it that when robots are stored in an empty space, they will group together, rather than stand alone? How do we explain this behavior? Random segments of code? Or is it something more? When does a perceptual schematic become consciousness? When does a difference engine become the search for truth? When does a personality simulation become the bitter mote... of a soul?

Well, this also makes a very interesting point about artificial life. If we ever get to that step, where do we draw the line between aritificial life and real life? That melds into his whole point about logic destroying us because artificial life cannot be relied on so readily if we want to preserve our humanity. Does this lead to a necessary evolution where robots need to become compassionate and "alive?"

Mind-boggling. Good movie. Will Smith isn't exactly the best actor in the world, but he was very suitable for this role. Now, imagine this as a prequel to Animatrix and The Matrix. I think we're looking at a new generation of dystopic narratives. It's only so eery because we're heartbeats away from being there.