We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Robots?

Courtesy of our friends at Netflix, who are frequently mentioned on this site and consequently should be advertising here, the wife and I watched Bruce Willis’s movie, Surrogates.

It’s a good movie with a decent though predictable plot, a few veteran actors provide a little panache, a number of youngsters who, thankfully, don’t overact, and the obligatory techno, eye-candy scene or two.

Surrogates gives the viewer a chance to ponder the possibilities of technology, another frequent topic here, and to consider the subject as it unfolds at the intersection of technology and technique. The place Rod Serling might refer to as “technos!”

I’m not particularly impressed with the predictable ending, rather it was how these robots were accepted in society as depicted in the film that sent a chill down my spine and was totally unquestioned and totally believable. The problem for me was that the story line prevented the historical reality of the robot-human relationship (robo-metaleplsis) to be explored. The film goer is required to accept it as it is, and the way it is, which is very plausible, is absolutely frightening. It’s enough, for me anyway, to run to the porcher camp and become a “dred,” their society’s version of a get-your-hands-dirty-yourself porcher.

I am hoping that our coterie of phd’s and phalanx of astute commentators might provide their usual erudite comments or criticisms.

Surrogates is a good film presenting a fascinating problem inherent in technology.