 "Photo: Photo courtesy of Touchstone Pictures")
Technology is always advancing our society and changing our lives for the better, right? Well I would usually agree with you, with examples like the assembly line, telephone, or even my trusty iPod as examples of technological wonders that have advanced the human race.
However, after seeing the new film “Surrogates,” starring Bruce Willis and directed by Jonathan Mastow (“Terminator 3” and “U571”), I have even more reserves about artificial intelligence, and robots in general. This film showed me what happens when the human race gets dependent on any form of technology and the horror that can ensue.
Set in a world of total isolation where humans have resorted to interaction through surrogate robots. This is essentially the plot of the film. It takes place in the not-too-distant year of 2017 where humans have been given the option of either living “through” a robot, or for themselves. With the robot they can feel no pain, look however they want by fixing the little imperfections that make all of us who we are, and as no damage is done to the owner you can basically stretch the limits of reality to their greatest possibilities.
This all changes when the first homicide in years occurs and FBI Agent Greer (Willis) is forced to investigate. Greer then gets involved in a tangled web involving the creator of the surrogates (James Cromwell) and the development of a weapon that is capable of killing its operator through the robot via what can be best described as an “electric magnetic pulse” (EMP) that completely kills off both parties. Greer and his partner now have to find out who is trying to use this weapon and for what purpose.
When the weapon hits Greer’s robot, he luckily disconnects, as he is aware of the weapon and its power. We then get to see Agent Greer try to readjust to living with simple consequences, pain, and feeling everything instead of living through the robots he had gotten so used to. I think these scenes are the best parts of the film because they remind me of the little things that we take for granted: like walking down a sidewalk can be so much for another person. When a car drives by him and honks its horn, he goes into a state of shock because he is not used to hearing these things and feeling the force of a car driving by him like that in so long.
The same cannot be said for his wife Maggie (Rosamund Pike), when Greer tries to get her to disconnect with him. She prefers to act through her surrogate even in the privacy of her own home making Greer talk to a robot instead of his own wife. Maggie best illustrates this “addiction” to technology and using it as a veil to escape from her sadness.
Despite some negative buzz and a few harsh reviews after this film’s release this past week, I stand by the fact I enjoyed this film very much. That could be that I always enjoy a good “technology run-amok” film, but this one really shows what can happen if humans get too addicted to the technology we love. We will literally become the robots on the screen. The film runs for 88 minutes, and is rated PG-13 for some scenes of science fiction violence, but I don’t think it’s anything too bad. If you have not gotten a chance to see this film, I highly recommend you do because it deals with an issue all human beings can relate to.
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