Surrogates

Surrogates is a science fiction film. It is based in the future, in the year 2017, where technology has advanced to such an extent that human beings are using these remote – controlled robotic bodies known as “ surrogates”, designed as better – looking versions of their human operators. However humans live in near – total isolation, rarely leaving the safety and comfort of their homes due to these surrogates. Because people are safe all the time, and damage done to a surrogate is not felt by its owner, it is a peaceful world free from fear, pain, and crime. But it is not reality. It’s a fake world controlled by robots devoid of any human emotions.

This movie starts with Agent Tom Greer ( Bruce Willis) who is an FBI agent who, through the use of his own surrogate, investigates the first murder in years: Jarod Canter, a college student and the son of Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell), the original inventor of surrogates, who uses multiple surrogates himself. The case grows more complicated, however, when several police officers are murdered when their surrogates are destroyed, something which is not supposed to happen, as the human operator is normally safe from the damage done to his/her surrogate. This is a movie where science plays with humans. What science meant in the 20^th century is very different from the science in today, in the 21^st century. Science is being wrongly used; it is being abused on the pretext of technological advancement. But what is not being taken into consideration is that science is an area of knowledge, if used wrongly then the consequences can be harsh. This is what is highlighted in the movie.

The technological advancement in the movie is great. A robotic body controlled by a human mind is a futuristic concept. But it is not reality. The emotions of a human being are not taken into consideration. The entire movie is based on the movements of these robots, not their feelings. Therefore the language they speak is solely what the mind of their human being counterpart is thinking. They have no such mind of their own. They are technically brainwashed by their real counterpart. The only language that they speak is what is being told them to do.

What this movie shows is how a defect in the system can lead to such a big problem that human beings are being controlled by their robotic counterparts. It highlights the issue of how one man Agent Greer has to solve this problem. The tagline of the movie is appropriate. It states that “ how do you save humanity when the only thing that’s real is you? How to save humanity is being questioned in the movie. This is a reflection of ethics. Is it ethical to create a robotic masterpiece? Many religious organizations would be against the creation of the ultra powerful robotic counterpart of man. This movie questions the idea of creating a robot in the first place. Is it really necessary? The repercussions are highlighted in the latter part of the movie.

There are two opposing teams in the movie. One is the creator of the surrogates, Dr. Lionel Canter ( the original inventor) and the other the Dreads, a group of humans led by a mysterious man known only as The Prophet (Ving Rhames) who is against the use of surrogates. But what happens is that Jarod is killed and the suspect is a member of the Dreads. The main suspect is Miles Strickland who uses the OD to kill Jarod and the rest of the 5 police officers tracking him. Greer himself barely escapes death by the weapon. Although his surrogate is physically damaged, it is able to pursue Strickland before it is destroyed by the Dreads. Although there are robotic characters present in the first, they are able to convey the emotions of the human counterparts.

Later in the movie we get to know that the original creator of the surrogates was a paraplegic and hence he felt the need to construct a robotic figure in order to fulfill his own demands. Therefore his need for this creation was justified but for the others to abuse such sensitive technology was not right and unethical. Misuse of science was unethical.

Therefore this movie has two different perspectives in it. One is the creator who created for the sake of filling that void he had, due to him being a paraplegic and the other was to advance in science and ultimately abuse this area of knowledge for one’s own advantage putting whole human race in danger.

On the whole this movie is about how mind is clouded by emotion or perception therefore it has a great impact on reason and language. However, without perception, thinking will not take place and thus reasoning will not come into the picture. Thus perception is important. Similarly emotion is important as without it creative thinking and reasoning will not be possible. The creator was driven by emotion whilst creating the surrogate. Without emotions life will be monotonous, which is seen through the surrogates. Emotions serve as a part of the bases for language. Gestures and expressions are done to express emotions and thus convey the message. When Agent Greer and his wife communicate, they did via their surrogates therefore showing lack of emotion. Without emotions, life is redundant. Thus it will be preferable, to reason out a problem without jumping to conclusions however, emotions should not be shunned as they too play an important role in one’s life.

Therefore this movie shows how each emotion, perception , reason and language are interdependent and how they affect the human race. Surrogates starts off with dull lifeless robots driven by reason and language but in the end they are destroyed in order to allow emotion and perceptions to settle back in human race.