Stephanie Rothrock: Student Choice: 5: Bicentennial Man

By now it probably seems like this topic has been beaten to death but I really like this movie. This film outlines the formula that I have previously discussed. A main character is innocent of the world and so learning from the beginning. This includes robots, clones, etc. Movies in this category include Edward Scissorhands, Artificial Intelligence, I Robot, and K-Pax.

I feel like this film relates really well to BladeRunner. Robin Williams plays a robot who serves a family. Like the replicants, he is seen as lesser and made a slave. I like this approach a bit more because it is less graphic. Andrew is a very genuine character. He is gentle, kind, and eager. I also liked the pacing of this film. He gradually and peacefully evolves through time.

I feel like this movie relates well to such characters as Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. Andrew evolves, gaining more and more humanity over time. He does not force cooperation or acknowledgement. He is peaceful, nonviolent much as the civil rights protests were in the 1960s. He wants to be seen as a human being because that is what he truly is but he does not put his own desires above the good of others. He makes requests for himself respectfully. He stands his ground and progresses but he never harms anyone.

I really appreciated that he went before a panel to request his marriage and humanity be granted. It furthered the idea that he was fighting for civil rights, the right to be acknowledged and accepted as an equal. I thought that this was much more relatable and very powerful. It was also a righteous goal rather than a dark one. He was not trying to extend his life or change his destiny. He was simply trying to be who he was and have that fact acknowledged.

I really enjoyed the love angle of the film as well. It showed how human he was. He really felt love. In BladeRunner, we see Roy's reaction when the others die but I don't feel like it is clear. Did he love them or was he simply distraught over losing others like himself. He did bestow a kiss but his rage made him hard for me to take seriously from a loving angle...I admit that this is a bias on my part though.

My favorite part of the movie occurred at the end. Andrew is granted his humanity and it is beautiful. His wife Portia also requests that she be taken off of life support so that she can pass on with him. She says that she will see him soon, a romantic end and a deep one. She knows that they will meet again. He has a soul and so will pass on. He is not a machine. He is a man.

Finally, I really enjoyed that his change occurred naturally. This blended BladeRunner with Wings of Desire/City of Angels. He was able to experience each new sensation with complete wonder and innocence. He saw what he was missing and enjoyed the new changes.