Androids

[wiseheart]

I've finished Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. For those among you who might not know: this is the novel on which Blade Runner was based. Those who don't know the movie, I can't help. There are classics you simply have to see (and to read), if you're a sci-fi affectionado.

Anyway, I saw the film first and bought the book because there were parts of the film I couldn't quite get a grip on. I didn't realize back then that I've managed to get one of these dumbed-down re-told versions that are made for language students; the beginners. A version that's stripped of everything but the bare skeleton of the story: characterization, descriptions, and so on.

Even so, it was an interesting reading. It's opened my eyes to the fact how much Asimov and Roddenberry have shaped our mental image of androids/robots/AIs, whatever. We - or at least I, personally - tend to the prejudice that whenever an android is treated badly, it's the human's fault. That poor little droids don't want anything else but become true humans (which, if we think about it, is terrifying enough as it is).

Well, this book is different. The androids in this one are unfeeling creatures that kill and destroy without being touched - without, in fact, wantign to be touched by empathy. The story itself is a fairly flat one, so stripped to the bones - I missed the eerie atmosphere of the film, and Rutger Hauer's suggestive acting. He almost made me care for the character when watching the movie. Almost. But the simplicity of the re-told story was, in a way, much more disturbing than the gorgeous acting and visuals of the film. Even without the incredible music of Vangelis, whom I dearly love... although he tends to repeat himslef sometimes. *g*

Comments

Do Android's dream of Electric Sheep?

[crowdaughter.livejournal.com]

Hi! I've read the book after I saw the movie, too; so my vision might be a tad biased by the movie. But I did niot get the same impression of the androids there as you did.

Well, this book is different. The androids in this one are unfeeling creatures that kill and destroy without being touched - without, in fact, wantign to be touched by empathy.

Actually, I got more the impression that those androids were like neglected human children who had never gotten much love and direct contact and now had grouped together and wanted to learn about emotions. There is that scene when the group of androids that have found an abandoned flat in that house rip out the legs of a spider; and they did not remend me of anything as much as a group of nasty teenagwers who hurt animals and people without empathy because they are in that phase where yousters try out feelings. I could practically see the beginnings of humanity take shape there - only there was no one to step in and tell them No and about empathy for other creatures (as, hopefuly, in the case of human adolescents, somebbody would do), and it was one of the darker and nastier sides of humanity.

Empathy, like all feelings for others, is learned. It does not come from nowhere. It is something children learn from their parents and the people who care for them - or not. These Androids were a very darl mirror of humanity, in that they had all the right synapses and physical pattens to become and be human - but they were not suposed to, so they were neglected and hunted to death, and therefore ated like a very intelligent beast on the run when escaped.

Actually, this is what fascinated me most about that Book (and the movie), and about all science fiction that deals with creating artificial intelligence. It is qquite simple: artificial or not, the moment it feels and thinks, it has a soul and ought to be treated as such. That is the reason why I was absolutely horrified at the movie "AI", because apparently all we were supposed to be angry abouit was that the little robot boy there was programmed to love his mother and then was turned aside by her; the ultimate horror of a society that has reduced hunamnity to a good to the point where it sells (artificial) kids like toys, and produces thinking things that are then be thrown aside, was never even openly addressed. (Or maybe I was just not getting the subtle cvilisation critique, here).

Anyway. I did care for the characters in Blade Runner. I admit, that caring - either for the main character or for the androids - in the book was harder, and I did not always manage during the whole tale, since both come over as cold and have their nasty sides.

Aislynn

Re: Do Android's dream of Electric Sheep?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, as I said, I've read the extremely dumbed-down version with zero characterization. Maybe I'd have felt more for the characters if I read the actual book.

The spider didn't bother me too much - the killing of the goat did, though.

[dunmoose.livejournal.com]

I hae not read the book. I have however seen both versions of the movie. The original theatrical release and the director's cut. The director's cut does not have the happy ending and does not have the Harrison Ford voiceover. I prefer the director's cut. I also wonder if Harrison Ford's character is itself an android. Wonderful movie though.