While watching Steven Spielberg’s 2001 Sci-Fi drama, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, I couldn’t help but realize the many deep, polarizing issues that this film is addressing and commenting on. Using Brian Aldiss’ short story — “Supertoys Last All Summer Long” — as a starting point, Spielberg expands the world of robot-child David, making the subject of his “realness” one the pivotal issues being explored. David dedicates his life to finding the Blue Fairy in order to become a real boy, and he waits patiently for her for thousands of years before being discovered by futuristic robot-beings (the peer-reviewed sources I’ve read have indicated they are robots, not aliens). The beings are able to give David what he’s always hoped for: a moment where his mother loves him — his true goal and true reason for wanting to become a real boy. However, in a story filled with questions of reality and artifice, it’s interesting to realize that, while David’s love for his mother is ‘real,’ this version of her and her feelings for him are not.
David’s mother could never admit to loving him when she existed in her own time. It’s only when she’s recreated from David’s memory and a DNA sample that all of her past concerns are washed away, and she can finally love him. But being recreated in the first place points to her own artificiality. She’s not the same Monica that really existed. Her love is constant and unquestionable, almost mechanical in a way. This Monica has been programmed to be the loving mother that David always wanted, but couldn’t achieve because of his artificiality. The tables have turned because it is she — not David’s love — that isn’t real.
This sad take on the conclusion reminds me of a similar connection in Oliver Twist. We want to believe that an orphan boy with no status can go between different parts of society and be accepted by all, simply because of his goodness, but this is not the case. Oliver can raise and lower himself in society because he was born into the higher class. Although he doesn’t know it, this higher pedigree allows him to mingle with people from his class, and people beneath him. The same can be said about the love from David’s mother. We want to believe that she’s changed, and all has set itself right in the world with the motherly conclusion that she does love David. However, this is the artificial version of Monica. This isn’t real love, although it may look that way on the surface. The Monica that really existed wouldn’t have acted in the same way as this synthetic version.
David and Oliver share the connection that they appear to transcend some insurmountable boundary, but they don’t actually do so. Oliver succeeds because he’s actually a member of high society. David succeeds because this Monica isn’t real. These views put a damper on the conclusions of both stories, but it makes sense. Each story has a seemingly heart-warming ending, but both prove to be more complex than what meets the eye.
Moving Light Reviews 