I Can Feel You Breathe

Before taking this course, I showed the series of movies I would be watching to one of the biggest nerds I know…my little cousin Chase.  When we were younger, he would force me to watch Star Wars movies with him while I irked in pain, the fun loving, glittery, sparkly side of me dripping out of my veins with every second I watched.  I knew he would be the best person to give an opinion about weird, science fiction films.  The movie that stood out to him, and the one we culminated our science fiction journey with, was Alien.  After watching an enormous amount of films filled with hours of robots, drama, love, and aliens, the quality effects of this movie had little effect on my now knowledgeable self (I did not even squirm at the sight of the baby alien bursting out of Kane’s stomach).  However, there was one piece to this film that made it stand out from other films of its kind that I have seen.  This was the use of sound.

As a suspenseful movie, Alien had some frightening sounds to it, as do most scary movies.  The use of the sounds of a racing heart beat and breathing really added to the overall feel of the film and made it much more suspenseful.  There were several instances of this use throughout the film, adding an air of uncertainty and apprehension to the audience.  In one instance towards the beginning of the film, Kane is venturing into the hole in the alien spacecraft, attempting to figure out what the organic life form is.  While he is exploring, tensions rising, all you can hear is his breathing, slow and steady.  Again, you hear his breathing throughout the background of the film while the doctors are exploring him, attempting to figure out what the alien creature is.  Although his breathing remains calm, there is a feeling of pure panic, not knowing what is going to happen to Kane.

Later in the film, Dallas is attempting to look for the alien while exploring the airshafts.  You can feel is anxiety as he is breathing, heavy and fast.  Not only does the suspenseful music and sound of Lambert screaming for him to leave.  However, the entire scene, you are with Dallas feeling for him along the way.

One final and very suspenseful scene revolving around breathing occurs when Ripley is attempting to get answers from Mother about why she cannot neutralize the alien.  Throughout this entire scene, all you can hear besides Ripley’s typing is the sound of deep and slow breathing.  The breathing seems to be coming from Ash, foreshadowing his attempt to spy on and kill Ripley. 

Again, the background sounds in the film Alien made it stand out from other films and added to the overall suspense of a scene when it was employed.  It would have been that been that much better if there would have been the constant sound of a heart beat or breathing throughout the entirety of the film as a reminder that you are never alone. 

Props to Faith Hill on helping me with my final title.

Sunshine Daisies Butter Mellow...

I absolutely despise scary movies.  I am that annoying girl in the movie theater and sitting on the couch with her eyes closed the whole time curled up in a ball asking how much longer until its over.  It is sad I will admit, but I was scared at a young age by I Know What You Did Last Summer, then by The Ring, and then finally, Paranormal Activity…not fantastic film choices I realize, but they did a real number on my psyche. From what little I saw of these films, I was able to discover that I hated them, not necessarily because they were scary and horrifying, but because the storyline sucked. There was little to no plot development, the storyline was bland, and the characters were miserable representations of human beings. I was never able to connect with the characters on any other level than the fact that I was just as scared as they were of the “bad guy”. Thus, up to this point, horror movies have been my loathed enemies. That is, until I watched the film Sunshine.

Although a sci-fi film by nature, Sunshine has everything and more to make the ultimate horror film. There is action and terror yes, but there is also a great deal of plot development, spectacular costume choices, and ultimately, passionate characters who draw the whole film together. The entirety of the film before the horror starts is a dramatic yet scary science fiction film about a time, not far in the future, where a small group must travel to the sun and restore it to its original glory. Throughout this part, we get to know the characters, their backgrounds, and their lives with one another. We relish with them when they are happy but shrink away when we see them in danger. It is this connection that is essential to the film transitioning into a horror story. Without this plot and character development, most of us would not have stayed around to watch when shit started hitting the fan and getting really scary.

By becoming invested in the characters, I was able to feel for them throughout every step of the film, which encouraged me to keep watching even though I was insanely scared—I wanted to see what was going to happen to them. Another reason I was invested came from the plot development and insanely good storyline. The spaceship was insanely awesome with everything from a garden/oxygen production site to a room where you could be anywhere in the word (or universe) that you wanted, virtually. I fell in love with the environment of the ship and all that it offered to the passengers. This, again, altered my idea of the horror side of the film; every time I was scared and wanted to close my eyes, I kept thinking of the ship going to shreds and the lives of the people inside doing the same.

Although quite possibly one of the scariest films I have ever seen, Sunshine added a plot and character development to the film, something that most horror films do not do. This helped me become invested in the film, the ship, and most of all, the characters and how the film put their lives at risk. I did not think I would be saying this, but this is definitely one scary film I will watch again!

As a complete side note--I am talking about different Aztec gods in one of my classes right now and we were discussing the practice of human sacrifice to the sun god Tonatiuh. An interesting thought in consideration of this film I think.

Dōmo Arigatō

Up to this point in the movies I have viewed, humans have created humanistic robots for a multitude of purposes including slaves, child replacements, and trash men. Yet have we seen a robot that not only claims to be a robot, but also acts more like a robot than a human while looking uniquely human. However, in the film Star Trek: Insurrection, Data acts as the first human-looking robot with extremely robotic characteristics. Although this may seem an obvious sight, it is an even odder sight to view a film with robotic robots. Having a film revolve around a humanistic robot makes the story easier to follow and more likeable to an audience. Why then would a film choose to use a non-humanistic robot, and what makes the robot non-human in character?

Data provides facts to the other Enterprise members and the Ba’ku people, but what is it that makes him non-human but rather robotic? Physically, he has yellowish skin and eyes, which make he look different from the other humans within his troop. Also, when listening to his voice, you can definitely hear a different tune that does not sound like a human voice; it almost sounds metallic in quality. However, one specific scene stands out that ultimately points out how different Data is from others. After Data has been restored to his original settings, the Ba’ku and Enterprise members go exploring to figure out what happened to make him go rogue in the first place (rogue robots being a trope in many of the sci-fi films I have seen so far). While exploring, Data notices emissions coming from a lake and walks into the lake see what is going self, submerging himself along the way. While underwater, a Ba’ku child asks if he is able to breathe while submerged. Picard looks at the child, partly smirking, and remarks that Data doesn’t breathe. A few moments later the child asks “Won’t he rust?” Picard merely laughs and shakes his head saying “No” while the child looks completely confused. Ultimately, this shows how much different Data is from a normal human being both physically and in his mannerisms.

In all of the films I have written about thus far that involve a humanistic robot, the robot was the main character or focus of the film. However, in Star Trek: Insurrection, the humanistic robot is not the main character. Rather, he is in a troop of characters who represent a main group. Although Data does play an important and pivotal role in the film, this film definitely could not progress with one main character at its forefront. So, having a nonhuman robot was not as much of a big deal in this film because the audience could connect with all of the other characters that were human. Data was able to act as a traditional robot, providing innumerable facts and data (ha) about the environment.

Oddly enough, having Data act as a robot rather than a human made him less of an interesting character to me. I felt as if I connected better to characters in other films when robots acted as humans—not having this familiarity with Data made me feel disconnected from him. Ultimately though, this particular aspect was best for the film so as to develop other characters while also progressing the story line.

Sam Lowry and the Laws of Infernal Dynamics

If Murphy’s Law was in the dictionary, its association word would be Sam Lowry. Sam Lowry lives one shit hole of a life in the film Brazil. Unlike a film where you feel bad for a character, watching Sam’s life play out just makes you cringe and want to look away. He not only has horrible luck, but he also is completely screwed up in the head. Together, these make his character unlikeable and the movie as a whole difficult to watch. He is easily preoccupied with his dreams and never takes a clear moment to focus on his life in the real world. However much of a “comedy” this film claims to be, I find it far from such. I rarely found myself even chuckling at his misfortune. Often, I was just cringing hoping to finish the film because it made me feel so incredibly uncomfortable. It was only the desire to understand how this movie could possibly end that kept me watching.

To open his part in the film, Lowry is called by his boss (who by the way is a completely pansy who cannot seem to do anything for himself for fear of the repercussions) after he is late for work. His alarm didn’t go off, of course, and the electricity in his house is on the fritz. And since the film is set in a futuristic tone, everything in his house not only uses electricity but also controls itself. For example, his alarm finally going off triggers the water faucet to turn on, the toaster to toast, and the coffee pot to make a cup. However, in accordance with the electricity being on the fritz, the coffee is unfortunately poured on the toast. Thus, when Lowry goes to eat his breakfast, it is a soggy mess. Again, this event does not even begin to describe the level of uncomfort of an audience member watching his pitiful performance as a human. Yet, this introduction does decently set you up for watching his life play out exactly how you would picture at this point.

Being the lazy scrooge that he is, Mr. Kurtzmann sends Sam out to do the dirty work of the ministry. He has Sam go and take a check to Mrs. Buttle as a refund for the overcharging of her husband. Although she is quiet as a mouse at first, Mrs. Buttle loses it on Sam, as any normal woman who just lost her husband would. To go along with his “bad news bears” likelihood, the Buttle’s son sees his mom losing control and comes in and kicks the snot out of Sam. Obviously the mistake wasn’t his fault, but he of course must deal with the repercussions of this madness, which includes setting his car on fire and taking his wheels.

I have yet to mention Sam’s desperation to escape reality. This guy can’t get a break in the real world what with everyone pinning their shit on him and tearing his life apart. So to get away from the drama of his life, Sam flees to his dream world, complete with the capability of flying and a dream woman. Needless to say, really REALLY weird dreams. And, although I consider them extremely difficult to comprehend, it works for him, which might be all that matters.

I really thought this movie had a crazy, fast-moving story and a lacking character development, which is what probably made it a more believable comedy. Whereas in a drama, I would want to feel bad for the character that gets the shit end of the stick, in this film, I just wanted to get away and not watch Sam’s life get derailed with no chance of altering his own future (mind you, my comments above barely scratch the surface of his misfortune). Unfortunately, he lived by the infamous “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” saying. However, he does get some relief in a somewhat comedic tone through his freaky dreams. As miserable as I felt watching this film and observing his character fail, watching him fly around with his Fabio-like hair and impressive swooning skills made it just a tad more enjoyable to watch.

The Robot Quicker-Picker-Upper, Wall-e

Pixar’s film Wall-e really made me question what the boundaries of humanity are…again. With other films I have watched to this point (AI, Blade Runner, etc.), I have been pushed to the limits of what specifically defines a human being. Previously, I have defined humans as sympathetic, humane, and loving. The protagonist in this film, Wall-e, further pushes these limits, acting completely human, but existing as a robot. I believe that this was done with a purpose as to attract an audience and compel them to think outside the box, at least for those who would normally think of robots as purely machinery. Ultimately, this film completely reverses the roles of humans and robots by giving robots completely human qualities.

Undoubtedly the most prominent and quite arguably the most important and adorable character in the film is Wall-e. As the character with the most face time, the filmmakers were extremely smart with how they portrayed his role within the first 40 or so minutes of the film. He had to be likeable and he had to have something quirky about him, otherwise the film would be a complete bust. To make him likeable, the filmmakers made him into what I believe was human.

I understand it is probably difficult to imagine a robot as a human, but if you haven’t seen the film, it is impossible to imagine this little guy any other way. One of the most prominent humanistic qualities about Wall-e is his love of song. Although he may only know two, his incessant playing and humming will make sure no viewer ever forgets the melody to “Hello Dolly,” in a good way! Now, I’ve never heard a machine hum a musical tune (granted, vibrations of washers and dryers make humming sounds, but not in show tune form). I know of many humans, however, that do the like. Another humanistic quality of Wall-e is best represented by his emotions. From the movie he watches, he observes a young man and woman falling in love, clasping their fingers together, and desires to one day feel the same. After meeting Eve and immediately falling in love with her powerful, womanly presence, he yearns to hold her hand and fall in love as the young human couple had. Honestly, how much more human can you get? Humans are the only known species to show affection for one another without the pure need for procreation. However, this robot just wants to hold the hand of another robot. It could be loneliness or love, either way it is adorable and an entirely human characteristic. A final example of Wall-e’s human qualities are in his features. Although he doesn’t have a human face or body or speech, he does have facial movements in his eyes, he shrugs, he points, he grasps, he sighs, he has basic speech…although not an exhaustive list, just more examples of characteristics that Wall-e shares with typical human counterparts.

It is for these reasons that I feel extremely compelled to call Wall-e a human. He may not look human in a physical manner, but his emotions, characteristics, and certain features make him seem much more human than the humans portrayed in this film. Anyone watching this film immediately falls in love with him because of these qualities, practically assuming that to be likeable, you have to be a human (or really stinking adorable).