Super Toys Last All Summer Long Essay
Technological progress has been continuously accelerating in the past few years and is showing no signs of slowing down. We live in an age where it is not surprising to hear of amphibious cars and devices with holographic capabilities. Modern man has been able to realize the visions of its predecessors. One of the most notable advancements of the 21st century is the development of artificial intelligence. Most, if not all, appliances and machinery nowadays operate on computers which enable them to perform operations independently using their own intellectual capacity; hence the names ‘smart tv’ and ‘smart phone’. Scientists however are still, as of now, unable to produce a robot that is not only humanoid in appearance but is also completely sentient in a way that they would be able to feel and understand emotions. Bruce Aldiss’ short story, “Super Toys Last All Summer Long”, is based on this very concept of creating robots that can think and feel. Stanley Kubrick and Steven Spielberg take inspiration from Aldiss’ work and produce the film “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” which incorporates the story of Pinocchio into the original. In both the original work and film adaptation, we see how man plays god by attempting to
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create the perfect companions for man in the form of robots; going so far as to give one particular mecha the ability to love a person. The stories show how man’s creation of simulacra has caused the dissolution of boundaries between the real and the unreal, a phenomenon called hyperreality.
Both stories are set into the distant dystopian future where the earth has greatly suffered from the effects of global warming.
More than half of the earth’s surface is submerged in water and what’s left of its landforms is overpopulated. To address this problem, the government issues a protocol where child creation is controlled. We are then introduced to David, a new model of mecha that is given to the Swinton family for initial testing of his abilities. David is different from other forms of mecha because he was given the ability to love. Built with the body of a young boy, David was designed as a substitute child for couples that cannot have children of their own. David’s very role in the film is to be a double, a simulacrum of the human
child.
In many instances of the film, David is mistaken for a real boy and leaves a lot of humans confused. Initially, it is hard to see a big difference between David and ordinary human boys but throughout the story the flaws in his construction are revealed. Even with his programmed feelings, David is still emotionally stunted. He was built to love and feel but is only limited to love a single person – the person he imprinted on and in this case, his adoptive mother, Monica. He only shows affection to her and is unable to show others, even his adoptive father, the same adoration and concern. He will also only know of the love of a child to a parent and will not be able to develop friendships and be able to love another human being or mecha romantically. Moreover, being mecha, David is perpetually frozen into the state of being a young boy. He will never age and never grow up. He will not develop maturity and his mindset would be forever that of a child’s.
David is Pinocchio’s robotic equivalent in the story and in a sense, they share the similarity of their wish to be a real boy and their quest to find the blue fairy but they are in ways different as well. Pinocchio is in all sense a real boy except that his body is wooden. He thinks and feels like any boy would. It should also be noted that Pinocchio had free will over his actions. David, on the other hand, looks exactly like a real boy due to his synthetic skin; however, he lacks in emotional and critical thinking to be considered truly human. His “feelings” and ability to love are all dictated by a small “Cybertronics chip” implanted in him. David is so close to being a real boy and yet so far from truly becoming one.
In his journey to find the blue fairy, David is accompanied by Teddy his super toy and Gigolo Joe, a male mecha prostitute. The relationship of this three mecha may be interpreted as a friendship but it would not make sense since mecha have no ability to develop feelings and bonds with each other. It would be more accurate to say that they are merely companions. Teddy is only following what his programming requires him to do. As David’s super toy he is required to take care of him and guide him. Gigolo Joe only ends up with David because of the mecha boy’s refusal to let him go in the Flesh Fair. David acted out of instinct and held on to what seemed to be a source of protection from the people organizing the Flesh Fair. David, although able to simulate feelings, is not able to develop feelings and bonds with other people and mecha that he has not imprinted on. David was never the perfect simulation of the human child but nonetheless he was a good one – effective enough for most people to mistake him for the real thing.
“Super Toys Last All Summer Long” gives us glimpses on how the people in the futuristic age live. The original story opens with a scene in the Swintons’ garden, where Monica is admiring a rose she plucked. This garden is then revealed to be just an illusion, a hologram, created by one of the many devices humans have developed. The dystopian environment is covered up by images of an idealized world – a utopia. Not only have humans created robots to be copies of them; they too have trapped themselves in a realm of the hyperreal by creating the illusion of their perfect world. In Synthank’s luncheon, the attendees are described to be wearing face-masks and using the Croswell Tape to keep them fit and slim. This gives the impression that there seems to be an obsession on the keeping up of physical appearances. Physical beauty to these people is of the utmost importance. In an overpopulated world, to develop a sense of individualism people turn to the use of these cosmetic products. In the use of these products, however, humans destroy what their real image is and in a way, everyone becomes copies of each other. At the end of the story, the Swintons are finally allowed by the government to have a child which results to their immediate thoughts of returning David back to the factory. To them David was nothing more than a toy - easily replaceable. In “A.I.”, Gigolo Joe takes David to a place called Rouge City. This place is the adult equivalent of “Pleasure Island/Land of Toys” in the Pinocchio story. The city is filled with glaring neon lights and buildings built to resemble parts of the female anatomy. It is here that Gigolo Joe executes the commands of his programming. He tries to get some clients by seducing them with music and flattery. Humans, in this period seem to be demoralized since they were able to freely establish a city that caters to the carnal needs of people. They even produced mecha such as Gigolo Joe, the epitome of what seems to be the perfect lover, to fulfil their needs. To put it simply, the humans depicted in both stories seem to be highly superficial. They live in an age of illusions and facades. They have become the puppets of their very creations.
Hyperreality as defined by Jean Baudrillard, a French sociologist, is a condition in which reality has been replaced by simulacra. This replacement of the real by the unreal is depicted in many points in the film - from the creation of David to the utopian holograms of the future. Baudilrillard states that:
“The very definition of the real has become: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction. . . The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced: that is the hyperreal. . . which is entirely in simulation. Illusion is no longer possible, because the real is no longer possible.”
The humans’ superficial lifestyle and their creation of their “authentic fakes” ( a term used by Umberto Eco, an Italian semiotician to define those that are hyperreal in nature) have caused the confusion on what is deemed real by society. Mecha are the perfect simulacra of man but man in some aspects has also become a simulation of mecha as well.
The depiction of humans in both stories is highly reflective on how man lives in the modern age. With technology progressing so fast, new products out on the market are quickly being replaced with newer ones. This tends to make people take things for granted. They easily dispose and let go of things. Physical beauty is also something that is highly regarded in society. The sudden explosion of plastic surgery and the business of beauty products in recent years stem from the want of a perfectly aesthetical body. Mass media plays a pivotal role in the creation of the hyperreal in society. The creation of advertisements that show what the “ideal and norm in society is” and the false promises it gives to its viewers has come to control how most of society thinks and acts. Hyperreallity has the ability to control an individual’s thoughts and actions. Humans are in a way also turning into mechanical beings due to their routine being dictated by contracts in establishments such as workplaces, school and etc. This way of living has somehow dehumanized man and changed him to something closer to a robot than humane.
In the creation of mecha as the man’s simulacrum, the lines of who or what is truly and genuinely real or humane is blurred. In his attempt to create the perfect companion that will serve and love him, man has failed to realize that this creation of his “perfect carbon copy” would in effect dehumanize him. Modern man has trapped itself in the world of the hyperreal by his continuous creation of facades and illusions brought about by his many inventions – artificial intelligence only being one of them – and have brought about a highly mechanized way of living by dealing with the superficial and the consumption of surface value.
create the perfect companions for man in the form of robots; going so far as to give one particular mecha the ability to love a person. The stories show how man’s creation of simulacra has caused the dissolution of boundaries between the real and the unreal, a phenomenon called hyperreality.
Both stories are set into the distant dystopian future where the earth has greatly suffered from the effects of global warming.
More than half of the earth’s surface is submerged in water and what’s left of its landforms is overpopulated. To address this problem, the government issues a protocol where child creation is controlled. We are then introduced to David, a new model of mecha that is given to the Swinton family for initial testing of his abilities. David is different from other forms of mecha because he was given the ability to love. Built with the body of a young boy, David was designed as a substitute child for couples that cannot have children of their own. David’s very role in the film is to be a double, a simulacrum of the human
child.
In many instances of the film, David is mistaken for a real boy and leaves a lot of humans confused. Initially, it is hard to see a big difference between David and ordinary human boys but throughout the story the flaws in his construction are revealed. Even with his programmed feelings, David is still emotionally stunted. He was built to love and feel but is only limited to love a single person – the person he imprinted on and in this case, his adoptive mother, Monica. He only shows affection to her and is unable to show others, even his adoptive father, the same adoration and concern. He will also only know of the love of a child to a parent and will not be able to develop friendships and be able to love another human being or mecha romantically. Moreover, being mecha, David is perpetually frozen into the state of being a young boy. He will never age and never grow up. He will not develop maturity and his mindset would be forever that of a child’s.
David is Pinocchio’s robotic equivalent in the story and in a sense, they share the similarity of their wish to be a real boy and their quest to find the blue fairy but they are in ways different as well. Pinocchio is in all sense a real boy except that his body is wooden. He thinks and feels like any boy would. It should also be noted that Pinocchio had free will over his actions. David, on the other hand, looks exactly like a real boy due to his synthetic skin; however, he lacks in emotional and critical thinking to be considered truly human. His “feelings” and ability to love are all dictated by a small “Cybertronics chip” implanted in him. David is so close to being a real boy and yet so far from truly becoming one.
In his journey to find the blue fairy, David is accompanied by Teddy his super toy and Gigolo Joe, a male mecha prostitute. The relationship of this three mecha may be interpreted as a friendship but it would not make sense since mecha have no ability to develop feelings and bonds with each other. It would be more accurate to say that they are merely companions. Teddy is only following what his programming requires him to do. As David’s super toy he is required to take care of him and guide him. Gigolo Joe only ends up with David because of the mecha boy’s refusal to let him go in the Flesh Fair. David acted out of instinct and held on to what seemed to be a source of protection from the people organizing the Flesh Fair. David, although able to simulate feelings, is not able to develop feelings and bonds with other people and mecha that he has not imprinted on. David was never the perfect simulation of the human child but nonetheless he was a good one – effective enough for most people to mistake him for the real thing.
“Super Toys Last All Summer Long” gives us glimpses on how the people in the futuristic age live. The original story opens with a scene in the Swintons’ garden, where Monica is admiring a rose she plucked. This garden is then revealed to be just an illusion, a hologram, created by one of the many devices humans have developed. The dystopian environment is covered up by images of an idealized world – a utopia. Not only have humans created robots to be copies of them; they too have trapped themselves in a realm of the hyperreal by creating the illusion of their perfect world. In Synthank’s luncheon, the attendees are described to be wearing face-masks and using the Croswell Tape to keep them fit and slim. This gives the impression that there seems to be an obsession on the keeping up of physical appearances. Physical beauty to these people is of the utmost importance. In an overpopulated world, to develop a sense of individualism people turn to the use of these cosmetic products. In the use of these products, however, humans destroy what their real image is and in a way, everyone becomes copies of each other. At the end of the story, the Swintons are finally allowed by the government to have a child which results to their immediate thoughts of returning David back to the factory. To them David was nothing more than a toy - easily replaceable. In “A.I.”, Gigolo Joe takes David to a place called Rouge City. This place is the adult equivalent of “Pleasure Island/Land of Toys” in the Pinocchio story. The city is filled with glaring neon lights and buildings built to resemble parts of the female anatomy. It is here that Gigolo Joe executes the commands of his programming. He tries to get some clients by seducing them with music and flattery. Humans, in this period seem to be demoralized since they were able to freely establish a city that caters to the carnal needs of people. They even produced mecha such as Gigolo Joe, the epitome of what seems to be the perfect lover, to fulfil their needs. To put it simply, the humans depicted in both stories seem to be highly superficial. They live in an age of illusions and facades. They have become the puppets of their very creations.
Hyperreality as defined by Jean Baudrillard, a French sociologist, is a condition in which reality has been replaced by simulacra. This replacement of the real by the unreal is depicted in many points in the film - from the creation of David to the utopian holograms of the future. Baudilrillard states that:
“The very definition of the real has become: that of which it is possible to give an equivalent reproduction. . . The real is not only what can be reproduced, but that which is always already reproduced: that is the hyperreal. . . which is entirely in simulation. Illusion is no longer possible, because the real is no longer possible.”
The humans’ superficial lifestyle and their creation of their “authentic fakes” ( a term used by Umberto Eco, an Italian semiotician to define those that are hyperreal in nature) have caused the confusion on what is deemed real by society. Mecha are the perfect simulacra of man but man in some aspects has also become a simulation of mecha as well.
The depiction of humans in both stories is highly reflective on how man lives in the modern age. With technology progressing so fast, new products out on the market are quickly being replaced with newer ones. This tends to make people take things for granted. They easily dispose and let go of things. Physical beauty is also something that is highly regarded in society. The sudden explosion of plastic surgery and the business of beauty products in recent years stem from the want of a perfectly aesthetical body. Mass media plays a pivotal role in the creation of the hyperreal in society. The creation of advertisements that show what the “ideal and norm in society is” and the false promises it gives to its viewers has come to control how most of society thinks and acts. Hyperreallity has the ability to control an individual’s thoughts and actions. Humans are in a way also turning into mechanical beings due to their routine being dictated by contracts in establishments such as workplaces, school and etc. This way of living has somehow dehumanized man and changed him to something closer to a robot than humane.
In the creation of mecha as the man’s simulacrum, the lines of who or what is truly and genuinely real or humane is blurred. In his attempt to create the perfect companion that will serve and love him, man has failed to realize that this creation of his “perfect carbon copy” would in effect dehumanize him. Modern man has trapped itself in the world of the hyperreal by his continuous creation of facades and illusions brought about by his many inventions – artificial intelligence only being one of them – and have brought about a highly mechanized way of living by dealing with the superficial and the consumption of surface value.