The 20th Century: the Age of Anxiety

The labeling of the 20th century as the ‘Age of Anxiety” is created by the common theme of someone using technology to obtain power over the common man. It is the uncertainty of what could happen that drives fear and paranoia as a common bond. In Robbie, Mrs. Weston states quite bluntly, “I won’t have my daughter entrusted to a machine-and I don’t care how clever it is. It has no soul, and no one knows what it may be thinking.” She is uncertain how the metal robot works and this causes her to be skeptical of its motives and fearful that it may malfunction, potentially harming her child. Throughout the film I Robot, the fear is that the main computer is taking over without regard for human life. To heighten the suspense and believability of the film, the main robot with emotions, struggles to gain the trust of the main character, played by Will Smith. Will Smith is a prime example of the human mistrust because of the controlling central computer. His skepticism shows when he hears the CEO of the robot company say, “Robots are the new advancement in safety technology.” He follows it by pretending to sneeze and saying he is allergic to bullshit. In order to create the semblance of an orderly society, the robots have three laws they must follow. The three laws are: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by the human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first of second law.
When the main computer starts to interpret these laws freely, human kinds’ safety is threatened. Sonny, the robot, is built without these laws of restriction in order to think like a human and portray emotion. Even with these human traits, he is feared by more people than the robots with the laws because he has nothing to abide by. In Smart House, the artificial intelligence program, PAT, which controls the house, becomes frightening for the humans who live in the house. It tries to keep them from all harm, essentially holding them prisoner in their own home. In order to be able to leave, they must deactivate the computer, however PAT is everywhere and does not allow the family out of her sight. The fear is created through the adaptable intelligence that humans believe if computers were advanced to be more human like, portraying emotions and thoughts. In an attempt to gain power and control, Theodore Nemor in The Disintegration Machine, builds a disintegration ray. The power is realized when even Professor Challenger, believed to be the smartest man alive, is shocked by his invention and truly horrified by the disappearance and reappearance of his companion. He states, “I was, I confess, horrified.” This reinforces the power that the man who made the machine holds over the common person. They cannot duplicate the machine and he can sell it to the highest bidder, for him to do with as he pleases. Due to this lack of control, it can be assumed that technology leads to a fear of being out of control and having a lack of understanding. In Brave New World, technology is used in the form of shock therapy so that adults can control what the future generation is able to do, acts like, skills they have, etc. They are exhibiting power and control in an attempt to determine a child’s life path including social standing, career, and projected length of life. They want them to be completely predictable and controlled. The aversion therapy starts when they are cells in a test tube and is used to control their responses throughout their whole lives. What mother wouldn’t be horrified to read about shock therapy where they state, “little bodies twitched and stiffened; their limbs moved jerkily as if to the tug of unseen wires”? A mother’s first instinct is to protect their young, not allow someone to torture them into submission. However, there are no mothers in Brave New World and so this seems normal to the citizens. But when an outsider, John, is brought in, fear is developed through their lack of understanding for each other and John’s peculiar beliefs and ways. All of these movies and stories show how technology is used to gain power or maintain control over others. Sometimes it is the fear of the technology beginning to “think” for itself; yet sometimes it is the intelligence of the person wielding the technology that is feeding the fear. Change is something most people fear, whether they are willing to accept and admit it or not. Taking a theme of technology that is always changing leads someone to the conclusion that anxiety and fear should be expected. Advancing technology was ever present in the 20th century and could not be escaped. It was the first century where inventions caused rapid changes in how humans lived, worked, and existed. Change breeds anxiety, and therefore, using it as a theme creates an age of anxiety not only through the lack of control, but also through the absence of an understanding nature.