Amy Shivers
Professor Meehan
English Literature and Composition
October 30, 2009
i, Robot and Frankenstein
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has been translated into quite a few different mediums. The most apparent form of remediation is movies. Many elements of Shelley’s novel can be seen in a countless number of movies, one of the more recent ones being i, Robot. By looking closely at some specific elements in this movie, we can see the similarities between i, Robot and Frankenstein.
One of the first similarities that struck me was the idea of technology being a dangerous thing. In both cases, the creatures created by technology have destroyed the lives of their creators by rising up against them. In Victor’s case, he brings life to a creature and as soon as he does so he regrets it. Because his creation is hideous, he deserts him, leaving the creature miserable and alone. He eventually finds Victor and requests a companion. Victor creates the creature’s counterpart but then destroys it, afraid of the consequences of letting another monster roam the earth. The creature is infuriated and seeks revenge on Victor by killing his loved ones. He eventually dies while trying to hunt down the creature. In i, Robot, Dr. Lanning creates V.I.K.I. (virtual interactive kinetic intelligence). This is a “positronic operating core” or “brain” that basically everything is linked to. It controls everything but only on the command of a human. Or so we think. V.I.K.I. ends up getting a mind of its own and tries to control humanity. In order to stop this from happening, Dr. Lanning orders this robot (later deemed Sonny), which he created to destroy V.I.K.I., to kill him in order to get the attention of Detective Spooner. These cases are quite different but also very similar in that both of the scientists’ lives were ended because of their creatures.
I also was reminded of the creature’s intelligence when looking at the robots. Although he is no smarter than a human being, he is smarter than the way he is portrayed in most film versions based of the book. Also, the fact that his intelligence evolves is similar to i, Robot. In the novel, he goes from a grunting, unintelligible creature to a rather intelligent individual. He teaches himself how to speak and read in a relatively short amount of time. In i, Robot, V.I.K.I. gets smarter as well. It starts out as a machine that can only abide by the “three laws of robotics”. These laws discuss the robots’ duty to protect human beings, obey them, and to cause them no harm. All the robots are programmed with these laws but V.I.K.I.’s intelligence evolves and it interprets the laws in a different way which does not involve protecting individual humans, but tries to save mankind as a whole, even if this means the death and enslavement of most human beings.
Another element that reminds me of the novel while watching this film is the fact Sonny has emotions. In both mediums we feel compassion towards the creatures because they experience human emotions. At one point in the film, Sonny is to be decommissioned for the murder of Dr. Lanning. As he is waiting for the “nanites” to be injected into his system, he talks to Dr. Calvin. He tells her that he does not want to die and asks if it is going to hurt him. His reactions are so human-like that the viewer feels sympathetic to the robot. They do not want him to die. In the novel we feel this sympathy for the creature as well. When he is talking about how his loneliness and how that is the root of his wickedness, one can’t help but to feel bad for him.
One of the things that has stayed with me since reading the novel is the creation scene. Although how the creature is brought to life is not described in great detail, the image of when he opens his “dull, yellow eye” sticks in my mind. There are a few scenes throughout the movie that remind me of this. The first is when Detective Spooner is looking around Dr. Lanning’s office. As he is digging through a bin of robot parts we see a robot’s face with its eyes closed. The eyes pop open and he jumps from the bin. Another instance that reminds me of the scene is when Detective Spooner is attacked by two truck-loads of robots. He is driving when these trucks pull up in front of him and behind him, trapping him. The truck doors open revealing robots hanging lifelessly from shelves. But then one of the robots snaps its yellow eyes open and begins the attack. The third time this happens is when a robot is being decommissioned. As the “nanites” enter its system, its yellow eyes burst open before the life is slowly drained out of them. I find it interesting that the death of a robot reminds me of the birth of the creature.
Ultimately, elements of Frankenstein are seen in many different mediums, the most apparent being movies. At many points throughout the movie i, Robot, I was reminded of the novel. The similarities that I noticed include the idea of technology being dangerous, the creations’ intelligence and emotions, and the eyes of the creatures.
