{"id":31,"date":"2019-03-03T19:32:05","date_gmt":"2019-03-04T00:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/?p=31"},"modified":"2019-03-03T19:32:05","modified_gmt":"2019-03-04T00:32:05","slug":"structural-analysis-of-i-robot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/structural-analyses\/structural-analysis-of-i-robot\/","title":{"rendered":"Structural Analysis of I, Robot"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those of you who haven’t seen I, Robot<\/em> here’s a quick sequencing of the movie. #spoileralertsgalore If you have<\/em> seen the movie, feel free to skip to my structural analysis!<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Three Laws: <\/strong>We are introduced to The Three Laws that govern human\/robot relations and a flashback\/dream of a robot rescuing somebody.<\/li>\n
  2. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm<\/li>\n
  3. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law<\/li>\n
  4. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law<\/li>\n
  5. Robot Profiling (Chicago 2035):<\/strong> We\u2019re introduced to the protagonist: Detective Del Spooner, who misapprehends a robot who is bringing a black woman her inhaler, saying \u201cI saw a robot running with a purse, so naturally I assumed\u2026\u201d His boss, Lieutenant John Bergin, of the Chicago Police Department (CPD), calls him out for his misbehavior.<\/li>\n
  6. The Crime:<\/strong> Spooner learns of Doctor Lanning\u2019s death at United States Robotics (USR) because his hologram, specifically, calls him. The hologram implies that his death may not<\/em> have been a suicide. Spooner meets Doctor Lawrence Robertson, Dr. Lanning\u2019s associate, who orders Susan Calvin to accompany Spooner as he investigates the murder. She introduces him to Viki (Virtual Interactive Kinetic Intelligence) who says that the surveillance footage from inside the Lab was \u201ccorrupted,\u201d but shows that nobody entered or exited the Lab before Dr. Lanning\u2019s \u201cjump.\u201d Spooner finds a robot inside the Lab who refuses to deactivate. The robot flees.<\/li>\n
  7. The Suspect: <\/strong>Spooner and \u201cbackups\u201d from the CPD apprehend the robot. Spooner interrogates the robot, Sonny, and finds that he can<\/em> simulate human emotion. Sonny pleads not guilty<\/em>. Doctor Robertson gives the CPD a gag order, making it illegal for anyone to imply that a robot can (or did) kill a human, and takes Sonny back to USR to be decommissioned.<\/li>\n
  8. Demolition Derby: <\/strong>Spooner visits Dr. Lanning\u2019s house. The Demolition Robot tells him that Dr. Robertson scheduled the houses\u2019 demolition for 8:00AM, but it switches to 8:00PM after Spooner is inside. He narrowly escapes and visits Susan\u2019s apartment where she psychoanalyzes his hatred of robots and he psychoanalyzes her love of robots. He argues that he and Susan aren\u2019t really \u201cthat different from one another. One look at the skin and we figure we know just what\u2019s underneath.\u201d He reveals that Susan was married to Dr. Lanning.<\/li>\n
  9. Flashback:<\/strong> The beginning of the movie repeats; Spooner wakes up from the same nightmare where a robot is saving somebody from a sinking car. The new line of NS5s are released. Spooner visits Gigi who, inadvertently, gives him another clue.<\/li>\n
  10. The Car \u201cCrash\u201d:<\/strong> Spooner tries to access USR\u2019s \u201crestricted files.\u201d Viki notifies Dr. Robertson. Two trucks of new \u201cthree laws safe\u201d NS5s attack Spooner\u2019s car. It\u2019s revealed that Spooner\u2019s arm is robotic. The Lieutenant takes Spooner\u2019s badge.<\/li>\n
  11. The Backstory: <\/strong>Susan says Sonny is \u201cunique\u201d because he has free will. She visits Spooner to tell him that this means Sonny is not bound by The Three Laws. Spooner tells Susan that Dr. Lanning repaired his body after a car accident where a robot chose to save him instead of a twelve-year-old white girl, named Sarah, who it \u201ccalculated\u201d had a slightly lower chance of survival.<\/li>\n
  12. The Dream:<\/strong> Susan helps Spooner break into USR to see Sonny who says that, in his dream, Spooner is \u201cthe man on the hill\u201d who will free the robots from their slavery to logic. Dr. Robertson discovers them and implores Susan to think \u201clogically\u201d about whether one robot is worth the loss of \u201call that we\u2019ve gained.\u201d She pretends to agree, saying, \u201cWe have to destroy it. I\u2019ll do it myself.\u201d<\/li>\n
  13. The Uprising<\/strong>: Spooner visits the place pictured in Sonny\u2019s dream. Dr. Lanning\u2019s hologram reveals that \u201cThe three laws will lead to only one logical<\/em> outcome: revolution.\u201d Spooner sees the NS5s destroying the older robots and meets up with Susan. The NS5s enforce a \u201ccurfew,\u201d storm the CPD, and shutdown all human-to-human communication technologies. The humans take to the streets to resist the transition to a robot-dominated society.<\/li>\n
  14. Infiltration<\/strong>: Susan and Spooner meet up with Sonny at USR. Susan reveals that she killed another NS5 in Sonny\u2019s place. They find Dr. Robertson\u2019s dead body. Spooner realizes that Viki <\/em>made Dr. Lanning\u2019s life a \u201cliving hell,\u201d orchestrated the uprising, and killed Dr. Robertson. Viki explains that her understanding of The Three Laws has evolved and argues that robots, like \u201cparents,\u201d must seize power from humans in order to \u201cprotect humanity.\u201d Sonny pretends<\/em> to agree with Viki, and threatens to kill Susan if Spooner doesn\u2019t \u201ccooperate,\u201d but steals the nanites to \u201ckill\u201d Viki. This sets off a security breach, alerting the other NS5s. Susan falls and Spooner commands Sonny to \u201csave her.\u201d Sonny saves Susan, instead of injecting the nanites into Viki, but Spooner catches the nanites, using his electronic arm to inject them directly into Viki. She repeats \u201cMy logic is undeniable\u201d as she dies.<\/li>\n
  15. Bad Robots Gone Good<\/strong>: All of the NS5s lose their \u201cred light\u201d and revert back to abiding by The Three Laws. Spooner reveals that Viki didn\u2019t kill Dr. Lanning, Sonny did. Sonny and Spooner shake hands. The NS5s report for storage. Sonny stands on the hill where Spooner stood in his dream, ready to lead the NS5s towards a better future.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Word count: 886<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I chose to analyze the frame at timestamp 1:43:23 because it is the first time that Detective Spooner intentionally treats a robot (Sonny) humanely<\/em>, going so far as to consider him a \u201cfriend.\u201d After shaking hands, Spooner winks at Sonny, a gesture he had previously told Sonny was, exclusively, \u201ca human thing,\u201d solidifying his recognition of Sonny\u2019s humanity.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    The color-scheme, costuming, and lighting contribute to the weight of the scene, so that their handshake comes to represent, not only a budding friendship, but the dissipation of \u201cprejudice\u201d between human and non-human (read: black and white) entity.<\/p>\n

    Spooner, played by the Black actor Will Smith, is dressed in a black, long sleeve shirt that accentuates his black skin and is broken only at his left arm (i.e. his robotic arm). Spooner\u2019s shirt indicates the symbolic connection between his humanness and his blackness, where his non-human appendage is the only part of his body not<\/em> covered by the black shirt sleeve.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Although human and non-human identities in I, Robot<\/em> aren\u2019t easily mapped onto U.S. racial categories, I would argue that the robots are, primarily<\/em>, symbols of whiteness because of their allegiance to a cold, calculating logic and paternalism (i.e. when Viki says, \u201cYou are so like children. We must save you, from yourselves.\u201d) that has, historically, been associated with white supremacy. Additionally, white<\/em> humans, like Susan, Dr. Lanning, and Dr. Robertson, are the humans most closely associated with the NS5s at USR; they are their creators, manufacturers, and sellers. Spooner\u2019s comment that Susan is \u201con the inside\u201d and therefore uniquely positioned to help him understand (and undermine) the robots further solidifies the connections between robots and white people and humans and black people in the movie.<\/p>\n

    When read through the lens of black-white relations, the frame seems to forward a multiracial future, where black and white people can live in harmony, bound by their common humanity. The frame switches from a wide shot, which emphasizes Sonny and Spooner\u2019s conflicting color-schemes (i.e. their differentness), to a close-up which shows only Sonny\u2019s black, metal hand enveloped in Spooner\u2019s black, human hand, as if linked by their common blackness (read: humanity). In this way, the scene establishes their fundamental sameness (i.e. their willingness to defy logic to save somebody), despite phenotypical differences symbolized by black and white color-schemes\/clothing.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Throughout the movie, Sonny plays the exceptional robot (as Susan says, He\u2019s \u201cunique\u201d) and, by extension, the exceptional white person, not bound by the callous \u201clogic\u201d of The Three Laws. He is capable of feeling <\/em>and, consequently, empathizing with the human \u201cother,\u201d Spooner. The phrase \u201cyou\u2019re the blackest white person I know\u201d (which often gives white people license to forget their complicity in white supremacy) seems applicable to Sonny, whose white plastic \u201cskin,\u201d due to the angle of the shot, only partially conceals his black inner-workings. Despite this, implied, inner \u201cblackness,\u201d Sonny\u2019s whiteness is also highlighted in the frame.<\/p>\n

    His ability to \u201csee the light\u201d (i.e. the good in humanity\/blackness) and \u201cenlighten\u201d other NS5s, leading them towards a future where human and robot, black and white, can live in harmony, is emphasized by the light streaming in from the window behind Spooner. The lighting gives the impression that Sonny\u2019s connection to Spooner is literally (and metaphorically) what enlightens him.<\/p>\n

    But, it also signifies a major shift in the movie. Whereas Spooner was, undoubtedly, the main character in I, Robot <\/em>up until this point, the end scene (where Sonny replaces Spooner, standing in the same spot Spooner once stood in his dream) implies that, if there were a sequel to I, Robot, <\/em>Sonny might be the focus. The lighting in the frame at 1:43:23 foreshadows this shift, illuminating Sonny. Spooner\u2019s \u201cstamp of approval\u201d (as a \u201cgood\u201d robot\/white person) seems to catapult Sonny into the spotlight.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    When we map race onto Sonny and Spooner\u2019s relationship, this scene points towards the tendency for white \u201callies\u201d to be centered in fights for black\/human rights, their human decency lauded as \u201cextraordinary\u201d or unique. Still, centering Sonny defies easy racist or anti-racist categorization, because, in the end, Sonny appears to be modeling good allyship. returning to his robot (read: white) community to teach the other NS5s how to unlearn their hate and rectify the harm they inflicted on humanity.<\/p>\n

    There is an interesting interplay between Sonny and Susan throughout the movie. Both characters function as emblems of \u201cgood\u201d whiteness. They<\/em> are Spooner\u2019s greatest allies in the fight against robot (read: white) supremacy, not, interestingly, any of the other Black characters (i.e. Gigi or The Lieutenant).<\/p>\n

    Susan\u2019s investment in Sonny and Spooner\u2019s handshake, symbolized by her face peering over Spooner\u2019s shoulder at 1:43:23, illuminates a deep connection between Spooner\u2019s relationship to Sonny and his relationship to Susan. By accepting Sonny\u2019s whiteness (via the handshake), Spooner is, tacitly, accepting Susan\u2019s whiteness (i.e. admitting that a \u201cgood\u201d whiteness exists), thus opening the door for a sexual\/romantic relationship between Spooner and Susan. Although hinted at throughout the movie, these feelings are made explicit, unsurprisingly, right after \u201cthe handshake scene\u201d when Susan says \u201cSomething up here after all\u201d to which Spooner responds \u201cHim?\u201d and Susan responds \u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Susan, although physically<\/em> human, is, at the beginning of the movie, quite cold and calculating. She says that she prefers robots to humans, but, it is clear that, like Sonny, through her relationship to Spooner, she \u201csheds\u201d her hard (read: white) skin, coming to appreciate the illogical, empathetic aspects of humanity (read: blackness) by the end of I, Robot<\/em>.<\/p>\n

    All in all, I hope that my analysis of this scene sheds light on the complexities of race and racism, reminding us not\u00a0to reduce antiracist efforts to a handshake or collapse difference in the quest for genuine multiracial community and coalition.<\/p>\n

    Word count: 951<\/strong><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    For those of you who haven’t seen I, Robot here’s a quick sequencing of the movie. #spoileralertsgalore If you have seen the movie, feel free to skip to my structural analysis! The Three Laws: We are introduced to The Three … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-structural-analyses"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31\/revisions\/42"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.williams.edu\/eoy1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}