Bishop in Alien 3 - Human or Android?

[HuDaFuK]

Half his head isn't caved in.  In any cut.

The left side of his skull's hanging off!

[Vermillion]

Half his head isn't caved in.  In any cut.

The left side of his skull's hanging off!

Exactly.

Any human would be a crying baby if that happened to them.

Android.  Well Ash took an extinguisher to the head, and kept on 'Truckin'

Wow it is like we landed on the moon in the 1960s.  People believe what they think they see. 

[SiL]

The left side of his skull's hanging off!

That's skin. There's not much keeping it in place over much of your head in the first place. Very little muscle overall.

This is really. Really. Really damn simple, people.

The Alien Franchise Method of Establishing Someone as an Android

- White blood
- Rubber and noodle insides
- Electronically distorted voice

Let's see which of these traits "Bishop 2" has!

White blood? No, it's red.

Rubber and noodle insides? No, it's all flesh and skin.

Electronically distorted voice? Nope, plain old Lance Henrikson.

The film uses literally none of the established conventions to show he's an android, ergo, he's not an android.

[HuDaFuK]

That's skin. There's not much keeping it in place over much of your head in the first place. Very little muscle overall.

If it was just skin it would be flapping down the side of his head. As you said yourself, its got virtually no muscle to give it rigidity. But it isn't. It's sticking out to the side. Because it's got something solid under it. Maybe bone, maybe something synthetic.

The Alien Franchise Method of Establishing Someone as an Android

- White blood
- Rubber and noodle insides
- Electronically distorted voice

Where is it ever said W-Y couldn't make a droid with coloured blood to fool try and deceive people? Just because we haven't seen it before doesn't mean it's impossible. They're certainly devious enough.

We never see Bishop II's insides, save a brief shot of his profusely bleeding head wound in the Assembly Cut. But that's not in the theatrical version.

As for your last point, that's just plain wrong. Ash's and Bishop's voices weren't distorted until AFTER they were damaged, and they were far more badly messed up than Bishop II. Ash was beheaded, Bishop was ripped in half. Bishop II only had a small part of his head busted open. That's not exactly comparable.

Again, I happen to agree with you that Bishop II is human. But your insisting that anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously wrong sounds... well, a little ignorant. The truth is it's pretty debatable, especially in the theatrical cut of the movie.

[echobbase79]

I'm starting to wish they didn't have Bishop II in the movie.

[maledoro]

I'm starting to wish they didn't have Bishop II in the movie.

I'm happy with him being there. I'm also satisfied with the explanations given by the effects people, Henriksen (who reversed himself later in order to promote AVP), and the writers.

Some people aren't satisfied with what is real and have to rely on uncertainty, confirmation bias and an appealing idea and call it reality.

[SM]

But your insisting that anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously wrong sounds... well, a little ignorant.

No.  They are obviously wrong.  As has been shown on every page of this thread since it started.

All the evidence shows he's human and any arguments regarding him being a robot are built in ignorance, bullshit and stupidity.

[SiL]

If it was just skin it would be flapping down the side of his head.

No, it wouldn't. There's still cartilage and rudimentary muscles in the ear, and you can see from the way it's torn it's not long enough to start flapping.

As for your last point, that's just plain wrong. Ash's and Bishop's voices weren't distorted until AFTER they were damaged,

... Yes, which would go with being able to see their insides. How am I wrong?

Heck, if you want to streamline the process, Ash and Bishop are both shown as androids first simply with a single drop of white blood. Bishop 2 never shows a single one. By franchise convention, he's not an android.

But your insisting that anyone who thinks otherwise is obviously wrong sounds... well, a little ignorant.

It isn't.

It really isn't.

There is, as I've said before in this same thread, literally just as much saying Hudson is an android if we take AvP movies into account -- which we must, considering how it's so often used in the argument to make Bishop 2 an android.

Sure, he shows none of the actual signs of being an android -- the blood, the insides, the electronic distortion -- but hey, neither does Bishop 2. And Hudson happens to look like a cop who died back in '97, so the only possible explanation must be that he's an android. There is nothing in Aliens saying he categorically isn't, so it's a perfectly valid, logical conclusion for me to pull out my arse and there's nothing anyone can say or do to prove me wrong.

Ugh.

[FiorinaFury161]

From the novelization by Alan Dean Foster:

Aaron picked up a chunk of broken pipe, muttering, "You f**king droid!" The pipe landed hard on Bishop II's head.

The impact was spongy. Then man staggered, twitching, as his troops shot the acting superintendent down. Real blood poured from Bishop II's cracked skull.

"I am...not a...droid," the bleeding figure mumbled in surprise as it crumpled to the floor.


Proof enough?

[SM]

Clearly not enough for some...

[HuDaFuK]

As I'va said several times already, I DO think he's human. I just don't get the vitriolic hate for any who'd suggest they believe otherwise. Seems like there are good reasons for them to think that to me.

[Terx2]

From the novelization by Alan Dean Foster:

Aaron picked up a chunk of broken pipe, muttering, "You f**king droid!" The pipe landed hard on Bishop II's head.

The impact was spongy. Then man staggered, twitching, as his troops shot the acting superintendent down. Real blood poured from Bishop II's cracked skull.

"I am...not a...droid," the bleeding figure mumbled in surprise as it crumpled to the floor.


Proof enough?

Not to mention screaming at the top of his lungs in pain.

Androids don't feel pain.

All Androids in the Alien films have white blood. Call is the most advanced one and she had white blood.

Androids voices distort when damaged.

I can't remember why this is a topic if we keep talking about the same thing over and over. The wheel of madness people

As I'va said several times already, I DO think he's human. I just don't get the vitriolic hate for any who'd suggest they believe otherwise. Seems like there are good reasons for them to think that to me.

So people mistake Vasquez for a man and Michael Bishop for an android. Whats next asking for a birth certificate?

[SiL]

Seems like there are good reasons for them to think that to me.

There aren't. It all boils down to "He looks like some other guy" and "I don't think he reacts how he should, therefor he's a robot".

[HuDaFuK]

No, it all boils down to how he shrugs off such a grievous injury. I mean in the theatrical version it barely slows him down.

[SM]

In the end it doesn't matter.  Red blood = robot.

If it was oh so simple to just change the colour, then why didn't Ash or Call - who were actually trying to masquerade as being human - do it?