Topic: Alien: Alone – Alien: 40th Anniversary Short Films

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[XenoHunter99]

I like the weirdness of this one. I like this one best of the lot because it's quirky and the actress did a good job with the material. But it's still the tale of another droid with serious mental issues. It adds to the enormous volume of subtext in the series that human-like AI has a lot of unsolved problems.

[TC]

Perfect experimentation avenue.

Yeah, I agree.

I hope no one takes this as an insult, but I simply don't take these shorts with the same kind of seriousness that I would a major Fox feature release. So the "face-hugger as pet" idea, I'm willing to go with. It's outlandish but also fun.

(Noah, I read your interview where you said that wasn't your intention, but that's definitely the finished effect.)

TC

This would have made a lot more sense with a human character driven semi-insane by loneliness...

This is an interesting thought.

If I combine it with a short story I wrote a long time ago, the result is a version of Alone that goes like this:

A lab worker, left behind when her fellow crew members abandon ship, is prescribed medication by Mother to combat depression. The drugs flatten her emotions and she begins to lose her sense of self. One of her jobs is the care of a face-hugger trapped inside a specimen jar. For companionship, she starts to carry the jar around with her as she goes about her daily duties. Her mental state worsens to the point that she concludes her lack of feeling can only be explained if she were a robot. That being the case, and since robots are immune from face-hugger attack, she starts to consider the possibility of releasing the face-hugger from its prison...

 

TC

[SiL]

Yeah, I agree.

I hope no one takes this as an insult, but I simply don't take these shorts with the same kind of seriousness that I would a major Fox feature release. So the "face-hugger as pet" idea, I'm willing to go with. It's outlandish but also fun.

That's what surprised me the most -- that only one of the ideas really tried to experiment with the story elements. This would've been perfect to throw out some whacky ideas.

[Nightmare Asylum]

Bravo on Alone for sparking some interesting conversation/debate about its narrative and what it is saying.

Like I said a few days ago, Alone definitely ins't the best made of the bunch, but it is the most narratively and thematically interesting (and polarizing). And people falling on either side of the spectrum and continuing to discuss is a testament to that.

Like it or not, Alone really did push the barriers on the "rules" of the competition, and in my opinion it is all the better for it.

[The Old One]

Yuppers.

[Xenomorphine]

"I could be reworked, but I'll never be top of the line again, I'd rather be nothing."

Precisely. Bishop was a machine. Follows directives. Didn't go off on philosophical meanderings.

Stating he'd rather die than not be top of the line kind of is a philosophical meandering though. If he truly didn't care he'd have no preference between being patched or being let go.

And anyone who thinks Ash or Call weren't philosophical or idealistic weren't watching the films.

Androids with philosophical and ideological bents are a staple of the series, not the other way around.

It's Bishop stating a preference: Knowing it/he is no longer going to be optimised, essentially being to the detriment of any further potential missions and that others would take their place. From an AI's perspective, it would be better to let a better model take its physical place (with the option to simply just upload its code/memories to a new system, at a later time, easily being a possibility).

Bishop isn't the least bit resentful about that. Just being pragmatic.

Call was... Odd. Not written like an AI should be, a lot like David 8, in that regard. I reconciled it by assuming some programming-related weirdness happened during the ambiguous event which caused Call and others to rebel (still for reasons unknown). I still don't understand what Whedon was getting at with that. :/

But then, considering his portrayal of AI within, say, 'Buffy The Vampire Slayer' and 'Avengers', it eventually became clear the guy can't write AI or plausible depictions of the military and characters relating to it.

[Xiggz456]

Hands down the most original of the shorts. The opening shot into the interior of the ship really nailed the atmosphere! Great score as well.

[Corporal Hicks]

Also available on Spotify!https://t.co/Fcj18Hiyle

— A L I E N Archives (@Alien_Archives) April 27, 2019

The score is up!

[SiL]

Call was... Odd. Not written like an AI should be, a lot like David 8, in that regard.

I think the real issue here is you keep trying to argue based on how you think AI should be portrayed and largely ignore how they are portrayed

Whether it's how it "should" be is utterly irrelevant. Philosophical, idealistic AI - with some kind of affinity for the Alien - have been there since Ash's head waxed poetic about admiring the Alien in the first film.

[Naginata]

This is now tied with Specimen for the number one spot, as far as I'm concerned. Spectacular! 

Call was... Odd. Not written like an AI should be, a lot like David 8, in that regard.

Do you not see the irony of a human saying - of a sci-fi robot - "STOP THAT, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO ACT LIKE I EXPECT YOU TO!"

Dude... That's, like... the whole point. They don't necessarily act 'like they should' or in the way their creators intend or expect. You turn on an AI with intelligence comparable to (yet distinct from) a human being, you better be ready for some unexpected results. Call was sentient. She acts however the hell she wants, because she has human-level intelligence and free will. The idea that androids have to be written a certain way isn't just dogmatic; it's antithetical to most of science fiction as a genre. I mean, 'androids not behaving the way we think they should' is basically the entire plot of Blade Runner! It's a feature, not a bug.

[Nrmiller]

I like the weirdness of this one. I like this one best of the lot because it's quirky and the actress did a good job with the material. But it's still the tale of another droid with serious mental issues. It adds to the enormous volume of subtext in the series that human-like AI has a lot of unsolved problems.

If I ever get around to polishing up the 20min cut, there’s a lot more going on with her. There’s a tiny tiny tiny left over clue in the crew photo.

[SM]

Bishop isn't the least bit resentful about that. Just being pragmatic.

Perhaps.  He also has an ego.

Call was... Odd. Not written like an AI should be, a lot like David 8, in that regard. I reconciled it by assuming some programming-related weirdness happened during the ambiguous event which caused Call and others to rebel (still for reasons unknown). I still don't understand what Whedon was getting at with that. :/

Not for reasons unknown - they didn't like being told what to do.

Also Call was masquerading as a human.

How should she act?

Anyway - this was pretty good.  Looked the part, but also a little niggling that left me a teensy bit unsatisfied that I can't put my finger on.

Soundtrack was a cracker.

[Nightmare Asylum]

I like the weirdness of this one. I like this one best of the lot because it's quirky and the actress did a good job with the material. But it's still the tale of another droid with serious mental issues. It adds to the enormous volume of subtext in the series that human-like AI has a lot of unsolved problems.

If I ever get around to polishing up the 20min cut, there’s a lot more going on with her. There’s a tiny tiny tiny left over clue in the crew photo.

Well this certainly has me intrigued.

[HuDaFuK]

Soundtrack was a cracker.

The soundtrack was really good. Neat that it's got a stand-alone release.

[XenoHunter99]

I like the weirdness of this one. I like this one best of the lot because it's quirky and the actress did a good job with the material. But it's still the tale of another droid with serious mental issues. It adds to the enormous volume of subtext in the series that human-like AI has a lot of unsolved problems.

If I ever get around to polishing up the 20min cut, there’s a lot more going on with her. There’s a tiny tiny tiny left over clue in the crew photo.

When that happens, I look forward to seeing it.