Like many of the other sic-fi films we have watched this unit, Moon initially started off slowly with little action. The first connection I made in Moon was the similarity between Hal in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Gerty in this film. The two films explore what it means to be human, a common genre theme, but they do so differently through these two characters. Both of the computers have genuine human-like characteristics, but while Hal ultimately acts as a force of evil, Gerty has Sam's best interests at heart and proves to be an entirely emotional character. It is possible that Jones took 2001's quasi computer-human character and added more humanity to it in creating Gerty, something that made Moon more than just an average sic-fi film.
Another apparent connection is the one between Brazil and Moon. Both films deal with an overbearing, secretive, and all-powerful government, one that hides information from its citizens. In Brazil, Sam (the Brazil Sam) is not able to escape this government; it ultimately drives him mad and the audience is left feeling disappointed as we stare at his spaced-out smile once it is revealed that the happy ending is playing out only in his head. In Moon, however, Sam does achieve this happy ending as he his able to make it back to Earth and experience the life that the original Sam once lived. Moon Sam is able to escape the repressive government and find peace with his humanity; Brazil Sam cannot escape the government that he himself was a part of. While the two films differ in thematic content, they share similar set design in that both sets are very realistic looking and appear to be shot in a studio. In both films, it appears that full-scale sets were used, making films that otherwise would be unrealistic look realistic to the viewer.
One connection I made between Moon and Primer was the music. I do not know if the same music was used or if it was composed by the same artist, but both soundtracks are capable of being happy, sad, sentimental, and thoughtful all at the same time. Because the music had so many different tones depending on the context, it was able to mirror the complex emotions the characters felt as there appeared to be multiple of themselves (a thematic similarity between the two films). When the characters in both Moon and Primer found and utilized their doubles, they were confused, excited, and inventive about what to do next. The characters in Primer, or at least Aaron, used his double to go to the future and pass on the events of what would happen with their time machine technology to the Aaron in the past. In Moon, the younger Sam also goes back (not to the past, but back to Earth) with knowledge about what is really going on in the company and with intentions of passing that information on. Moon inherits from Primer the idea of not only having multiple versions of one person, but using the information one of those versions holds to better the lives of all of the versions. Both films portray this as a selfless and brave act, although it is interesting to think about how selfless it really is if you are doing it to benefit another version of yourself.
I think that Moon surprises the audience because it really gets at the root of "what makes us human" much more directly than many other sci-fi films. The first Sam we see is actually a clone of the original Sam, as is the second Sam that is activated once the first Sam gets into an accident. Both of these characters are technically not human, but they are derived from a human, so on the human to not human scale, how human are they? Gerty is definitely not human, but he has emotions and looks out for the best interests of the Sams, especially when he reboots himself to erase his memory, so do emotions make him partly human? I believe that Jones is suggesting that human is not a physical attribute, but an emotional one; all of the Sam clones and Gerty are human because they are capable of caring for another person and having tangible emotions. In this same way, Jones portrays the men who work at the company as inhuman; they secretly clone their own employees without telling them and refuse to acknowledge that these actions are morally wrong. Moon is different from other sic-fi films in that it sets up the non-human characters as the most characteristically human while depicting the fully human characters as devoid of human emotion or any level of sympathy.
Good point about the music. I'll have to go back and listen to Primer a little more carefully.
ReplyDeleteYour on to something when you say emotions suggest humanity. But also memories, right? Gerty's erasing of his memory is treated like a semi-death sentence/sacrifice in the film. Why are his memories such a big deal?
I had completely forgotten about the adept usage of music in this film before reading this. I agree that it was used to reflect the emotions of characters on screen through non-digetic music. The music goes through its highs and lows and often in Moon if I remember correctly, its silent parts. Whatever part of the film they were in, I felt that the composer adapted the music to the mood on screen, and the emotions felt by the character, and this made the movie feel much more immersive and I rarely found myself confused by the music choices.
ReplyDeleteYour post contains many good observations. In particular, the fact that the "full humans" in the film are devoid of emotion and humanity, in a way. I find it interesting how the "humans" (the other company employees and the earthlings" are never really shown. Members of Sam's family are, but his wife is technically dead and his daughter remains the only earthling whom we really get to see. Even the "rescue crew" is hidden from full view. It seems that the collective human conscience can become something cold and logical, whereas the true humanity lies within the individual. Limiting moon labor to one man certainly benefits the common good, and that man is made to live with hope for most of his three year life, but the film is centered on him and his feelings define the entire world of the movie. The question is raised: does humanity lie within mankind or man?
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