Movie references

Surrogates

Plot summary

Based on a comic book, this film is based on a disconcerting idea. If cell phones and
computers are indispensable in today’s society, in the future world where the film is set there is
something called “Surrogates”. These Surrogates are robots that outwardly appear 100% human
and are improved replicas of their owners.

Men stay at home while their Surrogates go out into the street, connected to the brain of
their owner. In this way, humans avoid the risks of the street and are able to maintain a youthful
appearance, since the Surrogates’ external appearance can be designed by their owners.

FBI Agent Greer, a disenchanted police officer played by Bruce Willis, has to investigate a
mysterious and unusual crime by destroying the surrogate connected to him. While conducting his
investigations with the help of his partner (Agent Peters), Agent Greer attempts to rebuild his
family life (his son died in tragic circumstances), while his wife only relates to him through her
clone.

Themes to discuss

1.- My body is part of my person. I am my body

The film shows the deterioration of the person that comes along with using an object, a ‘body’
(the surrogate) as a means of relating with others.
This deterioration is clearly seen in the marriage of Greer and his wife. There is a scene (minute
13) where Bruce has a conversation with his wife (with his wife’s surrogate) while eating breakfast.

Bruce: Why don’t we take a trip together
His wife: We could go to Hawaii (she is referring to their surrogates).
Bruce: I was thinking about us, that you and I could go somewhere together. We haven’t spent much time together
His wife: We are together every day.
Bruce: The surrogates; not you and me

The relationship that Bruce Willis has with his wife is frustrating because even though he can communicate with her (her whole personality, way of being, etc.), the absence of her body impedes them from truly having a personal encounter. We are corporeal beings; our body comes into play in all of our actions. It is through the body that the person is expressed.

In another scene (min. 52), Bruce finds himself at a party that his wife organized with other surrogates in a totally hedonistic environment. Bruce behaves very violently with one of the surrogates, in the face of the passivity of the others at the party. After this violent scene, there is a conversation between Bruce and his wife/surrogate that once again shows the need to have a full relationship, not by way of an object.

Wife: What do you want from me?
Bruce: I want you, I want my wife.
Wife: I am your wife and you don’t want to see it.
Bruce: (caressing the face of his wife/surrogate) No, this is not my wife. I want the woman who is in this room, my wife.

2.- Using the body as an unreal showcase of the person

In different scenes throughout the movie we see the worship of the body that we experience today taken to the extreme. Surrogates are designed to fulfill their owners’ dreams, and sometimes these dreams lead them to have a body/surrogate that is completely different from their actual body.

On the other hand, Bruce’s wife uses surrogates as an external form of protection that allows her to shut herself off from the real world (as much as she uses her surrogate, nothing will bring back the beloved son that she lost).

3.- The use of technology without a moral reference point

The first 3 minutes of the film are very interesting because they show us how the characters can find all kinds of ways to justify the ever more extensive use of surrogates, always focusing on their utility, but without having a complete vision of the person.

On the other hand, the extreme use shown in the film regarding the substitution of the person by technology can be applied to what is happening today with the creation of parallel personalities on social networks. This is very relevant for our youth, who were born into a digital world and have to learn to see all of the good that technology has to offer in addition to the ways that it can be used for evil.