HAL Features Robots and Romance in a New Light

At first blush you might be tempted to equate HAL to HER,
the recent American film release starring Joaquin Pheonix and the voice of Scarlett
Johanssen; both combine speculative science fiction and romance to challenge
what we think of as a “relationship,” after all. The technology in HAL, though,
presents a world with decades more advancement in terms of robotics, and brings
up questions as to what robots will be used for when we come to that point.
While HER is definitely fair comparison for the tone of HAL, the themes
explored are closer to Kubrick and Spielberg’s A.I. ARTICIAL INTELLIGENCE.

…Which may be why they namecheck everyone’s favorite
red-eyed computer for their titular character.

== TEASER ==

After a tragic plane accident kills Kurumi’s boyfriend Hal,
the family robot “becomes human” and takes on Hal’s appearance in an effort to
help her through the grieving process. While Robo-Hal tries to understand who Human-Hal
was, he unearths some unpleasant things that, since he looks just like his
namesake, come to haunt him as well.

And just how does a robot “become human,” you might ask?
Well, you know… science and stuff. It’s not actually that important.

I know that sounds a bit flippant, but it’s true. HAL is
very subtle in its worldbuilding and storytelling, only concentrating on things
that actually affect the story. Does it matter what Robo-Hal did before
becoming human, or just how prevalent robots are in the world? No, not really –
so it’s skipped. You can fill in the blanks, if you like.

What is clear are the strict rules that Robo-Hal operates
under. Robo-Hal doesn’t try to replace Kurumi’s Hal in any way, nor does he
ever try to trick her into thinking he’s the old Hal. The idea is that Kurumi
can use Robo-Hal as a sort of sounding board, and over time may help her achieve
some closure for the abrupt death of her lover. Ostensibly this makes Robo-Hal
a therapeutic doppelgänger – albeit he feels like an ethical one.

And that’s what I found so fascinating about HAL: by
presenting a plausible scenario that could occur, it forces you to ask Big
Questions. Should we be using robots for therapy, similarly to how we use
animals? Is it ethical to use someone’s face as long as we don’t pretend to be
them? Just how helpful would this sort of therapy even be?

Robo-Hal certainly earns the breakthroughs he has with
Kurumi. Using only resolute kindness and a collection of notes written on the
sides of Rubik’s cubes, he slowly chips away at the walls she built around
herself.

But there comes a point in HAL where a Shyamalan-esque twist
is revealed, and suddenly you’re not thinking of the lofty ideas posed by the
story – you’re thinking about the twist itself, and how it reframes the entire
movie. Small details are revealed to be hugely important and conclusions you
reached are tested, but the twist itself is so distracting that it pulls you
away from any revelations it may have spawned.

Despite that admittedly hefty sidetrack, HAL is a movie that
sticks with you. You twist and turn it over and over again in your mind trying
to come to a deeper understanding, not unlike one of Hal’s Rubik’s cubes. It
invites deep reads, and deep questions to along with them, all with an
optimistic smile. This is some of the best speculative fiction to come out of
anime since GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX.

It’s nice to have a view of the future where robots aren’t
angling to conquer humanity.

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About the Author

Matt Murphy is a freelance nerd who has contributed to many nerd websites. You can reach him by going to where the light meets the shadow, by sending out zeta-brainwaves or by following him on Twitter @Murphix.