Humans
Conflict / Diametric Opposition in Humans:
Man Vs Machine
Anita VS Laura
Captivity Vs Freedom
Progress Vs Regression
Family Vs Institution
Individual Vs Society
Conscious Vs Unconscious
Past Vs Present
Male Vs Female
Old Vs Young
Appearance Vs Reality
Representation:
We represent people in media because it is easier for the producers to create a presentation for the audience with an already standing group.
Women are presented as house maids and sex slaves, as well as friend (to the child), a slave, and a rebel (former memories). Overall they are all domestic and regressed roles.
There are many representations within 'Humans'. Firstly, they present Anita from a body bag, showing that she is essentially in captivity, being held without freedom or free will, which is already a demonstration of a binary opposition. Furthermore, she is essentially soulless, a blank slate until she is bonded to Joe, after which she essentially leaves the grasp of the institution that had previously captured and enslaved her, and joined the family. The idea of the modern day nuclear family is present here, and this is diametrically opposed to the faceless institution. Within the institution itself, the mise-en-scene has a large focus on a sanitary, hospital-like and slightly sinister appearance, all of the rooms and shots are well lit, and it appears to resemble something out of an Orwellian nightmare, with various synths being placed around the premises doing specific jobs such as chopping food, 'a fancy one', as it is referred to by the family. This brings about the ideas of another binary opposition; appearance vs. reality, the institution is laid out in the most pleasing and 'safe' way - there is no room for the mind to wander about whether all of this is ethical, considering that the synths are made to be as human as possible, they are just presented in the most consumer friendly way as possible.
The whole setting of this scene is very futuristic, the synths are dressed in identical and basic garments, almost like something that would be seen out of an old sci-fi movie. The family, on the other hand, are dressed and move more naturally, an organic sense that is portrayed well by the actors, this directly conflicts - and in effect, diametrically opposes the synths, portraying a sense that 'the future is now', and the past and the present are at arms with each other. The family, however, do not seem to mind this, as they willfully go about their business of buying a Synth (Perhaps this works as an allegory for the slave trade), unknowing about the darker issues within the institution, such as Anita being a synth that has developed free will, and she has been captured and sold off, sent out to auction without her consent, which furthers the allegorical nature of this show.
I believe that Claude Levi-Strauss' theory of structuralism works well within this brief clip, as there are many pieces of the narrative that can be diametrically opposed to each other, all of the binary oppositions, such as the ones stated above, help to add and further the meaning in the show, and this leads to creating a strong narrative, the most pertinent of which being the idea of man vs. machine. While this is a topic that has been covered almost to death within science fiction, I still think that it is interesting how Humans puts an interesting spin on it, I think that the idea of having your free will suppressed and being sold into the captivity of an unknowing family is an interesting plot device, and it works well both as an allegory for slavery, considering it can be paired with both classic and contemporary slavery, as well as almost a warning for the future, because ideas like this and the pursuit of creating life is very dangerous in and of itself, and this can be seen all over the short clip I am analysing, synths lined up in a warehouse with no free will, easily replaceable (which can be seen within the first episode) creates an interesting contrast between young and old, as Anita has been purchased without the knowledge of Laura, the mother of the family (thus setting up another binary opposition, leading to conflict between those two). All of this also brings into question more conflict between captivity and freedom, having someone's will imposed on you and your own stripped away poses the question of whether they can still be seen as human, an ideology that the institution seems to adhere to completely. "When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man." quotes Anthony Burgess, and this is a quote which I feel is directly correlated to the Synths in this clip.
Man Vs Machine
Anita VS Laura
Captivity Vs Freedom
Progress Vs Regression
Family Vs Institution
Individual Vs Society
Conscious Vs Unconscious
Past Vs Present
Male Vs Female
Old Vs Young
Appearance Vs Reality
Representation:
We represent people in media because it is easier for the producers to create a presentation for the audience with an already standing group.
Women are presented as house maids and sex slaves, as well as friend (to the child), a slave, and a rebel (former memories). Overall they are all domestic and regressed roles.
There are many representations within 'Humans'. Firstly, they present Anita from a body bag, showing that she is essentially in captivity, being held without freedom or free will, which is already a demonstration of a binary opposition. Furthermore, she is essentially soulless, a blank slate until she is bonded to Joe, after which she essentially leaves the grasp of the institution that had previously captured and enslaved her, and joined the family. The idea of the modern day nuclear family is present here, and this is diametrically opposed to the faceless institution. Within the institution itself, the mise-en-scene has a large focus on a sanitary, hospital-like and slightly sinister appearance, all of the rooms and shots are well lit, and it appears to resemble something out of an Orwellian nightmare, with various synths being placed around the premises doing specific jobs such as chopping food, 'a fancy one', as it is referred to by the family. This brings about the ideas of another binary opposition; appearance vs. reality, the institution is laid out in the most pleasing and 'safe' way - there is no room for the mind to wander about whether all of this is ethical, considering that the synths are made to be as human as possible, they are just presented in the most consumer friendly way as possible.
The whole setting of this scene is very futuristic, the synths are dressed in identical and basic garments, almost like something that would be seen out of an old sci-fi movie. The family, on the other hand, are dressed and move more naturally, an organic sense that is portrayed well by the actors, this directly conflicts - and in effect, diametrically opposes the synths, portraying a sense that 'the future is now', and the past and the present are at arms with each other. The family, however, do not seem to mind this, as they willfully go about their business of buying a Synth (Perhaps this works as an allegory for the slave trade), unknowing about the darker issues within the institution, such as Anita being a synth that has developed free will, and she has been captured and sold off, sent out to auction without her consent, which furthers the allegorical nature of this show.
I believe that Claude Levi-Strauss' theory of structuralism works well within this brief clip, as there are many pieces of the narrative that can be diametrically opposed to each other, all of the binary oppositions, such as the ones stated above, help to add and further the meaning in the show, and this leads to creating a strong narrative, the most pertinent of which being the idea of man vs. machine. While this is a topic that has been covered almost to death within science fiction, I still think that it is interesting how Humans puts an interesting spin on it, I think that the idea of having your free will suppressed and being sold into the captivity of an unknowing family is an interesting plot device, and it works well both as an allegory for slavery, considering it can be paired with both classic and contemporary slavery, as well as almost a warning for the future, because ideas like this and the pursuit of creating life is very dangerous in and of itself, and this can be seen all over the short clip I am analysing, synths lined up in a warehouse with no free will, easily replaceable (which can be seen within the first episode) creates an interesting contrast between young and old, as Anita has been purchased without the knowledge of Laura, the mother of the family (thus setting up another binary opposition, leading to conflict between those two). All of this also brings into question more conflict between captivity and freedom, having someone's will imposed on you and your own stripped away poses the question of whether they can still be seen as human, an ideology that the institution seems to adhere to completely. "When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man." quotes Anthony Burgess, and this is a quote which I feel is directly correlated to the Synths in this clip.
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