Tech

‘After Yang’ explores the meaning of life through a broken android


In the film After Yang, a father goes to great lengths to save his daughter’s best friend. As it happens, the object is a humanoid robot, or technosapien, named Yang. He’s practically a member of the family, but at the end of the day, he’s basically a device. Is he easily replaceable, and what is the value of his artificial life? Like a cross between Black mirror and Spike Jonze’s Hers, After Yang explores humanity and existence through the lens of technology, while director Kogonada (Columbus) creates a vision of the future that feels truly different.

After a masterful opening scene where families compete in a virtual dance competition in their living room, Yang (Justin H. Min) has a problem. He’s not just a robotic butler; he’s a cultural technosapien aiming to help Jake’s adopted daughter, Mika (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja), learn about her Chinese heritage. Mika has a stronger relationship with Yang, who practically raised her. And for reasons that weren’t obvious at the outset, Jake is a bit disconnected from his family and struggles with a midlife crisis. (Running a traditional teahouse in the future will do the same for you.) Saving Yang is both an attempt to connect with Mika, and to appease his overworked wife Kyra (Jodie). Turner-Smith), who is worried about her listless husband.

Stories around artificial creatures and cyborgs are nothing new – they are rooted in the legends of the early Jewish golem, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. But today, it seems only a matter of time until we live alongside our own personal cyborgs. Robot vacuum cleaner is we often give voice commands on our phones and and even Tesla claims that it (although at this point, it’s basically ). So it’s worth exploring how androids can influence our home lives, where they take on the role of childcare and companionship.

Jake’s Yang repair journey isn’t much different from what we go through to repair a computer or smartphone today. He tried to contact the store he bought it from, but it’s no longer in business. The Yang has also been refurbished, which opens the door to surprising problems (something buyers of used electronics are all too familiar with).

It turns out that Yang had more than one previous owner, and he’s basically lived a long (and somewhat tragic) life. He’s also a test model that can capture small bits of memory, similar to the little videos we see in Apple’s Live Photos. As Jake learns more about Yang, he realizes that he is a thinking creature with a fully formed personality. Not only is he a bot to help keep an eye on his show, he’s also incredibly curious about the world around him.

After Yang is a quiet film, filled with contemplative silences and Farrell’s (not bad) disapproving gaze. Kogonada manages to build a world that feels completely different from our own, without the flashy holograms and special effects we see in sci-fi movies. less like . Everyone wears loose, robe-like clothing. There is a strong Japanese influence in all environments, from the Muji-esque minimalism and organic materials in their home, to the natural wood and mini garden on the self-driving car. It’s a much more advanced world than ours – genetically optimized clones also appear – but it also blends in with nature, like futuristic sci-fi close through the eyes of Hayao Miyazaki.

The fusion of the natural and man-made worlds reflects how an artificial being like Yang begins to become more human. It’s clear he’s motivated by some sort of artificial intelligence, but the film doesn’t say whether his designers have managed to recreate a form of consciousness. Yang is programmed with facts about China, as well as language lessons for Mika, but he speaks more like a wise friend than a robot teacher.

Like Blade Runner, it seems that Yang is fully aware of his limitations. He can show feelings and emotions towards people, but maybe he doesn’t have the full range of human emotions. He’s also chasing the unknowable, in the same way that Farrell’s character finds himself drawn to selling and exploring the world of tea, even though he’s not an avid tea fanatic. It’s clear that both characters are searching for some meaning in their lives, but Yang has made peace with his existence in a way that Jake admires (and struggles with himself).

In a world where we actually have robotic companions, it’s not hard to imagine that we would form deep bonds and mourn their deaths. Losing your robot can end up being as traumatic as losing a dear pet. But that would also reflect a world where our androids can also profoundly influence our lives. They are not just household items – they will be family.

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