Week 3: Robotics and Art

It is hard to deny the importance of digital media as on average an individual spends around 480 minutes, or nearly 8 hours a day, consuming digital media (Guttmann). Of this digital media, film “occup[ies] a significant portion” (Kubrak). Films are unique in that they can “communicate complex ideas and emotions that may be difficult to express through words alone” (University, Nirma, and Prakash Gilatar). In modern day, there is a wealth of movies that bridge the gap between robotics and art. 

One example is RoboCop (1987). The main plot of the movie: the humans running the RoboCop operation have poor motives, but RoboCop goes against his “robotic” nature for the greater good. Thus, the film takes a stance against the robotization of humans.  

Via IMDb

This can be related to industrialization, which boomed through the invention and implementation of the assembly line by Ford in 1913 as seen below (Ford Corporate). The assembly line’s indirect premise is that humans became the machinery, with each person involved being one gear/working part of an entire machine. If one person stops, the entire machine stops. This personification of the human body was documented in the film Modern Times (1936), a film in which the main character cannot escape the machinery of the assembly line. In whole, the film highlights “the struggle to eschew alienation and preserve humanity in a modern, mechanized world” (Vance).

This made the jump to humans, conceptually, being robots a clear conclusion which gave rise to later films like RoboCop in which the preservation of humanity is emphasized through the main character’s moral decisions. 

Via The Henry Ford Museum     Via Library of Congress Collection

Works Cited

“The Moving Assembly Line and the Five-Dollar Workday.” Ford Corporate, corporate.ford.com/articles/history/moving-assembly-line.html. Accessed 15 Apr. 2024. 

Guttmann, A. “Time Spent with Digital vs. Traditional Media in the U.S. 2025.” Statista, 29 Aug. 2023, www.statista.com/statistics/565628/time-spent-digital-traditional-media-usa/. 

Kubrak, Tina. “Impact of Films: Changes in Young People's Attitudes after Watching a Movie.” Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) vol. 10,5 86. 2 May. 2020, doi:10.3390/bs10050086

University, Nirma, and Prakash Gilatar. “Cinema - a Powerful Tool of Communication.” Institute of Design, 12 Sept. 2023, design.nirmauni.ac.in/cinema-a-powerful-tool-of-communication/#:~:text=Also%2C%20cinema%20is%20a%20storytelling,communicate%20complex%20themes%20and%20ideas. 

Vance, J. Film Essay for “Modern Times,” www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/modern_times.pdf. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.

Comments

  1. Mallory McMillinApril 18, 2024 at 1:31 PM

    Hi Bailey,
    I think you did a great job at dissecting the relationship between digital media, particularly films and the themes of humanity's interaction with technology. I like how you used the film Robocop as an example! Great Job
    -Mallory McMillin

    ReplyDelete

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