Is Foe just a reboot of a Black Mirror episode?
Summary
- Foe and a Black Mirror episode share similarities in exploring the concept of replacing loved ones with lifelike artificial beings.
- Foe focuses on the before aspect of this concept, while the Black Mirror episode focuses on the after.
- In dealing with artificial beings, the enemy could better explore the idea of replacement and the complexities of loyalty and marriage.
New and interesting ideas are always circulating in Hollywood. However, sometimes they are adopted by more than one studio at the same time. This is often referred to as “parallel thinking”. Now to the movie Enemy is published by Amazon Studios.
The problem is that it looks a lot more like a recent episode of black mirror as Netflix probably likes.
Black Mirror and Beyond the Sea
“Beyond the Sea” was the title of the third episode of the sixth season black mirror. The series, known for using future technologies to explore psychological issues, chose this episode to take a look at the nature of loneliness and the importance of relationships.
In the episode Cliff played by Aaron Paul (breaking Bad) and David, played by Josh Hartnett (Oppenheimer), astronauts are on a long mission in an alternate 1960s timeline. Their journey is so long that they have been given the opportunity to use a new technology that allows them to transfer their consciousness into a fully robotic but lifelike body on Earth.
In this capacity, they may have the opportunity to continue interacting with their loved ones. This allows them a different experience than a normal astronaut, who often feels trapped in a capsule for decades.
However, when a terrible incident occurs on Earth, the two men decide to use the same body, leading Cliff’s wife (Kate Mara, Call Jane) back to Earth, where she falls in love with the other man in her husband’s body.
what is enemy
Enemy is a film starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal as Henrietta and Junior. In the film, a man named Terrance (Aaron Pierre) comes to her family’s farm and offers them a rare opportunity. He wants to invite Junior on a two-year mission into space. However, Henriette is not invited to accompany him.
When Junior protests and says he can’t leave Henriette alone that long, Terrence has a solution. He will create a fully realistic version of Junior based on his DNA and personality. It will live in his house and serve as a substitute for his wife.
The film takes a close look at the nature of relationships, marriage and isolation. It’s also a film that does all of this using future technology.
Similarities galore
As the descriptions suggest, these two projects are eerily similar. In fact, that seems to be the only difference Enemy will focus on the “before”. aspect of this type of project, while Beyond the Sea focuses on the “after”. Enemy will examine the process of dealing with a partner in a relationship that may not be as good as one might think. It is about defining the positive and negative aspects to explore the human experience marked by a fragile marriage.
Beyond the Sea focused more on a person who loses their family and their attempt to recover from that loss. This case isn’t about moving forward in a troubled marriage, but rather a look at what it’s like to have a more caring personality in the body of a loved one. It’s an odd take on the situation where there’s the best of both worlds.
The question is also whether Enemy will give Henrietta a chance to find a better partner for herself, using the shell of the man she once truly loved. In Beyond the Sea, the physical body is artificial, but the individual is still able to be themselves, rather than completely replacing them. In Enemy, we are dealing with a complete replacement. So why shouldn’t Henrietta try to improve her situation than she already is?
Will one be better than the other?
The question of quality is strange in this situation since one was a single episode of a television series and the other was a fully realized film. However, in stars of similar caliber, the two are essentially the same length. So it might not be a difficult comparison.
The idea of a relationship with an artificial being is becoming more and more interesting to people as the fear of AI grows. The first piece is replaced at the job level. The second reason is the fear that people will choose an artificial partner that they can program to their own specifications. The fear of replacement is very real for some people. However, if the replacement is both physical and mental, it can be even worse. Therefore, these two projects use the same methods to investigate slightly different parts of the problem.
Besides that, Enemy I’ll most likely explore the concept better. It’s quite compelling to watch one person grapple with the idea of being replaced while the other struggles with the idea of being left behind. There’s a little trick in “Beyond the Sea” by letting the actual person take control of their artificial body. But with that betrayal removed, it’s a serious question of loyalty, the promise that comes with marriage, and the notion that someone (something?) better will emerge with your best qualities and none of your bad qualities. Part of marriage is accepting that a loved one has flaws. It is understood. But if you can eliminate these shortcomings, then there is no comparison.
Beyond the Sea asked some very profound questions about why we love someone. Enemy will ask questions about why we choose to stay with someone when suddenly we have the opportunity to do something else.
The two projects raise a profound question: would you choose to stay with someone if you suddenly had the opportunity to have a better version of them? But at the end, Enemy I’m going to take that question and put it in the hands of two people who are already questioning the nature of their relationship.
black mirror is available on NetflixAnd Enemy hits theaters on October 6th.
