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Bicentennial Man—A Soul to Remember: A Study in Accommodation

Editor's note -- This paper was originally for my Cross-Cultural Study in Psychology class.

An Introduction
Image from Columbia Pictures
The below pages are an excerpt from my thesis, Just Another Day In Paradise: In Science fiction America—The Signs and Symbols of the American Life Mythology (unpublished), and from the movie, Bicentennial Man—based on the Robert Silverberg and Isaac Asimov story, The Positronic Man. The main character, Andrew, within the movie wants to be declared human, he is android that has gain sentient, and wishes to marry the love of his life—Portia. In the below passages, is the extrapolation of how western-American culture transmits its primary religion, Christianity, values and beliefs through the guise of science fiction. Andrew’s journey of self-discovery is the examination of human condition in psychological terms: from his accommodating to his acculturation of his own ethnic identity. In the case of Andrew, his ethnicity is tied to his identity of being an android, whose programs seem to have gone beyond their initial instructions and have cascaded into the creation of original thoughts, but is still locked into the logical formation of their schemas. Andrew is learning to go beyond these schemas and become more of an emotional being as the below pages will illustrate.
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(excerpted pages 100-105)
Chapter 6
One is Glad to be of Service
I can’t help being differential! It’s built in!
Then change!
Change? I have changed!
I don’t mean on the outside, change on the inside! Take chances! Make mistakes!
Mistakes?!
Yes! Sometimes it’s important not to be perfect, Okay?! It’s important to do the wrong thing…!
To do the wrong thing?
Yes!
Why? Oh! I see to learn from your mistakes…
No! To make them! To find out what’s real and what’s not! To find out what you feel?! Human beings are terrible messes, Andrew…
I grant you that …
I see this is what is known as an irrational conversation, isn’t it?
No! This is a human conversation. It’s not about being rational. It’s about following your heart.
And, that what’s what I should do?
Yes! And you do have a heart, Andrew, you do! I feel it! I don’t even believe it sometimes, but I do feel it!
In order to follow that heart one must do the wrong thing?
Yes.
Thank you.
(A conversation with the android Andrew Martin and his paramour Portia)
The above dialog is from the movie Bicentennial Man, which has been adapted from the Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg story, The Positronic Man,and one of my favorite movies in exploring the human condition. Apart from the emotional heartstrings the movie pulls to manipulate the audience, and apart from the bittersweet ending, it has a very powerful testimonial regarding family, companionship, and love; but, it also is an allegory for what it means to be sentient, what is the meaning of life; and, what does it mean to be human.
It is this exercise of what it means to be human, that Isaac Asimov and the movie explores; he also asks, when does one “become”, or “aware”? He wants the audience to extrapolate from his exaggeration of the possibility that “we are all machines in part.” Therefore, the story begins, a “household appliance,”[1]which happens to be a robot, is delivered to the all American home of the Martins. He is the “newest addition” to the family. The children, who are two girls, and the wife, do not know what to make of him. Little Miss names the robot quite by accident, by asking, “what is an Andrew,” while trying to say android. So begins the story.
After a couple fits and starts with girls and the mother (the father, if not stated earlier, is the one who purchased the robot) begins to find a routine, he serves them their meals, puts them to bed, and watches over them, while at the beach. He is for all practical purposes—a butler. In a stirring moment, at the beach with Little Miss, he accidentally breaks one of her crystal horses. She is angry with him. And, somehow, understands her pain and tries making it up to her; he has a robot epiphany. He suddenly comprehends that he can carve her a wooden horse by looking at piece of wood he finds on the beach. When questioned by the parents as to where he get the design or copied it from, he says, “One simply looked at the wood until one had the design one sought.” This is the first sign that Andrew is not quite what he appears. The family begins to project a quality of emotion with the robot. Sir, the father, at one point catches Andrew listening to opera. He realizes that the robot is unique and brings it to the attention of the manufacturer. However, when confronted with this information, he wants to “examine” Andrew, to “understand” what makes the robot “unique.” The father does not want the robot harmed; he becomes protective of it, as if it was one of his children. The father understands that Andrew is unique as a robot, and since he is a robot his potential is infinite, and because he is virtually immortal with proper maintenance, Andrew has potentiality goes beyond man—and possibly into the eternal, the spiritual, into the aesthetic of god. Thus, Andrew’s owner, Sir, would instruct the robot, all the knowledge of the classics and beyond.
As time goes by Andrew learns to play the piano, to make clocks, which is the father’s occupation, read and write, and he eventually begins to earn his own money. The question was asked by the mother, “What does a robot need to earn money for?” The answer comes in the form of a demonstration, when the father takes the robot to his lawyer to find out if he can open up a bank account. The lawyer asks why, of course. Andrew responds, “That he wants to pull one’s own weight, in order to buy supplies for the materials that he uses” to make clocks and carvings. This is the first indication that liberties for the mechanized being will be difficult to obtain. Andrew and his “family” must continue to argue against the prejudices of his uniqueness. This is a subtle analogy for racism against robots and for humans.
At one point, this analogy is revealed in the relationship of Andrew and Little Miss who have a bond that seems to go beyond friendship, implying that she has fallen in love with him, but she realizes that “she cannot invest her emotions into a machine” something her father once said to her. She gets married, has children, while the ever-reliable Andrew stands by the Martin family. Years go by, when the robot comes to the realization that, he is not free; his original “master,” Sir, releases him from his obligation to the family, although reluctantly. Sir feels abandoned and betrayed, because both girls have grown up and left the house; now, Andrew wants to be “free.” He thinks that the robot is ungrateful for all that he has done for him, but Andrew denies this: “I will still perform what Sir wants. One merely wants to purchase his freedom.” Andrew gives Sir a check with all the money in his bank account; Sir is flabbergasted with confusion.
Then Little Miss enters, she has always been a major advocate for Andrew, and her father believes he understands why the robot has asked for his freedom. She denies her direct involvement, and replies, “No Dad! I am not the one who put him up to this, you did! When you gave Andrew all those books to read, it was just a matter of time, before he asked for his freedom.”
Sir eventually acquiesces, but he tells Andrew, “You must live elsewhere,” because his feelings are hurt. This is a bit of irony; remember, what he told Little Miss, “You cannot invest your emotions into a machine.” Nonetheless, that is exactly what has happened; Sir, feelings are hurt because Andrew is the son he never had. Sir returns the check to Andrew. He has “displaced” (projected) all the expectations of a son onto the robot. Only when Sir is about to die does he forgive himself and Andrew. The death spurs the robot to seek out others of his kind, to find out if there is another like himself. It takes twenty-years of sojourning across the globe only to find the son of the creator of his facial features, and why Andrew able to display emotions, from where he started—his home. There he is able to upgrade from robot to android. The difference is, he is now able to have full digits fingers, toes, teeth, mouth, and hair; Andrew returns to his “family,” after his makeover, to find a young adult Portia (who is not Little Miss) playing the piano. He startles her. Andrew and her are initially confused, because for him, she looks just like Little Miss as a young woman. Moments later, Little Miss, now decades older, comes in to see what happening, seeing the new upgraded Andrew and happily greets him. Portia watches her grandmother, watches the affinity that is between them, and watches with curiosity, as they visit with one another, the interaction of old friends catching up.
Time continues to march on. Andrew and Portia become friends. Little Miss dies after having stroke. Andrew says to Portia, “It is cruel that you can cry and I cannot” he later ask, “Will all human beings I care for die?” Portia nods, “That won’t do.” Andrew stiffly replies. He goes to the Rupert, the son of the creator,with designs for “replacement” parts not only for himself, but for humanity. He creates a central nervous system and begins to “sense” the world around him. He does this because Andrew understands that part of being human requires the ability to express emotions and the feelings that are felt inside one’s person.
The symbolic feelings within Bicentennial Man, of love, of companionship, and aspiring to be greater than the sum of one’s part, and what means to be human are intrinsic to the transmission of western-American cultural values; and, throughout the movie, Andrew explores these traits with great fascination, along with relationships, humor, pain, death, love, and the quality of life. Thus, finding himself being defined by those who have a familial relationship with him as well as by the community that surrounds him; in turn, leads Andrew to the World Court, so he can be acknowledged as a human being, in order to marry his life long paramour and companion—Portia.
His appearance before the court brings Andrew to a finality of lucidity of the human condition, when the judge tells him, “Humanity may be willing to tolerate an immortal robot, but is unable to tolerate an immortal human: it would foster too much jealousy and anger.” He realizes what he must do. His appreciation of the human condition comes in a illuminating conversation with Portia that she does not want to live forever—and her vocalization that there is “order to things” brings Andrew to the realization that in order to fully accommodate he must become mortal. He must be able to die to, in order for humanity to finally embrace him as human. This is one of Andrew’s final acts of acculturation and assimilation that he takes within into his own consciousness as he remembers his father figure Sir telling him about his potential as android. So, he uses blood to deteriorate his system, when he asks his friend how long he has to live, his friend Rupert tells him thirty or forty years depending how well he takes care of himself. Andrew responds, “That is kind of vague, chief.” Rupert responds, “Welcome to the human condition.” The dual message of sacrifice and compassion has now been transmitted when he appears to the authority of the World Congress before his and Portia’s deaths. He is, in a sense, martyring himself, in order for humanity to recognize his own humanity.
In sum, when Andrew uses the blood to degrade his system, this symbol is a Christian metaphor of letting the blood wash away the passion and the sins of technology and to sacrifice his immortality and shows the World Congress that he is worthy. Thus, illustrating, as he stands before the World Congress as an “old man,” his mortality and willingness to be martyred as an android to be declared human honors what is most sacred to humanity—life. Therefore the messages, within the movie, are “projected” to the audience are ones of: service, sacrifice, compassion, curiosity, companionship, love, and tolerance; and thereby, in turn, deployingthe best virtues of humanity within the model of western-American culture set.
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More Than a Tool
The above excerpt is to reiterate the examination, and, the extrapolation of the human condition through the vehicle of science fiction. A medium, of which, cultural values and beliefs that are not ordinarily challenged in the convention of social discourse are viewed in the lens of science fictive narrative. The cultural adaptation that Andrew goes through, assimilation and accommodation, are gradual yet profound. At the very beginning, the metaphor in which the character develops, show Andrew being constructed, or many Andrews being manufactured, to illustrate that he is nothing more than a simple tool—a machine that people use. But from the moment he is turned on, we see through his eyes, a coming into being, a birth, if you will, that something unique is about to happen. The naming of him by the littlest sibling, Little Miss, by the mispronounced word of android to Andrew signals to the audience and the family that he is to be humanized. He is therefore more than a tool.
As a tool, however, Andrew can be dehumanized and therefore relegated to insignificance, standing outside the normative society and deemed as a non-member. Andrew’s growth from the moment he is turned on until his eventuated death provides us, the viewer, the potential showing of the human spirit and condition. Nevertheless, in the beginning, Andrew had to learn how to adapt into the family structure of everyday life; in many ways, he was a neophyte, learning the dynamics of etiquette, and his role within the family social hierarchy—essentially assimilating the information in order to fit in his role as servant. At the same time, his curiosity to learn, to understand, and to create is part of his self-perception. He wants to feed his “hunger” for acculturation to the other; those that he serves and make up part of his ethnic identity, and in part, are entwined to his programming or schemas in which he formulates the ideals and beliefs that he learns from the family.
Andrew gains self-esteem, life experiences, and personal interactive disposition, in which the characters of Little Miss and Portia “invest emotion”[2] into a “robot.” Andrew’s journey throughout the movie is one of predictability, his character’s development of self-actualization and transformation is done through a series of “Ahha” moments as illustrated earlier in the opening dialog of this essay, but there are others. For instance, when he arbitrarily decides to repair an old crank-handle record turntable to listen to opera, to his decision to continue wear clothes, after being asked to be usher at Little Miss’s wedding, or when he decides to seek out his own kind in order to find another like himself, is not only adopting to his familial role but he also showing varying coping styles from his primary and secondary environments.
He, Andrew, is developing social structure outside of himself, albeit a small one, His ability to plan, to express beyond initial programmed schemas, to participate in activities are similarly mechanized, but they are genuine and authentic in their display of emotion and his acculturation to other members of society. He adopts the strategy of isolation, after he is given his freedom by Sir, but his accommodation of family and friends (which are few) allows him to have his own community of peers.
The Factor of Five
In studying psychology cross culturally, a number of characteristics were found to be present, but have broken down into taxonomically into five categories: neuroticism, extraversion, openness (to experience), agreeableness, and conscientiousness. This is known as the Five Factor Model (FFM) (Robert R. McCrae 2002). And, depending on the level of intensity of the varying categories, an individual’s personality can be ascertained or predicated by these factors. Therefore by extension, the individuals, which makeup the society, will reflect the culture’s overall identity and predictability within the template of the FFM (McCrae 2002).
In the movie, Bicentennial Man, the character of Andrew reflects the underlying characteristics of his culture writ-large, at first on a micro level, and then later, on a macro-level. Andrew is enculturated by the family of the Martins, in particularly by Sir and Little Miss, their interactions with Andrew, aid the development of the FFM traits (McCrae 2002). Admittedly, some of the factors of Andrew were programmed into him, such as conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness; however, though these traits are high within his schemas, his ability for extraversion and neuroticism were developed out of his need to express his curiosity and fascination with humanity—and the need for him to be considered human.
Andrew development then, is predestined and preset by the culture that programmed him, and the culture that later enculturates him, his immediate family—the Martins—and by the surrounding community that acculturates him, in which he later interacts with by establishing a bank account, so he can “pull his own weight” and not have to be dependent on Sir’s generosity. His ability to accommodate and integrate new concepts and values demonstrates his openness, but also his neuroticism being modest and even-tempered emotionally shows his development within the story of Bicentennial Man, Andrew’s FFM traits are nuanced.
In addition, aspects of Andrew’s character are reflected visually within the movie, showing the various technologies, transportations, and buildings as being in balance with nature. The aesthetics of using light and colors reflect the coolness and evenness of a culture that seeks rationality, but also seem to look for and understand the need for contentment and happiness.
Thus, to find contentment, to find happiness, the characteristics of a sentient being is therefore the capability to fend for oneself, to think in the abstract, and to adopt and adapt to the environment to fit one’s need; such as the use of tools both psychological and physical—Andrew does this. The FFM, in which Andrew displays, seems to have been just over the edge of moderation to one side or the other with the exception of openness to new experiences (McCrae 2002) that has been heightened in order to extrapolate the human condition in its penultimate transformation for good.
Cross-Cultural Symbols
Symbols throughout Bicentennial Man are put in display through its use of music, light, color, and the relationships that Andrew develops; and as mentioned before, the movie is the study of the human condition, in which it contrasts the human element against that of Andrew’s robotic programming. In the early stages of Andrew’s enculturation, the viewers sees that his understanding is no more than that of a small child, but his learning curve potential is exponential.
Along the continuum of potentiality and cultural processing, Andrew moves from one end to the other, from assimilation to acculturation, to find a static middle, a moderation of normality. This is part of cultural processing, if you will, is to find a homeostasis that entreats the individuals within a society to comply. In other words, cultures, societies, implore the actors and participants, individuals, to not only engage in the acceptance of cultural norms, but to also, retransmit those ideals and values to individuals that are not fully aware, such as children or sentient robots, of the social contract that has been passed down through cultural traditions. The social contract, universally cross-culturally then, are the agreed to norms that a culture or society has determined to adapt to and the adoption of the natural and metaphysical environments in order to create a homeostasis (balance) necessary for it to survive.
Andrew’s development, however, is not only a measure of cross-cultural study, but is an intra-cultural study, of how western-American culture set transmits its values, beliefs, and traditions. The avocation of capitalism, freedom, free will, and the right of free expression is prevalent throughout the movie. For instance, by Sir teaching the “classics” to Andrew it is imparted to the audience that a sentient being, whether as a robot or “natural born,” who have self-awareness, and an abstract sense of self, are entitled to the knowledge of their own self-endowed liberties and dignities of life: shelter, warmth, food, water, and education.
Admittedly, the education that is provided to Andrew is to give him an under-standing of how humans’ interacts with one another, and to give him a sense of purpose and self-awareness; and, through this process of learning what it means to interact with other humans, Andrew also learns intra-culturally, as stated before, the values, ideals, and beliefs of the Western-American culture set—although it is implied inherently within the movie that some of eastern mysticism has been incorporated by the West. Again, this is shown visually through technology of transportation and the implicit interjection of “collectivism” of the World Congress and World Court when they rule on Andrew’s status of being human.
However, an argument can be made that since the character of Andrew is a robot that there are some “cross-cultural” comparisons between technology and humanity, but only, if one anthropomorphizes the machines within the environment, such as the robots used within Bicentennial Man, then it becomes rather easy to humanize the technology one has created. It also becomes easier to compare one self culturally by attaching human emotions to inanimate objects, an investment of emotion can be justified, and thereby the labeling of the “other” can be rationalized. This is in turn, is what happened to the character of Andrew within the movie; his character is inside out. In other words, although he has been incorporated within the human society, he is an outsider to them as well. He has to make the extra effort to be accepted; the mother’s to reaction to Andrew initially was that of a person being threaten. She feels that her position as caretaker is being taken away from her, only to realize, that her position has been enhanced with her daughters and husband, because she has more “quality time” to spend with them. The other instances of enculturation for Andrew is his attendance at Little Miss wedding, his dancing at a ball with Portia, his development of a sensory, by his invention, of a nervous system to name a few.
But it is his interactions with his friend Rupert that shows how Andrew development captures the subtlety of his intra-cultural inclusion. His friend does not objectify Andrew as mechanical object, but as a confidante, a sentient being that has feelings and as a person that he respects. The growth of their friendship is like any other, at times, it appears to be strained, while at other times, there is a closeness that reflects a brotherly love; nevertheless, it is this fluctuation of their relationship that reveals cultural examination within Andrew’s character in the movie—and a mirror to the beliefs, values, and ideals that we, the western-American culture set, hold prevalent.
Andrew’s ethnic identity from being a robot, to an android, and finally human is displayed from assimilation to accommodation. He has to adjust to a new level of assimilation and acculturation at each transformative moment. In his robot form, he had to learn to what it meant to be part of a familial unit, while at the same time be a “servant” within the human constraints. Yet, Andrew had the “freedom” to be express his original thoughts, “feelings,” and curiosity and interacts with the family as a person, in part, because, Sir, the father gave instruction to that effect. On the other side, is the family’s reaction to Andrew as a robot, he is considered property, a person, but a non-contributing member within the society other than things he makes at the discretion of the family. Again remember the mother’s remarks of “What does a robot need money for,” or the reaction of the manufacturer upon the discovery that Andrew may be flawed, because he displays a sense of uniqueness. Of course, the manufacture’s concern is that of liability, and the possibility of that their line of robots might be considered defective, if considered emotionally capable of “running amok.” Thus, Andrew’s assimilation into human society on a base level is no more than him, in psychological terms, “fitting” his initial program schemas to adapt to the surrounding human world; albeit with spark of curiosity and originality.
In his android form, Andrew not only learns to adapt, but he begins to adopt human traits, such as fingers, toes, and a true face and facial fixtures. He eventually becomes a full sensory being by the integration of a nervous system, bringing him ever closer to the status of human. It is this development that leads Andrew to his final accommodation of what it means to be human and the cultural values that surrounded him by being developing a circulatory system.
Conclusion
In sum, the character development of Andrew is tied to his transformation, not only physically, but also psychologically. He learns to adapt and adopt his schemas from assimilation to accommodation, which he integrates along the continuum of his emotional development. He incorporates the Five Factor Model of personal traits into his being, and goes beyond them, to his actualization of becoming the human representation for good. This realization of Andrew’s character allows us then, the viewer, to see not only what is good about us, but our flaws as well; his is the penultimate vessel of our own humanity and the human condition.
Definition of Terms
Accommodation – is to change one’s mental schemas (programs) in order to fit one’s personal experiences.
Acculturation – a process of “cultural fitting” of significant life changes during cross-cultural transitions that leads to the appraisal of these changes and the selection and implementation of strategies to cope with them. Thus, acculturation is the availability for adaptation through life changes without losing one’s identity.
Agreeableness – is a person that is affable, trusts, compassionate, modest, and generally good natured to other’s differing viewpoints and positions.
Assimilation – the taking in of new information and having it fit into one’s mental schemas.
Conscientiousness –a person that takes great care, that is careful, or meticulous in the feeling of others, or in the work the work they do, such as: for a job, or providing care for others.
Ethnic Identity – is a dynamic state, an ongoing process, in relation to one’s adaptive personal resources, such as: coping styles, self-esteem, developmental state, and/or disposition.
Extraversion – is a person that is outgoing, lively, cheerful, sociable, charming, generally gregarious, and assertive. Opposing definition is a person that is considered an introvert, who is somber and taciturn (McCrae, 2002).
Five-Factor Model – is a comprehensive taxonomy of personality traits, which are tendencies to show consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions (McCrae, 2002).
Intra-Cultural – is the studying of the internal mechanizations of a culture from observable societal indices, such as popular media, religion, shared values, beliefs, ideals, and ethnic identification.
Neuroticism –is a person that, in general terms, anxious, that can be phobic, and fixated on irrational fears and concerns. When neuroticism is low, a person is calm, and even-tempered, and emotionally stable.
Openness – is a person that is curious, original, artistic, open to new experiences, but they are also honest, and sincere. Opposite definition is a person that is closed to new experiences, and in psychological terms, conventional and down-to-earth (McCrae, 2002).
Personal Traits – as defined by Robert McCrae (2002), “the dimensions of individual differences in tendencies to show consistent patterns of thoughts, feelings, and actions.”
Bibliography
20002 McCrae, Robert R., Cross-cultural Research on the Five-factor Model of Personality, Lonner, W. J., Dinnel, D. L., Sattler, D. N (Eds.), Online Readings in Psychology and Culture (Unit 6, Chapter 1), (http://www.wwu.edu/~culture), Center for Cross-Cultural Research, Western Washington University: Bellingham, Washington USA.
(2006) Stewart, Gregory, Just Another Day in Paradise: In Science Fiction America—The Signs and Symbols of the American Life Mythology, (unpublished).
Movie Credits (abbreviated)
1999 Bicentennial Man, Chris Columbus (director), based on Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg story, The Positronic Man, Nicholas Kazan (screenplay), Wolfgang Peterson, Gail Katz, Laurence Mark, Neal Miller, Chris Miller, Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan (producers), Robin Williams (Andrew), Embeth Davidtz (Little Miss/Portia-adult), Sam Neill (Sir), Wendy Crewson (Maam), Oliver Platt (Rupert), Hallie Kate Eisenberg (Little Miss-7yrs Old)—(actors).



[1] This is a reference from the manufacturer of Andrew as being no more significant than a “household appliance” in the movie. Andrew later, of course, in the movie proves to be anything but, as Andrew has to come in for a repair and facial upgrades. Sir informs the manufacturer, if anything nefarious happens to Andrew, there is an alarm to alert the police. Andrew, asks while his is “in the shop” could he get upgrades to his face so he could he express what he “feels.”
[2] This is a running quote from the movie, first from Sir, saying to his daughter, “one cannot invest emotions into a robot, then daughter, when she realizes she can’t marry Andrew, and then Portia, when she later reveals early in their relationship, she can’t invest her emotions in robot. Andrew, says to himself that “it must be genetic.”

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