RTW: Uomo d’Acciaio
This week is the last of our YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday/A-to-Z Blogging Challenge mash-ups. Next week, we’ll be back to the regular Road Trip Wednesday. The question this week is:
In Debra Driza’s MILA 2.0, the main character discovers she’s an android trained to obey orders. We want to know: What other human-like robots (or robot-like humans?) have you enjoyed in books, TV, or movies?
Our letter for today is “U” which explains my brief excursion into Italian for the blog title. “Uomo d’Acciaio” literally means “Man of Steel”–in this case a reference to robots, not Superman. A bit of a stretch, perhaps, but it’ll do…
My first thought went to Iko, Cinder’s very likable robot friend and the family factotum, from Marissa Meyer’s “Lunar Chronicles” series. She has a lot of sympathy for Cinder, and is loyal to her. But she also longs to be more like a human. She’s a great character… but in the end I had to go for Marvin, the Paranoid Android, from Douglas Adams’s HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY. Marvin is not actually so much paranoid, as manically depressed. He came with The Heart of Gold, the ship that the heroes of the story hitched a ride on. All the computers and robots on The Heart of Gold have GPP: Genuine People Personalities. The doors are obnoxiously cheerful, and delighted to open for you. Marvin, on the other hand, is like Eeyore on his worst day. And then some. For example:
“Sorry, did I say something wrong? Pardon me for breathing, which I never do anyway so I don’t know why I bother to say it… I’m so depressed. Here’s another one of those self-satisfied doors. Life! Don’t talk to me about life.”
[In response to the question “What are you supposed to do with a manically depressed robot?”]: “You think you’ve got problems… what are you supposed to do if you are a manically depressed robot? No, don’t bother to answer that, I’m fifty thousand times more intelligent than you and even I don’t know the answer. It gives me a headache just trying to think down to your level.”
My favorite screen depiction of Marvin is still the one from the 1981 BBC television series adaptation, voiced by Stephen Moore (see the picture on the right–that’s Marvin, not Stephen Moore, btw). His low, bored, almost monotone fits the character perfectly.
And if the picture’s not enough, here’s a clip I found on YouTube, a little over 4 minutes long, featuring Marvin:
Who’s your favorite literary or screen robot/android/uomo d’acciaio? You can answer in the comments, or better still, join the Road Trip (details at the YA Highway blog)
Both are great choices for this RTW topic. I haven’t read HITCHHIKER for a while, but I remember Marvin being especially funny. (Heck, that entire book was just funny.) I really enjoyed Iko in both CINDER and SCARLET. She was kind of a unique best friend for the also unique MC to have. 🙂
I know it’s a bit spoilery for those who haven’t read SCARLET yet, but I especially like the way she came back. I mean, poor Iko, but it’s so funny! 🙂
I commend you for creatively combining “U” with today’s RTW answer. 🙂 I had forgotten about “The Hitchhiker’s Guide…” Seen the movie, haven’t read the book. How different are they?
I’ve seen clips of the movie, but I should probably watch it all sometime. The BBC TV adaptation of the first two books was excellent, though. They kept fairly close to the books for that, perhaps taking out some plot-lines for the sake of time. The BBC radio adaptation, which preceded the TV series, was probably the most true-to-the-books version.
When I saw this RTW I did immediately think of Cinder. I loved this sci-fi, robotic take on Cinderella, keeping with that idea of being low status and inferior.
I loved Marvin even if he’d think I was maliciously enjoying his depression. I loved film Marvin even more just because Alan Rickman’s voice was so perfect for the role.
Can I also add in K-9? =D I would love to have him as a pet. I’ve only seen him once from the school reunion episode in new Who S2 and fell in love. I’m hoping for a cameo in the 50th anniversary show.
You’re right–here I was thinking of Iko, but Cinder herself would quality. As much as I’m enjoying that series, though, I’m sticking with Marvin. Maybe it’s what I’m used to, but while Alan Rickman was a good choice, I’m afraid I still have a preference for Stephen Moore’s Marvin.
K9! Yes! Absolutely! And you haven’t seen any classic K9 stories? Really?! You should at least hunt down “The Invisible Enemy,” his debut story with the Fourth Doctor and Leela. And I totally expect him to be in the 50th anniversary show–how could he not be?! 🙂
I’ve seen you reference Cinder several times recently…apparently I need to add it to my TBR list! And Marvin is fantastic–the Eeyore comparison is pretty close; a more verbal, more despairing version of Eeyore, anyway.
I see you’re picking up on the CINDER vibe… yeah, I’m really enjoying that series, Rae, and I highly recommend it.
I can just see Eeyore slouching away from Pooh groaning, “Life… don’t talk to me about life…” 🙂
Clever combining!!
Cinder was close for me too but didn’t quite make the cut. Sometimes it’s the past that speaks to us more strongly.
Thanks, Beck! I’ve always been a fan of Marvin, ever since I saw the TV series in the UK when it first aired. Indeed, that Iko even came to mind when I thought of this says something about how good The Lunar Chronicles series is.
I was going to say the only robots I can think of are the Cybermen (can you tell I love Doctor Who?!). Then I saw the comment about K9, and remembered how much I wanted him as a pet. And now, I’ve remembered C3PO and R2D2. I think they are my favourite robots.
I’ve never seen or read the Hitchhiker’s Guide… I think I need to. And, I also didn’t realise Cinder (which I’ve not yet read) was about robots? Have I completely misinterpreted that?
Just from this comment, I know you’ll enjoy CINDER, Anna. Yes, Cinder herself is a cyborg. I highly recommend CINDER to you. 🙂 I also highly recommend HITCHHIKERS to you, too. But at least read the first two books in the series before you see the movie (or the TV series, which is on DVD now).
There haven’t been many likeable friendly robots in the new series of Who, aside from K9. But there were a few in the classic series. D-84 in the story “The Robots of Death” was a great character, and that’s a great story, btw. And there was Kamelion… though he was only in two stories. He was an actual android… well, more animatronics–this was the 1980s after all–but he didn’t work very well IRL, which is why he got limited screen time and was eventually killed off.
After 50 years and well over 200 stories, I’m sure Doctor Who could be an answer to just about any question. 😀
I shall take your recommendation into consideration when I’m next out buying books! I also have to admit now that I didn’t know Hitchhikers was a series, I thought it was just one book… Is that a terrible thing to admit?!
Not at all! The first two books came out in fairly close succession. Then Adams wrote the third in the trilogy a few years later. Much later came the fourth in the trilogy (this is Douglas Adams, remember!). He wrote another book in the series, and Eoin Colfer recently added a sixth to the trilogy. I’ve actually only read the first four books. The original three are the best, though, IMO. 🙂