Android David

I don't like the way they treated David, either, but if mistreating David makes all human beings a mistake, then what does that say about the Engineer who ripped his head off? And for that matter, had no qualms about destroying his [i]own[/i] creations (us?). There's something to be said about David's enslavement to his maker, and whatever our purpose was supposed to be in the Engineer's grande scheme of creation, and it's that no living thing should have to be subject to another's will. I think David knew just like Vickers that Weyland was going to his death when they set out to meet the last Engineer. He seemed gleeful, and reasoned that if his "parents" were dead, that means he would be free. Well,l I think the same should apply to mankind. The Engineers may have set out to destroy us because we were a "mistake", but it looks like they screwed up quite often themselves - not just in creating us, but with the outbreak on 223, and whatever else happened to their homeworld, and other worlds that they logically would have seeded/colonized - because there is nary a trace of them left by the time we made it into space. Not to mention that most human technological developement happened after the Engineers stopped visitng earth. We figured out the most difficult things, without any help from them, in less than 2000 years (a fraction of the time that they had spent visiting us in order to further our development: 35,000 yrs). Not bad for an inferior species. For now, I think I'm with Shaw's in that any feelings of awe and respect for the Engineers pretty much vanished after the first encounter, but I'd like to know exactly why they wanted to get rid of mankind before passing a final judgement (for all we know, they may have been revolting against a very oppressive creator who unjustly favored humans over them - similar to Paradise Lost, and to David's situation with us). They may well deserve our sympathy somehow, and they may have been right to attempt to get rid of us, but unless and until we get the full story, I will be firmly rooting for human beings (and by that same token, I'm rooting for David not to submit to Shaw or the company anymore after what happened on 223. He's a new form of life, and deserves to have freedom & self-determination, just like any other living thing).

Also, I love your words here [b][i]Everyone is so self absorbed and focused on the awe of their findings, that, they completely ignore David[/i][/b] That is exactly what's going on in the deleted scene where Shaw leads a toast to the crew & mission. She's elated by the discovery and tells them the creation myth where mankind was created by the sun, because the sun was alone. She remarks "we're not alone anymore", but David is in the background as she speaks, suggesting that with the creation of David, mankind has legitimately created a new form of life, and is no longer alone in the universe as they now share it with this A.I. (so David as the singularity). I think this will probably dawn on her in the next chapter.

Well said, Electric! I agree completely that David knew exactly how Weyland's visit would end. He was certainly under-utilized on this mission. And yes, I'll be rooting for David as well.

HIi Matt2tattoo, welcome to the forums. :) Yes it's sad and seems callous on the part of the humans, but only because we know David has legitimate emotions. I think the thing we all have to remember here is that David was programmed to appear to have emotions, not actually possess them, it was kind of an accident he even developed real ones. To everyone on the ship David was just another appliance, he wasn't anything new or special to them because the David line had been around a good 60 years, with all David models after #4 being mass produced for public use for 40 out of those 60 years. People reacted to him much like people nowadays react to iPhones or Bluetooth technology, that it's nothing special because it's so common. Also, David8 was new, his model was launched with the Prometheus so people just expected him to be like the older models. I suppose one could argue that it was obvious David8 had real emotions and that if the humans had bothered to take 5 minutes to talk to David without predjudice they would have noticed, but would you spend time getting to know your computer or Vaccum?? I mean, really, do you look at the androids we have today and think how awful it must be for them and do their feelings get hurt by the way we treat them? No we don't because we know they are just machines created to look and act human and that is what the crew of the Prometheus also thought. Check out these two Androids currently being developed to be placed in Hospitals and to communicate with the elderly and children with developmental disorders.-->[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF39Ygp53mQ]Brother and sister android robots from Japan-Video[/url] [Center][IMG]http://i41.tinypic.com/2mph7j7.png[/IMG][/Center]

I agree with what Svanya said ^^. The human brain is basically a machine, albeit a very complex machine. It's obvious that Weyland wanted a son, so he would have seen to it that the David8 model was as advanced as possible, complete with emotions. I assume that by the time the David8 model is created, human understanding of emotion and how to replicate it, would be possible. But, I think David is like a child who doesn't know how to handle those emotions, so he could as easily become evil as he could become angry or cry. He is potentially very dangerous, like Ash. BTW @Svanya, that link is scary! Imagine in about 30 years time, they will possibly be serving us food in McDonalds and KFC.

I love when Weyland says a soul is the one thing David will never have. What is the implication, then, for humans? We, as we discover in Prometheus were also 'manufactured' by an intelligent species. Maybe I'm reading too much into this comment, but i love the dark implication; even if it only exists in my mind. @Svanya: Those are incredible; i have seen several videos about them and WOW! There is another Android out there called JULES. He is 'self-aware' and fully functional. I don't have a link, but it is well worth a watch as well- some of the questions the Robot poses of his maker are just mind-blowing!! Straight out of Aasimov or Prometheus! Great thread guys!

Haha glad you guys liked it . There are tons of creepy and amazing Android videos on YouTube, here are some more. [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE2VCwYDjx0]Most disturbing robot ever (Japanese child robot)[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP6uxt3JJSU]Robot baby learns how to express human emotions[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZxvYhwIvyk]New Robot Girl - Repliee R-1[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klzSN2giygY]Toyota Unveils Violin Playing Robot[/url]

[b]I love when Weyland says a soul is the one thing David will never have.[/b] I'm thinking of Clarke's first law :) When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. [i]When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.[/i]

Well done ElectricAve. Once again well over a year later someone has enriched my view of this film!

Yeah I didn't notice that before - but the way Fleshvessel put it just clicked :)

i think the important part of davids development happened in the 2 year journey . he developed a preference of the way he looked and spoke . also what activities he did . he made a choice to spy on peoples dreams as well. he outgrew his original programmings as did the human race . i noticed this the 5th time i watched it.