MovieChat Forums > Surrogates (2009) Discussion > Why are surrogates all neat well-groomed...

Why are surrogates all neat well-groomed supermodels?

posted 14 years ago by heghofo
21 replies | jump to latest

I think it makes little sense. The human sense of aesthetics does not develop like that.

Now, everyone wants to look like a supermodel because in reality NO ONE looks like a super-model (and super models only look like that in glamour shots and under heavy makeup).

In a world where supermodel-perfection is the standard, physical human beauty would cease to exist. Beauty is the contrast between that which is appealing and that which is not. If everyone is equally perfect, where would the beauty be? Where is the incentive to be beautiful if the opposite sex is just as likely to brush you off because other people are just as beautiful?

It would be more likely that "natural" features would suddenly become a fad; people would purchase artificial blemishes and wrinkles to make their surrogates "more palpable". Those unconventional beauty trends and subcultures would flourish with custom-designed furry surrogates, chubby surrogates, perhaps even child-surrogates (perhaps disturbing, but victimless).

I understand that they were made "plastic" so that they would represent people losing their humanity, but society is not this homogenous. The movie really lacks plausibility, and tackles with interesting themes that it fails to address maturely.

[–] charliemanner 14 years ago

Actually, I think it made perfect sense. In a world where people are desperate to keep looking fresh-faced and young, it is completely understandable why they would want perfect surrogates. Of course even super models don't look the way they look in Magazines, they are constructed to look perfect. So why not construct a perfect Surrogate? Cosmetic surgery is going up, face cream sales are going up, celebrity culture is getting stronger. Of course people are gonna get "hot"surrogates. It's fantasy.

Girls and boys from a young age are given Barbie dolls, and Gi Joe and Ken dolls and they are all atrractive and plastic, so why wouldn't they want the same for their surrogates.

Also, the movie explores the whole gender identity aspect which I find quite refreshing. The fact that a fat middle aged man can live out his desire of being a young blonde woman.

I think it was very realistic and something that will definitely happen in our lifetime. Black military programs have technology that is about 50 years ahead of what is available to the public, so it's only a matter of time...

[–] Psychological_Gold 14 years ago

The fact that a fat middle aged man can live out his desire of being a young blonde woman.

Yep, cause most, if not all, fat middle aged men don't want to be with young women--they want to be them.

[–] Foxxyx 14 years ago

That's what I would have thought but I know of so many guys who play as female characters on games. They say they just prefer to look at a female character, so a female surrogate would allow them to do much more than look at themselves ;)

[–] donuts151515 12 years ago

You're missing the point.

The reason male gamer's want to play female characters (That's with an emphasis on SOME. Many men prefer to be tough guys, too.) Is because they want to enjoy the sexual qualities of the female characters.

They don't actually want to BE a surrogate. Which is entirely a POV experience, and living that role in life. Only a very very small minority of men ever have a gender hatred that finds them wanting to change...

...And there was no such character in this film.

[–] Testpattern 11 years ago

I'm thinking, if the OP's theory were valid, we'd see more people today (IRL) driving around in vehicles that looked more like the creatively hacked together ones from Beyond the Thunderdrome and other dystopia films. Granted, I know these were cobbled together the way they were because of the scarcity of resources, but if customization were a factor, folks wouldn't naturally opt for the meaty flap over one eye look, or the uni-lip look either.

Vanity would be inherent with surrogacy ownership. Remember Greer's disgust at the rental place because the model he was trying out wasn't fully optioned (to feel, etc. only see, speak, hear and mobility)?

You'd probably be marketing compelled to buy the more advanced, newer models as they came out also.

And for the gamer slant, even today (IRL) they cannot wait to get their hands on the newest version of either hardware or software. Why would a surrogate owner behave differently in a consumerist society where marketing pressures abound.

Those unique surrogates probably came to be that way as the result of unintentional abuse. Like my surrogates long hair caught on fire and either I can have it replaced to look exactly the way it did before, or I can just sport this aftermarket spiked faux-hawk until I buy next year's model to replace this one.

"If people like you don't learn from what happened to people like me..." -Professor Rohl

[–] 1048-bored 14 years ago

Obviously you haven't been on Second Life anytime recently. Given the choice of looking like whatever they want, people initially start with a perfect model type, then get bored and start wanting things like green skin and animal stripes.

Not to mention that when physical strength and ability are no longer related to appearance, a surprising number of folks decide they want to look like ugly, fat men.

[–] JohnBoyBrown 14 years ago

^^^^^^Very Interesting point...

[–] farcoat 13 years ago

yep
we should also be able to choose if we wanna look like green short trolls.
kinda like that guy in second life (ralph pls go)

[–] Zero_Wolf 13 years ago

I agree entirely with the OP.

Within a year you'd be seeing butterfly-people and steampunk robots.

There would be groups of people who tried to look ultra-realistic, and even larger groups of people trying to out-do each other with outlandish modifications.

What there would not be is 6 billion mannequins. People are more imaginative than that.

[–] stevenackerman69 13 years ago

In answer to your question, I think because everyone in our society is so obsessed with looking beautiful and muscular and all that that this was a send-up of that. No one would want to look like a fat Bill Gaines.

[–] Russell_Reyes 13 years ago

Well, in this world, they actually had to live in their avatars. It isn't a game to them like real life. They had to find jobs and go out in public and I imagine that would be really hard to do if you were some sort of furry or alien troll thing 24/7, despite the initial fun of being one. Social stigma would get too in the way of things.

Besides, they can only register 1 surrogate mold right? I doubt anyone would want to be stuck as a purple girrafe-person forever.

[–] kapsura 12 years ago

There are people who do extreme body modifications and are in effect "stuck" with them. One that comes to mind was that one man who had plastic surgery to make himself look like a lion - I'm sure it'll come up if you google it. Sorry for not having a link.

Some just don't care about the stigma or they even like the attention, or get a sense of self fulfillment when they modify their body and looks to become that special snowflake they always felt they were.

I suppose the extremists are really rare, but they do exist and I don't see why they wouldn't in the Surrogates' world, especially when it would be relatively easy to create an extreme look without actually going through surgery.

[–] dbre 12 years ago

Yes, there are actually people in the world who don't need jobs (no, really folks) or who own their own companies who can choose to do what they want without concern for what anybody thinks. These would be the ones pushing the boundaries

[–] ajnemajrje 13 years ago

I would have liked ot see some alternative surrogates myself.

Where were all the chibis, anime chicks and furries?

[–] RARanieri 12 years ago

The idea of this film is that people get the opportunity to perfect themselves through their surrogates.

I don't care what you say, I'm not going to believe that you are physically perfect, and there is nothing about yourself that you would improve if you could.

[–] SSteveL 12 years ago

If everyone looked like a model, standards of beauty would ratchet upwards so that only a few (as always) would have it.

[–] nirp924 12 years ago

in the film people were allowed multiple surrogates, they just needed to be each registered to an individual through the ID chips.

They tried to show alternative people on the subway train, but it was a weak attempt, just one dark blue skinned guy, and a spiky headed girl...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ffw-c4Nu9nE/Tq41ZZ06nFI/AAAAAAAAM2Q/I0YioGApgBA/s1600/Splash_surrogates_3.jpg

This film fell dramatically short. They could have pushed the creative envelope much further, but left it in a shallow puddle of mediocrity.