#My concerns are mostly based in the use of automation as a cost cutting measure to exploit and replace human labor at the worker's expense

[prolibytherium]

I think there's plenty of ethical concerns re: AI art but most people criticizing it fundamentally don't understand how the image generation processes work and are imagining it as very literal 'theft', or are operating on kneejerk reactions about """""Real Art""""" that aren't fundamentally different than any other attempts to separate 'true art' from 'fake lazy art' throughout history, so the conversation is kind of doomed to be bad and annoying from the start

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : THX 1138 (1971)

During my last big wonderment and fascination period with film, I went deep into a 1970s American film kick due to the influence of the Italian and French films I’d previously discovered now resonating in films from that era.  Several side discoveries occurred as well, many of which continue to be rewarding to this day.  For example, I knew that George Lucas had done American Graffiti prior to committing his entire career to Star Wars, but I had no clue about his previous sci-fi effort made during his college years.  I found a copy of the original THX 1138 and dove in, and later found the THX 1138 - George Lucas Director’s Cut with the reworked effects, and the rest is history.

Roommates THX 1138 (Robert Duvall) and LUH 3417 (Maggie McOmie) are occupants of a dystopian society in the 25th century.  Emotions, sexual intercourse and the family structure are outlawed, all inhabitants are under heavy surveillance, and the mandatory use of medication is implemented to keep the citizens/workers focused and productive.  LUH and her coworker SEN 5241 (Donald Pleasence) work in one of the surveillance centers, while THX works in a factory that produces the metallic police force keeping the citizens in line.  THX finds himself experiencing states of being he cannot handle, such as lack of focus and confidence.  He seeks assistance from the OMM 0000 confessional machines, and he longs for stronger medication, but nothing seems to help.  Unbeknownst to THX, LUH has been switching out medications for him, which is the reason for his anxiety, as well as newly developed nausea and sexual desires, the latter of which leads to THX and LUH becoming sexually active and romantically involved.  SEN, after confronting THX, arranges for the two to be roommates, which THX objects to and fights against.  SEN’s knowledge and access to the mainframe, however, allows him to cause further issues to THX.  All of the turmoil in THX’s life leads to problems at work, and eventually, his jailing, where he learns that LUH is now pregnant.  With his life crumbling around him, THX must take drastic measures for the sake of his freedom, both mentally and physically.

Knowing that this project was George Lucas’s baby, and made almost a decade prior to Star Wars, puts such an interesting perspective on this film.  Lucas even welcomes viewers into the experience via a clip from Buck Rogers, showing how humans perceived the future will be, before placing us into a wasteland devoid of emotion and character.  Humans go from sentient and emotionally-driven inhabitants to cogs in a vast, complex machine, similar to classics like Metropolis or literature like Brave New World and 1984.

Basing the world and the characters on the concept of data is definitely a stroke of genius that translates surprisingly well both visually and emotionally.  From the green on black of the opening credits to the cold, calculated nature of almost everyone in the film, the point of emotion being a foreign danger is driven home.  Combining this with sensory depravation in the form of holobroadcasts and medication further allows the system of self-control and regulation to be perpetuated.  The way that these elements disconnect people from one another becomes root in the tragic love story between THX and LUH.   In the end, the film plays out like some sort of cautionary tale about automation and the ‘streamlining’ of life, even thought it is this automated mindstate that leads to THX’s eventual freedom when the cost of retrieving him exceeds the limit of his cost-benefit analysis.

The clinical, surgical nature of each character, with their shaved heads and white outfits against mostly white or computer based backgrounds, puts the lion’s share of each performance squarely in the face, to great effect.  The commentary on society is not lost in translation, with one of my favorite being TV broken down to it’s most base aspects in regards to entertainment and purpose.  The use of confessional ‘phone booths’ ties into the sense of self-sabotage when it comes to the surveillance aspect of THX 1138.  

Robert Duvall is able to display the turmoil of internal struggle that comes with fighting against your base nature, even down to his physicality when the battle is leaving him drained of spirit.  Maggie McOmie masks deep concern and curiosity under the mild-mannered veneer of a strong maternal figure, relying on the empathic elements of her performance to shine.  Donald Pleasence relies on a performance drenched in sly power displays and that creepy aspect of surveillance where people come off as stalkers.  Other brief (but key) performances include Sid Haig, Don Pedro Colley and James Wheaton.

THX 1138 is one of those baffling hidden gems that deserves much more of a space in the spotlight.  If one really wanted, I’m sure they can crowbar this story into some sort of extended Star Wars canon, but I believe that would be of detriment to a great piece of art that stands up very well on its own.