David 8
David8 | |
---|---|
Alien character | |
First appearance | Prometheus (2012) |
Last appearance | Alien: Covenant (2017) |
Created by | |
Portrayed by | Neomorphs Xenomorphs |
David8, commonly known simply as David, is a
David was conceptualised as a character to provide a non-human perspective for the theme of meeting one's creators in Prometheus, with him representing the next generation in a line of creators who finds himself disillusioned by his predecessors. Fassbender, who was director Ridley Scott's first choice for the role, helped fashion the character to share traits with T. E. Lawrence, who was a source of inspiration as a control freak caught between two cultures – the cultures being humanity and synthetics, in David's case. As the series progresses, David's behaviors and motivations evolve from a mysterious agent with ambiguous motivations to a character directly opposing the well-being of humanity.
Despite the lukewarm reception of the Alien prequel films, both Fassbender's performance and the character of David have been met with critical acclaim. Reviews praised the character for developing into an overt antagonist with the events of Alien: Covenant (2017). Critics have called David one of the greatest Alien characters to date and one of the best cinematic villains of the 2010s. Fassbender has been the recipient of a number of awards and nominations for his portrayal of the character.
Background
A hallmark of director Sir Ridley Scott is the theme of artificial intelligence present in his science fiction films.[1] Scott's earliest foray into the philosophy of artificial intelligence was with the android character Ash, in the original Alien film released in 1979. Ian Holm portrayed Ash as a character who may uncannily assume a human form, yet he maintains a sense of superiority that is only humbled by the nature of the Alien, which runs counter to the very future of the human race.[2] In the book The Culture and Philosophy of Ridley Scott, the authors (Adam Barkman, Ashley Barkman, and Nancy Kang) reason that though Ash is designed to appear human, his innards are bio-mechanical and he himself does not presume to be a sentient being with a semblance of life, but an artificial construct whose personality is dictated by machinery.[3] Every subsequent installment in the Alien film series directed by Scott features at least one synthetic (android) character designated to maintain order aboard their respective space ship. In 2017, Scott explained that the synthetics featured in the Alien films he directed are designed to subvert their robotic nature and to impeccably mimic humans.[4] The original form of androids introduced in Alien would contradict the observable nature of David in Prometheus; though both would serve the same corporate masters and have the same non-human innards, David would identify himself as a sentient entity who is capable of expressing—if not feeling—emotion.[5]
In between the time Scott released Alien in 1979 and returned to the franchise with Prometheus in 2012, he directed another notable science fiction film concerning artificial intelligence, Blade Runner, in 1982.[1] Contrary to the white-blooded androids of Alien that emulate emotions and recognize a disconnect with humanity, Blade Runner features the replicants, enhanced biorobotic humanoids that may only be identified by their lacking emotions.[6] In order to maintain control, the replicants' human creators install false memories that detail entire lives that give them a sense of identity.[7] Blade Runner, an influential film, has prompted a slew of philosophical questions concerning artificial intelligence and whether or not an android could truly be considered alive.[8] The film specifically questions whether thoughts, a sense of identity, emotions and consciousness in general, may be something genuine when applied to artificial intelligence.[9] Due to David identifying himself as a living entity—similar to the replicants—film critics in 2012 would come not to only question if Prometheus was a direct prequel to Alien, but if the film had a relation to Blade Runner.[10]
A number of models for testing artificial intelligence have been noted by philosophers as being relevant to the themes present in Scott's filmography.[11] The test most commonly associated with artificial intelligence in his work is the Turing test, created by the British computer scientist Alan Turing. Turing's argument was that there is no significant difference between a human and an android, which would be apparent when a human would be unable to identify if the individual they are communicating with is a human or android. In Blade Runner, the method for identifying the physically identical replicants is by administering the fictional Voight-Kampff test, which detects disparities in emotional responses.[12] Though a replicant would fail the Turing test, an android at the chronological marker of Alien, such as Ash, would likely perform exceedingly well.[13] Additionally, the Chinese room, created by John Searle, has been postured as a test relevant to the androids of the Alien franchise. As the test determines if someone can identify what is Chinese lettering without knowing what it means, philosophers have drawn a parallel to Ash, who may uncannily emulate a human, though fail to understand what it means to be one.[8] Kang described David's eventual introduction as another android character created by Scott as a synthesis between both Alien and Blade Runner, with the character being capable of passing the Turing test like Ash, yet also able to pass the Chinese room test like a replicant, implying that he would indeed be the first living android of the Alien franchise.[14]
Character development
Creation
Writer Jon Spaihts created David as a shipboard android in the first draft of his screenplay for the prequel Alien: Engineers, as an exploration of the theme of creations and being in the presence of one's makers. Just as the humans aboard the Prometheus look to discover the secrets of their creators, the Engineers, David is already in the presence of his creators. Unlike his companions and android successors, David would be disillusioned by his creators and look to fashion himself into an entity defying their nature. Scott was in favor of the concept and urged writer Damon Lindelof to pursue it further while rewriting the script that would be adapted as Prometheus.[15] Though David would perceive the concept of the Prometheus expedition to be frivolous, due to his disappointment in his creators, he would nonetheless be fascinated by the notion of creation. Therefore, the character's treacherous actions in the films, such as infecting the archaeologist Charlie Holloway with an alien mutagen, would be from a desire to create a new evolutionary generation of his own.[16] Shortly after the release of Alien: Covenant, Scott explained that as David learns more about his lineage through humanity and the Engineers, "He hates them. He has no respect for Engineers and no respect for human beings," and concludes that eradicating them from existence will be for the betterment of the universe.[17]
With relation to the human characters, David was conceptualized as not only a surrogate son for
Casting
Throughout the development stage of the production of Prometheus, director Ridley Scott considered German-Irish actor
In the screenplay for Prometheus, David is noted as being unusually fond of the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, with the character viewing parallels to himself, as they both have unfaltering pursuits of the objectives. As such, Fassbender elected to model much of his performance and appearance around the Peter O'Toole depiction of T. E. Lawrence.[23] Fassbender would continue to have his role make references to Lawrence of Arabia in Alien: Covenant by having David play samplings of the soundtrack on his flute.[24] For his first appearance in Prometheus, Fassbender, a natural redhead, dyed his hair blond and fashioned it into a style influenced by Lawrence.[25] Scott requested that Fassbender dye his hair for the role, in order to provide the character with an otherworldly and unsettling appearance.[26]
Fictional biography
Prometheus (2012)
As the science vessel Prometheus heads for the moon LV-223, David maintains the ship and passes time by engaging in leisurely activities, monitoring the crew members' dreams, watching films and studying the
The following day, there is another excursion to the Engineer ship, with David providing Weyland Corporation executive Meredith Vickers with a
David prepares Weyland for an excursion to the Engineer ship. Shaw asks David about his freedom after Weyland's eventual demise, to which he ominously asks about every child's dream of having their parents dead. He leads the team to the flight deck of the ship, where he awakens and speaks with the Engineer, who reacts by decapitating him and killing the rest of the team, save for Shaw. David's severed head watches from the floor as the Engineer launches the ship and attempts to embark for Earth. After the ship is disabled by Prometheus getting purposely crashed into it, David warns Shaw that the Engineer is coming for her. David contacts Shaw after she escapes the Engineer and convinces her to retrieve his head and body, so that he may pilot another ship. Shaw dictates that she will cooperate with him if he takes them to the Engineer home world, which he agrees to, despite not understanding her motivations. Together, they depart from the moon aboard an Engineer ship.[27]
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Shortly after his creation, David becomes acquainted with a young
Following David and Shaw's exodus for the Engineer home world, they arrive at a temple surrounded by scores of Engineers. David
After a Neomorph attacks and decapitates Covenant security officer Rosenthal, David approaches it and pacifies it by attempting to communicate. The ship's captain, Christopher Oram, kills the Neomorph, upsetting David. Held at gunpoint by Oram, David shows him how he has been utilizing the mutagen to try and engineer the "perfect organism", with the Neomorphs being one of the outcomes. David leads Oram to a room filled with Alien Eggs or Ovomorphs, where Oram is attacked and impregnated by a Facehugger by forcing its ovipositor down his throat. David watches as Oram awakens a short time later and dies as an Alien Xenomorph bursts out of his chest. Having discovered the dissected and mutilated corpse of Shaw, Walter confronts David, stating that he knows that David killed her, along with the Engineers. Walter rejects David's offer to join him, prompting David to deliver a Judas kiss and then impale him through the neck with his flute, apparently terminating him.[28]
David encounters Daniels, who he attacks after giving a Judas kiss. Walter intervenes and the two androids engage in a fight. Though Walter has the upper-hand, David reaches for a knife and defeats Walter, secretly assuming his identity. David escapes with the few survivors aboard a cargo lander, which is used to kill an Alien giving chase. Aboard Covenant, the ship's mainframe computer, MU/TH/UR, ("Mother"), informs the crew that an "unidentified life form" has stowed away. David coordinates with Daniels and the ship's pilot, Tennessee, to lead the Alien to the terraforming bay, where the creature is flushed into space. David helps Tennessee into cryosleep, followed by Daniels. Before Daniels goes to sleep, she mentions her dream about a cabin on the lake, which she had previously told Walter about. When David does not recognize her story, Daniels realizes who he is and panics, before David puts her into cryosleep. David regurgitates two Alien embryos and stores them in cold storage next to the human embryos. With the humans and embryos at his mercy, he sends out a transmission impersonating Walter that states that all the crew members, except for Daniels and Tennessee, were killed in a neutrino blast and that they are still en route to their original destination, Origae-6.[28]
Other appearances
David has been featured in a number of promotional materials for the Alien prequel films. For Prometheus, rather than focusing on the film's connection with the Alien canon, the marketing team emphasized central characters, most prominently David.[29] On March 17, 2012, director Ridley Scott hosted a panel for Prometheus at WonderCon, where attendees were provided with Weyland Corporation business cards that provided a website and telephone number. Upon calling the number, callers were played an automated message that stated that Weyland Corporation's lines were busy, at which point a text message was sent that linked to a video narrated by Fassbender that showed David being unboxed, prior to his awakening.[30] A month later, on April 17, an extended version of the unboxing video was released, with David providing additional insight into his function aboard the Prometheus as the ship's butler and maintenance man, as well as advertising his ability to seamlessly replicate human emotions without the restrictions of ethics or distress. Released with the video was also a poster featuring David, which was printed as a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal.[31]
Prior to the release of Alien: Covenant, 20th Century Fox released online two prologue short films directed by Ridley Scott. Following a first short film called "The Last Supper" about the crew of the Covenant prior to going into cryosleep, the second part called "The Crossing", connecting the continuities of Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, was released on April 26, 2017. In The Crossing, Shaw reattaches David's head to his body as they voyage through space aboard an Engineer ship towards the species' home world. Shaw enters cryosleep in a shipboard chamber, leaving David awake and alone. The ship arrives at the home world and above a massive gathering of Engineers around a temple, David prepares to drop the urns of mutagen on them.[32]
Reception
Critical reception
Despite the lukewarm reception of the Alien prequel films, Michael Fassbender's portrayal of David was met with critical acclaim, with his performance generally considered to be the standout.
David's character arc throughout the Alien prequel series, with his role becoming increasingly central, has been lauded by critics. Kevin Lincoln of Vulture magazine described David as being the best cinematic villain in years, due to his dynamic personality and ability to win against the characters in Alien: Covenant.[38] John Squires of Bloody Disgusting praised David for supplanting the main protagonist of the first four films, Ellen Ripley, as the overall best character of the franchise in 2017. Squires perceived David's passion to become a creator in Alien: Covenant as a retroactive explanation for poisoning Holloway in Prometheus.[39] Eschewing most reviews, Wenlei Ma from News.com.au complimented Fassbender's ability to portray David, though she criticized the mystery lost by revealing the character's true intentions.[40]
Awards
Michael Fassbender has earned a number of awards and nominations for his portrayal of David. Fassbender won Best Supporting Actor at the 2012 edition of the Fright Meter Awards, an annual horror film awards event.[41] He was nominated by the London Film Critics Circle Awards 2012 for Supporting Actor of the Year, but lost to Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master.[42] At the 39th Saturn Awards, Fassbender was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, losing to Clark Gregg's portrayal of Phil Coulson in The Avengers.[43][44]
Appearances
- Prometheus (2012)
- Prometheus (novel) (2012)
- Alien: The Weyland-Yutani Report (2014)
- Alien: Covenant - Prologue: The Crossing (2017)
- Alien: Covenant (2017)
- Alien: Covenant (novel) (2017)
- Alien: Covenant - Advent (2017) (voice)
References
- Citations
- ^ a b Barkman, Barkman & Kang 2013, p. 121-142.
- ^ Barkman, Barkman & Kang 2013, p. 265-271.
- ^ Barkman, Barkman & Kang 2013, p. 273.
- ^ a b Locke, Charley (March 28, 2017). "Ridley Scott Reveals the Origin of His Androids in the Alien Saga". Wired. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
- ^ Barkman, Barkman & Kang 2013, p. 135-136.
- ^ Barkman, Barkman & Kang 2013, p. 140.
- ^ Ridley Scott (Director) (June 25, 1982). Blade Runner (Motion picture). Los Angeles: Warner Bros.
- ^ a b Barkman, Barkman & Kang 2013, p. 138.
- ^ Coplan & Davies 2015, p. 54.
- ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (October 6, 2012). "Does 'Prometheus' Tie Into 'Blade Runner' Now Too?". IndieWire. Retrieved August 5, 2017.
- ^ Lippert-Rasmussen, Brownlee & Coady 2016, p. 496.
- ^ Barad 2007, p. 21-33.
- ^ Barkman, Barkman & Kang 2013, p. 137.
- ^ Barkman, Barkman & Kang 2013, p. 24.
- ^ McCabe, Joseph; Farley, Jordan; Edwards, Richard (May 2012). "Gods and Monsters / A Shaw Thing / He, Robot". SFX (222). Future plc: 60.
- ^ Lyus, Jon (June 7, 2012). "Prometheus Writer Damon Lindelof talks Engineers, Alien Family Tree & the Sequel's Opening Scene". Hey U Guys. Archived from the original on January 13, 2013. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
- ^ Nugent, John (May 23, 2017). "Empire Podcast Alien: Covenant Spoiler Special With Sir Ridley Scott". Empire. Event occurs at 01:48:03. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- ^ Sciretta, Peter (June 11, 2012). "Interview: 'Prometheus' Star Charlize Theron Talks About Working With Practical Sets vs. CG, Responds to Internet Theories About Her Character and More". /Film. Archived from the original on June 17, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ Gilchrist, Todd (June 17, 2012). "'Prometheus' Writer Damon Lindelof on Why 'Vague' Is Good and the 'Sadistically Cool' Fallout From the 'Lost' Finale". Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on November 25, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2017.
- ^ Yamato, Jen (June 12, 2012). "Damon Lindelof on Prometheus's Ending and a Handy, Spoilery Alien Infographic". Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ Finke, Nikki (January 14, 2011). "Ridley Scott Directing 'Prometheus' For Fox; Noomi Rapace Locked While Angelina Jolie And Charlize Theron Circling; Damon Lindelof Scripted With Scott From 'Alien' DNA". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on May 21, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ Sciretta, Peter (June 8, 2012). "Interview: Michael Fassbender Talks 'Prometheus'". /Film. Archived from the original on June 13, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ Hewitt, Chris (May 2012). "Why Are We Here?". Empire. Bauer Media Group.
- ^ Rothman, Lily (June 6, 2017). "Prometheus Star Michael Fassbender on His Robotic Role and Why He Believes in Aliens". Time. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ "Electric dreams". The National. May 16, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ Motthram, James (May 31, 2012). "Michael Fassbender: I needed to go back to reality after Prometheus". Metro. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
- ^ 20th Century Fox.
- ^ 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Krinsky, Tamara (May 8, 2012). "'Lost' Co-Creator Talks 'Prometheus' Viral Videos, Twitter". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Chitwood, Adam (March 17, 2012). "Prometheus Viral Campaign Continues with Android-Unboxing Video from Weyland Corp Featuring Michael Fassbender". Collider. Archived from the original on June 11, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Warren, Christina (April 17, 2012). "'Prometheus' Ad Shows Us the Robot We All Want (EXCLUSIVE)". Mashable. Mashable Inc. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Nyren, Erin (April 26, 2017). "New 'Alien: Covenant' Prologue Connects Film to 'Prometheus'". Variety. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
- ^ Howland, David (July 1, 2012). "Prometheus: The Gift and the Curse of Alien". WhatCulture!. Obsessed With Film LTD. Archived from the original on December 28, 2013. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ Sciretta, Peter (May 30, 2012). "Early Buzz: Ridley Scott's 'Prometheus' (Spoiler-Free Video Blog and Reactions From The Web)". /Film. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ Wickman, Forrest (June 9, 2012). "I, Actor: Cinema's Finest Robot Performances". Slate. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ French, Philip (June 2, 2012). "Prometheus – review". The Guardian. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ Je-yup, Kwaak (June 7, 2012). "Fassbender steals fire from 'Prometheus'". The Korea Times. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ^ Lincoln, Kevin (May 23, 2017). "What Other Blockbuster Villains Can Learn From David in Alien: Covenant". Vulture. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Squires, John (May 25, 2017). "'Alien: Covenant' Just Made David the Franchise's Best Character". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Ma, Wenlei (May 11, 2017). "More of the same thrills in Alien: Covenant". News.com.au. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Hallam, Scott (January 13, 2013). "Fright Meter Awards Names The Cabin in the Woods Best Horror Movie and Drew Goddard Best Director; Get the Complete Results". Dread Central. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Kemp, Stuart (January 20, 2013). "Michael Haneke's 'Amour' Tops London Critics' Circle Awards". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Truitt, Brian (February 20, 2013). "'The Hobbit' leads Saturn Awards with nine nominations". USA Today. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
- ^ Cohen, David S. (June 26, 2013). "Saturn Awards: 'Avengers,' 'Breaking Bad' lead sci-fi-fantasy-horror pack". Variety. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
Bibliography
- Barkman, Adam; Barkman, Ashley; Kang, Nancy (2013). The Culture and Philosophy of Ridley Scott. ISBN 978-0739178720.
- Coplan, Amy; Davies, David (2015). Blade Runner (Philosophers on Film). ISBN 978-0415485852.
- Lippert-Rasmussen, Kasper; Brownlee, Kimberley; Coady, David (2016). A Companion to Applied Philosophy (Blackwell Companions to Philosophy). ISBN 978-1118869130.
Journals
- Barad, Judith (2007). "Blade Runner and Sartre: Boundaries of Humanity" (PDF).
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