I have been thinking about the "living ship" or the "ship with a personality"
used on Andromeda, Blake's Seven, and to a lesser extent on Farscape. It
seems related to me to such characters as KITT, the Knightrider car, my
Mother the Car, the talking figurehead of the Argo, and even Balaam's ass in
the Bible. I am sure Brin-listers can think of other examples.
I have always been surprised that the ship's computer on the original Star
Trek, or even succeeding Star Treks for that matter, didn't have more of a
personality and a role in the drama.
If I had vast computing powers, I think I'd want to create some sort of
personality\companion in my car and home. Humans naturally project
personality on things. Naming our automobile is only a few steps removed
from creating a personality in one.
So I think Andromeda is on to something, especially with the complexity of
the relationship between the captain and the ship. Kirk seduced alien women,
but he LOVED his ship. On Andromeda such loves and seductions could get very
messy.
Who has seen Blake's Seven besides me? I got it in Chicago in the 80's. The
Sons of Gallifrey had done some nice fundraising for the local PBS affiliate.
I think they got Blake's Seven as a "thank you." I haven't seen it since
then. It was pretty cool. Stylish acting.
Dan
