At 02:24 PM 2/5/2007, Matthew Robinson wrote:
But remember, he wasn't born; he was *created.* He wasn't a
legitimate human being, because he didn't have parents, friends and
family, and all that. He is a being created in the image of a human
being who isn't really human at all, and that's why his perspective
has some moral weight -- he's judging humanity from the outside, as
someone who never was and never can be a part of the human race,
and not as a member of said race who fared poorly.
In some ways Kreuze is like a living AI, and subject to the same
genre "rules."
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on whether Kreuze's method
of coming into the world made him something other than human. To
me, his being deliberately created isn't all that different from the
old monarchical practice of having children just for the sake of
having an heir to the throne. Henry VIII went through half a dozen
wives just for the sake of having a male heir; do you really think
anyone resulting from that sort of situation would be treated as an
individual human person for their own sake and not just as an
instrument of someone else's will? IMHO Kreuze's estrangement from
humanity is his own doing, the result of his bitterness about his
origins, upbringing, and degenerative disease -- biological parents
he might lack, but friends and family are available to anyone
willing to reach out. And you don't get "victim" sympathy points
for victimizing yourself.
The difference there is that, even in the extreme cases you mention,
the child in question still had parents. They still came into the
world through recognizable human processes, even if the circumstances
surrounding their birth weren't ideal. Kreuze, by contrast, had no
parents, no family, none of the touchstones that make human beings
human. His situation is unique, and that puts a unique spin on his actions.
For another perspective, consider the Invid (aka Inbit)
human-mimicking characters from Mospeada/Robotech -- particularly
Marlene (can't recall her name in Mospeada). Not biologically human
(although probably close), no true parents unless you count the
Regis, no memories. Nonetheless I'd consider her effectively human
by the end of the series, because of her choices and because she's
_found_ friends and family in Scott's resistance group. Corg
(Batra? in Mospeada), OTOH, I'd call alien -- in this case someone
who COULD be human but chooses not to be. At best, IMHO, this
latter is the category Kreuze falls into.
No way. None of those are human, not in the least. They're very much
Invids, even if they chose to ultimately reject their heritage. In
fact, a good chunk of what makes Marlene/Ariel compelling is the fact
that she chose to make her home among humanity even though she is
most certainly not a human. But what's important there is the element
of choice -- the Invids have to actively reject their culture in
order to live among humans. But Kreuze has no culture to reject -- he
is very much a culture of one, and that's why he's an interesting villain.
Again, he's more of an organic AI than anything else. He has no
culture, no heritage, no family to embrace or reject, and that makes
his descent into villainy all but inevitable. How could he not pass
judgment on a race that had acted so carelessly?
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