Bicentennial Man story
A robot housekeeper grows more and more human-like over the course of his 200 year life. It is based on the 1992 novel The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg (which is itself based on Asimov's original 1976 novelette "The Bicentennial Man").
36 total · 1 choice · 7 major · 28 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| the desire to be human | choice | Central to the story is the humanoid robot Andrew and his quest to become a human being. He went from being a naive, metallic, humanoid robot to acquiring the ability to eat, feel emotions and sensations, and even have sexual relationships, resulting in him and Portia falling in love. |
| AI prejudice in society | major | According to Portia, society would never accept her having a sexual relationship with the android Andrew. Andrew petitioned the World Congress to recognize him as a human being so that he could marry Portia, but his effort failed. Portia and Andrew made a go of it in spite of that, and in the end their marriage was validated by the World Congress anyway. |
| android | major | Andrew became a bonafide android after receiving an upgrade midway through the film. |
| forbidden love | major | Portia initially refused to get romantically involved with the android Andrew on account that their love would not be accepted by society. In the end, however, they followed their hearts and lived together as a couple. |
| friendship | major | Andrew maintained a lifelong friendship with Amanda, whom he'd help raise from the time she was a little girl. |
| humanoid robot | major | The NDR series robot Andrew is the main character in the story. |
| master and slave | major | Much was made of the Martin family robot housekeeper Andrew having no rights and being the property of the family. He was later granted his freedom, and ultimately declared to be a human being by the World Congress. |
| the flip side of immortality | major | In living to be 200 years old, the robot-become-human Andrew saw everyone around him grow old and die, and in the end he decided to get an upgrade that would result in him, too, growing old and dying. |
| artificial body part | minor | Andrew invented a variety of artificial organs that ended up being used by people around the world. |
| carpentry occupation | minor | Andrew took up carving wooden clocks and made a modest fortune from selling them. Later his built a beachfront, little wooden house for himself. |