Samuel_1 wrote:No it isn't, if you are comfortable with the notion that an androids emotions are childlike, that they are equivalent to children, then writing their responses in an equivalent manner is entirely acceptable. Remember, I did say that the writing is passable, it's not ground breaking.
There are obviously parallels between real life and written characters, displaying these is hardly a crime, nor is it revolutionary.
I never did respond to this. Let me give it a go now:
First, when writing characters, realism is not what you're aiming for. Even the theatrical concept of
realism used in shows like The Wire and films like Amore, is not
actual realism. People do not talk in the real world as they do in films and it is rare in film that people talk like they do in real life. Real communication is messy, often leading to dead ends, retreats and rehashes. It can be unplanned, it can be pointless.
Secondly, written characters have a purpose within a story. They are there to represent something, or express something or achieve something. They are the hero, the villain, the bystander etc etc. Each character serves this role in a variety of ways depending on the medium. In visual mediums such as films and (most) games, they express themselves, and therefore their purpose, through speech and movement. Above all however, they are there to entertain.
So. My problem with the Become Human demo was this: the characters in the game straight up announced this purpose. They tell the player character why they are there and what they are feeling
directly. The police captain: "I don't like you!" The child: "I'm scared!" The kidnapper: "I trust you." There is absolutely no depth or skill of dialogue here.
Your argument is that a child, or an android with the sensibilities of a child, might well say something like this in reality as they lack the nuance of age or experience. Ignoring that the adult human characters suffer from this in the demo too, you are right. In reality, a child does state things outright. However, in a created and curated context such as a movie or video game, the writers are not aiming for this reality, they are aiming for dialogue that communicates the
character of the character as well as their place in the story. They are pieces of entertainment and are there to entertain.
Again let's go back to my AI example:
David: When will you come back for me?
Monica: I'm not, David. You'll have to be here by yourself.
David: Alone?
Monica: [Monica's voice breaks with tears in her eyes] With Teddy.
David: [David begins to uncontrollably cry] No. No, no, no, no, no, no! No, Mommy, please! No, no! Please, Mommy, no!
Monica: Shh. Shh. Shh. They will destroy you, David. Please, David.
David: No! No, Mommy! I'm sorry I broke myself. I'm so sorry I cut your hair off... And I'm sorry I hurt you and I hurt Martin.
Monica: [Monica starts screaming as she begins to cry, holding David away from holding her] I have to go! I have to go! Stop it! Stop it! I have to go now.
David: [Monica stands up as David continues to try and hold her] Mommy, no! Mommy! Mommy, if Pinocchio became a real... and I become a real boy, can I come home?
David, a robot child, is scared here. He is terrified as the one person he loves in the world is leaving him. At no point does he simply state "I'm scared" as perhaps a real child might because that would be obvious and boring. The script instead illustrates his emotions in a number of ways; his crying, his childlike belief that fixing that which is already broken will make as if it never happened, apologising. There is nuance here in expressing an un-nuanced reaction. This script is not striving for a blunt reality, a reality which would be far more boring, but is aiming to communicate to the audience, in an interesting way, how David is feeling.
In this demo, there is none of this. Even if the demo was aiming for absolute reality, it contrasts this with its heavily stylised setting and context. It is demonstrably not aiming for natural, realistic speech. It is a pulp fiction whose dialogue lacks even the very basic skills require to express its characters' inner purpose without stating them in as many words. Which is
boring. Again, this is a piece of entertainment and the dialogue is there to entertain. In this demo, it absolutely did not.
Phew.
EDIT: Sorry if any of that sounds patronising, I just wanted to lay my points out as clearly as possible.
