Ken Burkes article Hero’s and Villains in American Film states that “we constantly find the source of characters, their conflicts and their resolutions to be grounded in the legends triumphs and symbolic values of the ancient social savior, the legendary hero”. Often times it’s said that the villain creates and shapes our hero’s, but it’s not often that hero’s create villains. These statements serves true for one our hero’s in the science fiction film, Forbidden Planet. I literally meant it when I said that our supposed villain (he’s really more of an anti-hero than a common villain), Dr. Morbius physically assembled and created our hero out of advanced alien technology. Though he may not be an obvious hero, Robby the Robot was ultimately the one who helped the audience and the other characters in the movie figure out the mystery behind the creature killing people. Commander Adams and the Doc were also hero’s but they weren’t as essential as Robby. This is hinted to us in the main title screen before you play the movie. We see Robby standing heroically in the center holding a female who resembles Altaria, looking like a damsel in distress. Burke states, “there are types of heroes and villains in all of these stories, but the emphasis on who the lead character is remains the key as to what the story is trying to tell us”. And Robby is that key to explaining what the story is trying to tell us about human nature and the subconscious mind. At first I was surprised in my thinking that Robby was the hero, because often times in film we see that robots are villains. This is because humans have a tendency to fear technology that can surpassed the abilities of humans. Robby the Robot is more than a mechanical tin on legs, he displays a distinct humanistic personality that makes him extremely likable.
Throughout the movie Robby helps a multitude of people, in little ways. For example, he made Altaria a new dress when she requested one and he helped the chef of the ship out when he created 60 gallons of bourbon. This then makes us realize that he’s always helping others. He also posses physical power, technological power and an obvious sense of intelligence that we see in his wit. Though these are great qualities we’re really more impressed that he has principles. When Dr. Morbuis is demonstrating to Commander Adams what Robby can do, we realize that he can tell the difference between what’s considered morally right and morally wrong. Often times we see the hero struggle with this idea of morality. Is it okay to kill if you kill a bad guy? Is a bad guy always purely bad? These sorts of questions can lead to an inner struggle that we witness Robby posses. In the demonstration we see Dr. Morbuis order Robby to kill the commander. At first we see him raise the gun, but then he begins to short circuit himself. Dr. Morbuis explains that if he were to continue struggling with the command without it being canceled, Robby would eventually self-destruct. This is really important for two reasons. The first being that this inability to kill humans with conscious minds leads us to discover that the sort of invisible monster running around is an extension of Dr. Morbuis’ mind. His mind had created a living manifestation of the animalistic id located deep within his subconsciousness. This is the main scene that conveys what the movie is trying to tell us. Without Robby’s short circuiting the commander may have not put together the pieces that Doc left him before he died. Secondly, Robby’s inability to kill others puts the viewer’s/the character’s in the films mind at ease knowing that he can’t turn against anyone. Thus we feel that we can trust him as an advanced piece of technology and as a person. Robby conveyed the truth and put others before himself. Who doesn’t want a hero like Robby?
Media Design and Criticism 