History YMMV / Surrogates

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: [[spoiler:Was Greer right to allow the surrogates to be destroyed, or has he caused more porblems than he solved and brought about mass chaos?]]

** [[spoiler: Surrogates were originally invented to help disabled people, for whom this was not just for fun (or even wanting to) but instead to provide support in their day to day lives. Now with it universally shut down, these people are all abruptly left without that. Some viewers consider the main character [[UnitentionallyUnsympathetic very unsympathetic]] for not giving this aspect any consideration at all.]]

* AcceptableTargets: The non-surrogate-using populace in the Dread reservations (or the one we see) is primarily composed of various species of hillbillies. Downplayed, however, in that they are depicted sympathetically and their viewpoint is understandable, if not vindicated by the end. Also, their leader is a charismatic hippie.

* InferredHolocaust: Somebody sets up a plot to destroy all the surrogates and kill the humans linked into them in the process. The hero manually engages the safety overrides on all the pods, but at the last minute, decides to have the weapon go off anyway, destroying the surrogates while leaving human beings intact. So one billion surrogates conducting business, operating machines, driving cars, etc, suddenly shut down and one billion atrophied shut-ins must now emerge to try to deal with the ensuing mayhem. In addition to people living lives via surrogate clearly suffering from sunlight deprivation, malnutrition, and the ill effects of sedentary lives, it's obvious that people have lost interest in having sex with their actual bodies or with actual people. Birthrates would have probably fallen to near extinction levels. The [[ComicBook/TheSurrogates graphic novel]] at least plays the ending for ambiguity — sure, all the shut-ins are back out in the real world, but it's only a matter of time until someone redevelops the Surrogate technology. The main character's wife [[DrivenToSuicide kills herself]] because she can't stand the idea of being seen as-is.

* AcceptableTargets: The non-surrogate-using populace in the Dread reservations (or the one we see) is primarily composed of various species of hillbillies. Downplayed, however, in that they are depicted sympathetically and their viewpoint is understandable, if not vindicated by the end. Also, their leader is a charismatic hippie

* AcceptableTargets: The non-surrogate-using populace in the Dread reservations (or the one we see) is primarily composed of various species of hillbillies. As well, the first half of [[RulesOfTheInternet Rule #29]] is played with -- twice.

* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler: Anyone being driven by a Surrogate, anyone being operated on by a surrogate Surgeon, which would be common as Surrogate surgeons would have enhanced senses and capabilities. Anyone anywhere who is stuck in a building because their Surrogate had the keys or because they were just too careless to take paranoid safety precautions. Anyone who was paralyzed and in an [[AndIMustScream unbearable state.]] Everyone who was killed, made to return to being handicapped. and to put a final topper on it, the fact that the entire economy is going to take a serious hit as VSI, probably the biggest company on the market was severely compromised and every company worldwide that had Surrogate employees, The ultimate work-from-home option, was just crippled.]]
** Not to mention that the person who [[spoiler: killed a pregnant woman, and as a cult leader, likely killed more people essentially got exactly what he wanted. While the person who single-handedly stopped an instance of domestic abuse lost.]]

%%* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: We salute you Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell. (ZCE)
* UncannyValley: The surrogates in the film. They have a shiny, overly made-up look and clearly aren't quite people.
** A number of the actors portraying surrogates appeared to take special care moving just a ''hair'' more stiffly, and to not look like they were breathing. And while certain surrogates are indistinguishable from real people [[spoiler:like the Prophet]], the "life-like" appearance varied according to the quality and model of the surrogate. Cam's landlord, for instance, is using a cheap, temporary model.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Greer, good guy or bad guy? [[spoiler: In the end, We mean.]]

* InferredHolocaust: In addition to people living lives via surrogate clearly suffering from sunlight deprivation, malnutrition, and the ill effects of sedentary lives, it's obvious that people have lost interest in having sex with their actual bodies or with actual people. Birthrates would have probably fallen to near extinction levels.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: We salute you Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell.

* MoralEventHorizon: While the audience doesn't know it's [[spoiler: Lionel Canter]] operating the surrogate at the time, people seem to forget that he [[spoiler: murdered Greer's partner in while she was asleep]], and that [[spoiler:she was ''pregnant'']].

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Greer, good guy or bad guy? [[spoiler: In the end, I mean.]]

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The premise of people using synthetic pseudo-bodies to go out and live their lives while remaining at home, originally a satire of internet addiction and social alienation in general, abruptly became a ''lot'' more appealing - indeed, ''envied'' - with the 2020 COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In an era of compulsory online interaction, "social distancing" and self-quarantine, the prospect of going out to party in a plague-proof robot shell becomes ''extremely'' tempting.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The premise of people using synthetic pseudo-bodies to go out and live their lives while remaining at home, originally a satire of internet addiction and social alienation in general, abruptly became a ''lot'' more appealing - indeed, ''envied'' - with the 2019/2020 COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In an era of compulsory online interaction, "social distancing" and self-quarantine, the prospect of going out to party in a plague-proof robot shell becomes ''extremely'' tempting.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The premise of people using synthetic pseudo-bodies to go out and live their lives while remaining at home, originally a satire of internet addiction and social alienation in general, abruptly became a ''lot'' more appealing - indeed, ''envied'' - with the emergence of the COVID-10 coronavirus: in an era of compulsory online interaction, "social distancing" and self-quarantine, the prospect of going out to party in a plague-proof robot shell becomes ''extremely'' tempting.

* HeartwarmingInHindsight: The notion of people using synthetic pseudo-bodies to go out and live their lives while remaining at home, originally a satire of internet addiction and social alienation in general, abruptly became a ''lot'' more appealing - indeed, ''envied'' - with the emergence of the COVID-10 coronavirus: in an era of compulsory online interaction, "social distancing" and self-quarantine, the prospect of going out to party in a plague-proof robot shell becomes ''extremely'' tempting.

* AcceptableTargets: The non-surrogate-using populace in the Dread reservations (or the one we see) is primarily composed of various species of hillbillies. As well, the first half of Rule #29 is played with--twice.

* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler: Anyone being driven by a Surrogate, anyone being operated on by a surrogate Surgeon, which would be common as Surrogate surgeons would have enhanced senses and capabilities. Anyone anywhere who is stuck in a building because their Surrogate had the keys or because they were just too careless to take paranoid safety precautions. Anyone who was paralyzed and in an [[Literature/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream unbearable state.]] Everyone who was killed, made to return to being handicapped. and to put a final topper on it, the fact that the entire economy is going to take a serious hit as VSI, probably the biggest company on the market was severely compromised and every company worldwide that had Surrogate employees, The ultimate work-from-home option, was just crippled.]]

* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler: Anyone being driven by a Surrogate, anyone being operated on by a surrogate Surgeon, which would be common as Surrogate surgeons would have enhanced senses and capabilities. Anyone anywhere who is stuck in a building because their Surrogate had the keys or because they were just too careless to take paranoid safety precautions. Anyone who was paralyzed and in an [[IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream unbearable state.]] Everyone who was killed, made to return to being handicapped. and to put a final topper on it, the fact that the entire economy is going to take a serious hit as VSI, probably the biggest company on the market was severely compromised and every company worldwide that had Surrogate employees, The ultimate work-from-home option, was just crippled.]]

** A number of the actors portraying surrogates appeared to take special care moving just a ''hair'' more stiffly, and to not look like they were breathing. And while certain surrogates are indistinguishable from real people [[spoiler:like the Prophet]], the "life-like" appearance varied according to the quality and model of the surrogate. The landlord, for instance, is using a cheap, temporary model.