History Headscratchers / Surrogates

** There's also a distinct lack of [[HeroesWantRedheads redheads, but plenty of blondes]] so furries shouldn't feel alone in this aspect.

** Who says they ''haven't'' developed all the things you've listed? Those military guys might've tackled dozens of simulated VR scenarios before switching to actual surrogates for a live-fire training run. We just don't see that aspect of society, because Greer is hardly going to be investigating virtual crimes.

* Okay I've looked around and as far as I can see no one's touched on this biggest problem I have with this film. HOW in the Name of the Almighty does putting people in freaking robots with near total anonymity end all crime/sexism/racism/all the -isms? Wouldn't it make everything worse? I mean it would be like putting everyone in a real life internet. Have you been on the internet? It's about the most racist, sexist, generally bigoted place in the universe.

* Did anyone check to see that Agent Peters' real life self was dead? In movie, it seems that Stone, the SWAT and arguably Tom thought she was still alive and went turncoat. SHE WAS PREGNANT FOR CHRISTSAKE AND THE MOVIE PRETTY MUCH IGNORED IT!

*** ''(continued)'' As for ''why'' I want this, what makes my real-world identity legitimately mine isn't because of any kind of legal documents or government approval; it's merely because I'm the one who started using it for myself. Because of this, while it may ''seem'' dishonest to get to know someone under a "fake" identity, in actuality that identity is just as legitimate (if only not as established) as your usual one, for the same reason your usual one is: because you decided to establish it for yourself. Think about how innocent that is on the Internet—there's no reason the same principle shouldn't apply in the real world. To say otherwise is to say that people don't really have any rights to do anything except under an identity that's been approved by some kind of central authority. Having something like law-enforcement-resistant surrogates become popular would force a big societal shift, that will make everyone face the fact that the same principles of self-sovereignty that give freedom on the Internet apply in the real world no less. People will learn that others' limits aren't something to preserve and rely on, but rather something those other people have the right to break, and absolutely should if they want to.

*** Ah, true enough; the "failsafe" would, I suppose, block everything up to and including the whole issue with melted brains and popped eyeballs. Nevertheless, there is still the problem that the head and eye pieces shouldn't be able do that sort of physical damage to their user unless they were specifically designed with that capability. What's really being pointed out is that the plot of the movie relies on a variation of ExplosiveInstrumentation. This is combined with the general absence of an explanation for what sort of insubstantial energy or AppliedPhlebotinum could travel through the airwaves (or whatever), make its way through a presumably electronic system, and cause the eye pieces and headset to somehow gain a lethal property they either didn't already have or shouldn't have been built with in the first place. Yes, I ''get'' that this problem was [[HandWave hand waved]] (or just ignored altogether) for the sake of moving the plot along; but this is, after all, a JustBugsMe page.

* This really bothers me. The surrogates cause minor body issues in a small percentage of users, and save tens of thousands of lives every day. How is their destruction a good thing?
** It's moral degeneration caused by being over-dependent on technology. People stop being responsible for many of their actions and forfeit "natural" living in favor of a mediated, safer existence. Essentially, it's pushing a premature [[TheSingularity singularity]] of an [[TheWorldIsNotReady immature world]]. It's even showed to have a malign effect on people's health, since they spend so much time uplinked that their bodies are left unkempt and unhealthy.
** So, the technology that was - as stated in text - primarily invented to help amputees, the paralyzed, people with degenerative conditions, and other conditions that prevent full mobility and interaction with the world has to be shut down permanently because everyone else is too much of an asshole to use it right. And this is a happy ending.
*** It's basically a (rather ham-fisted, admittedly) metaphor for Internet addiction and gaming addiction and things like that -- getting so focussed on living in the virtual world that you lose touch with reality (or 'reality' depending on your view). For better or worse, the makers of the movie are probably hoping you don't focus on things like that.

* I'm not a fan of product placement in the first place, and it seemed especially asinine in this movie. Why, for instance, is there a jar of peanut butter randomly sitting on a shelf in an office? And why all the unnecessary zoom-ins on the car badges? It's like, "plot plot plot HEY LOOK A TOYOTA (or whatever the hell it was, I neither remember nor care)." Surely there are less intrusive (and let's face it, stupid) ways to work the product into the movie?
** There are still real business manufacturing goods for the real people controlling surrogates, so things like vehicles still have a purpose since people still drive (through their surrogates). I do agree though that food being placed in non-residential areas doesn't make as much sense, since surrogates don't eat; it would have been better to show the wife going to pick up groceries on her way home or something.

* At one point the main characters walk past a whole factory line churning out surrogates. So that means there's a computer running that line that has all the blueprints/shematics/etc already loaded into it. There's also shops and mechanics who do surrogate repairs and upgrades, which means there's plenty of people with complete knowledge of exactly how to make a surrogate. Plus, it's shown that lots of users have extras/copies of their surrogates lying around unconneced. What all this means, of course, is that Bruce Willis' decision to [[spoiler:fry all the surrogates and heroically "rescue" humanity is going to force people to live in their own bodies for... oh, about half a day? Yeah, that ''totally'' justifies shutting down the entire world and costing untold billions in property damage and loss of life!]]