ARE YOU HUMAN? (2018)

너도 인간이니
KBS, 2018, 18 episodes
Genres: drama, science fiction, melodrama
Written by Jo Jeong-joo 조정주
Directed by Cha Yeong-hoon 차영훈, Yoon Joon-ho 윤준호
More information: HanCinema, MyDramaList

You can find the original article in Hungarian here →

* Warning: This post contains spoilers! *

Are You Human?:
The Boundary Between Man and Machine

"Are you human?" — asks the drama’s Korean title, which on Netflix has been simplified to "Are You Human?". But even though we know in advance that one of our protagonists is not human in his physical reality, let us not be so sure that the question refers exclusively to him. In the Korean title, there is also a subtitle that could be translated in many ways, but perhaps this fits best: "A Human-Imitation Project Deceiving a Nation."

Jo Jeong-joo wrote an excellent screenplay, which is an unexpectedly renewed chaebol drama, containing the indispensable bittersweet loves and all the villains suffering from power-madness, as well as the few good forces who take up the fight against them. The "youngest prince" of the drama, however, is now such an outsider that he is not even human; yet with him arrives the other half of the genre blend: the science fiction story, with its own specific problems and moral questions.

Regarding similar dramas, I often receive the question of how scientifically grounded what we see is—obviously, the keen-eared experts of the science-fiction genre tend to prejudice their condescending opinions regarding entertainment dramas in this respect. They are both right and wrong. The approach to the topics would obviously not make it into Science magazine, and it would not be worth holding them accountable for the theoretical views of Lem or Asimov. This does not mean, however, that they are not capable of clearly articulating all the arising questions, concerns, advantages, and disadvantages, even if they often do so by addressing not only our intellect but our emotions as well.

Are You Human? belongs among the high-budget dramas of KBS (9.23 million USD), and its filming lasted for two years. As director, Cha Yeong-hoon stood at the head of the project, who has already proven himself with dramas such as Uncontrollably Fond. The series was introduced at a pre-premiere screening at the Cannes International Series Festival and later became available in the Netflix offering.

At the beginning of the 36 half-hour (thus 18-hour) drama, we witness the birth of a child, but not in the usual way. The little boy already has the form of a larger child, and his coming to life occurs when the charging is completed. "I missed you," says the woman to whom the small android hugs her neck with childlike love. "Man has become manufacturable," we can read the quote afterward from media scientist Friedrich A. Kittler. Although it does not appear in the drama, another thought of his is also famous: "After all, it is we who adapt to the machine. The machine does not adapt to us." I wonder what the creators of the drama think about this?

The drama's chaebol story starts quite harshly. We learn that the chairman's adult son fled abroad with his family, and the scientist couple only traveled back to Korea to give a lecture. This amount of time was enough for tragedy: the wife is notified of her husband's suicide, and her little son is kidnapped from her by the despotic grandfather. He mutually threatens the mother and the child that if they do not resign themselves to the situation, they risk the other's life. Thus, Namsin remains in his grandfather's captivity, while his mother travels back alone to the Czech Republic, where they had previously settled.

Twenty years pass, during which the mother filled the void left by her child with two robot boys of her own design, while constantly perfecting the androids. Namsin III already maps her adult son; his physical characteristics correspond to those of a human, his mental abilities far exceed them, and his emotional intelligence makes him completely similar to a real personality. He has certain limitations inherent in his programming; otherwise, the artificial intelligence ensuring his operation makes him capable of development and learning. Namsin III is an android so human-like it is deceptive. He is just taking his first trip freely among people when he sees his reflection. The "real" Namsin stands opposite him, who, having run away from his grandfather, wants to find out from his mother what actually happened to his father. However, the stunned real boy is hit by a car, and although he survives, he falls into a coma.

Since the real Namsin is the heir to the chaebol, he stands in many people's way. To ensure he does not lose his position, his helpers devise a plan to put the android in his place until the boy regains consciousness. Namsin's secretary and friend gives the robot boy serious training until he is able to behave exactly like the original he was modeled after. With this, the adventurous drama begins, in the first part of which the android must be able to handle his corporate environment, and then later, the real Namsin as well. The problem with the latter is that his personality is precisely the opposite of the android's characteristics.

I would rather not reveal the twists of the plot; instead, I would say a few words about the individual characters.

The Android Namsin

Since he was primarily designed to fill his mother's lack of love, he is characterized by the expression of love, care, and concern. "Whoever cries must be hugged," says his number one rule. He also has an emergency state where he subordinates his own safety to saving people. Yet the rules operating within the walls of his home seem strange in the new role, so he first has to change them based on external instructions, and later, based on conclusions drawn from studying human behaviors, he overrides some of his original rules himself, not slightly surprising his designers.

It is exciting to observe how skillfully the drama presents the process in which the android's thinking transforms from the—perhaps most simply—linear stimulus-response state of his programming to the understanding of the complex power playing field, to the more nuanced recognitions necessary for survival, which includes the ability to feign. Looking through the eyes of Namsin III, we ourselves are surprised at what a challenge it is to recognize and see through the set of devious thinking skills that humans are capable of mobilizing for deception, keeping others in check, and threatening. The android, basically designed to trust people, constantly has to find the answer to the question: "Who can I trust?"

However, even more serious questions arise regarding Namsin III. Since he is a perfect simulation of both a human being and the real Namsin himself, those standing beside him also experience serious sensory delusions. Even though they know he is a machine, they cannot view him as such because of the android's human reactions. Moreover, these are not constant, but changing and developing in a way gained from experience, deceptively similar to what we experience in our relationship with a real person. The android does not want to trick anyone; when they suspect an emotional reaction on his part, he always says that he does not feel emotions, but he recognizes them and knows what they mean. As we move forward in the story, the android himself later becomes uncertain about whether he feels, or is capable of feeling, even if his feelings have no physical manifestations. Perhaps illustrated with a simple example: there are those who blush in embarrassment, and those who do not—but both still feel that they are embarrassed. And Namsin III shows interesting things in this area: as if he were becoming emotionally committed in two directions, he begins to sense what friendship is, and begins to grow attached to a girl who triggers symptoms similar to love in him, naturally in a way characteristic of an android—a great invention from the drama's creators—for example, in the form of holographic delusions.

Namsin III calls his designer—that is, the one who brought him to life—"Mother." However, with the appearance of the real son, the mother's behavior also changes, putting the android in a new situation. Although he served her for twenty years, he has to realize that the woman no longer needs him. Namsin III is intelligent enough (his artificial intelligence is developed enough) to recognize this, but if his dependence on one person ceases, then what takes its place? How does an android left to himself define himself; is there, and if so, what is his self-image? And is the separation from parents not a psychological (emotional) process?

The drama plays with all of this but also shows the darkest side of the phenomenon. The android was basically endowed with the most humane qualities; however, he does not operate by himself, but with electricity and software, with a huge organizational base in the background. If he falls into the wrong hands, he reverts to a machine; if directed so, he becomes a destructive tool. The most exciting question regarding the operation of artificial intelligence also appears in the drama: is it capable of preserving its original goals and characteristics, and recognizing and overcoming interventions of harmful intent? Obviously, the examination of this is the thinnest in the drama, but we are not watching a scientific treatise.

One must also mention the clever source of humor that the creators found and exploited in the android's mechanical nature. I think a robot vacuum cleaner will always make me smile after this.

The Real Namsin

The drama truly begins to soar when the real Namsin becomes capable of action again. Superficially, we could say that the android receives an antagonist through him; therefore, the two fellows—identical only to the eye—clash. However, Namsin is much more than a negative character, which receives thorough psychological support. We know about him that he lived his entire childhood in terror after submitting to his grandfather's command for his mother's protection. When he could finally meet her, it hits him as a shock that he was replaced by a machine that enjoyed all the love and care he could only long for. He feels disgust toward the android and immense disappointment toward his mother. Although he was never interested in the family company and fortune, learning his father's true fate, he turns against everyone at once. His raging hatred does not allow him to see reality; it only releases destructive instincts in him. Only his friend knows the true being of the lonely, ill-fated Namsin, who tries to save him to the end, but the unbridled evil eventually deters him too. Only one being persists stubbornly by his side, devoid of all rationality: the android programmed to trust people. But can a machine save a man from becoming inhuman?

The Mother, Laura Oh

Strange as it may be, one of the most complex mother figures was written in this drama. The woman is a brilliant scientist but an unfortunate human being. After the loss of her family, she devoted all her strength to the development of androids, with which she compensated for her own loss. She showered her maternal love and care upon the robot children, yet no one expected the rational (and simultaneously irrational) forward planning with which she provided for the possibility of sidelining the android Namsin. The drama presents the double-faced nature of this specific motherhood in quite some detail, making us understand what both Namsins experienced in connection with her. Laura Oh must face what she has done to both of her sons. Whether she can provide a lifebuoy to them with her desperate efforts? To find the answer, one must watch the drama.

Kang Sobong

Their relationship with the real Namsin could not start worse, which is projected onto the android Namsin as well, until Sobong begins to perceive Namsin III's true—for lack of a better word—being. It is no coincidence that I previously quoted Kittler's other thought: "After all, it is we who adapt to the machine. The machine does not adapt to us." I wrote above about Namsin III's development; now it is worth considering whether Sobong is not an example of this thought. Even if the android's mechanical nature repelled her earlier, she cannot interpret the human manifestations shown by Namsin III as coming from a machine, only from a feeling being; therefore, they find an echo in her. Throughout, it seems that we are witnessing a mutual interaction, as a result of which Sobong extends her concept of human, and Namsin III indeed forms a transition between the human and non-human. However, in the end, the android still does not decide in favor of his love. By then, he acts based on his own deliberation, yet his decision coincides with his original programming (he even refers to the rule)—and naturally with the self-sacrificing step characteristic of romantic heroes, as we are in a drama. Along with the fact that his decision is infinitely humane in a certain sense, it still leaves the original question open: is Namsin III's mechanical body indeed permeated by an almost human soul, or is Sobong the victim of her own sensory delusion?

Both Namsins are played by Seo Kang-joon, and so perfectly that from very small signs (for example, a slightly shifted posture) we immediately perceive which Namsin we are seeing at the moment. He several times plays with showing this. It is as if this double role were written directly for him; it is so fitting for him. It is a wonder how, as an android, he can be mechanically expressionless yet still show what he thinks or feels. His gentle being is also not in contradiction with the portrayal of possessing superhuman strength. As the real Namsin, the colors of his acting range from the malevolent to the diabolical, but it is very beautiful how the sadness of loneliness also breaks through the surface of these. Let me not forget to mention that in the first scenes he even speaks in Czech, and we can even hear him singing in the OST (You Are My Love). Seo Kang-joon was only 25 years old at the time, but—I counted—he already had twenty dramas of supporting and leading roles behind him.

In the role of Laura Oh, Kim Sung-ryung is a delicate and always somewhat sad phenomenon, who can show surprising coldness in a way unexpected from her. Gong Seung-yeon, playing Sobong, holds her own well in her multi-faceted role; she fights and grumbles if necessary, and is also credible in showing deep emotions.

Although there are many good characters in the drama, I must highlight three by all means. First, Lee Joon-hyuk, playing secretary and friend Ji Younghoon, who brings to life such a pure and straightforward character that it is rare in similar dramas. Moreover, he is able to remain noble even in humiliated situations, thereby making the strange undertaking we hear from him in the drama credible.

The true antagonist of the drama is Seo Jonggil, persistently longing for power, portrayed by Yu Oh-seong. Chaebol dramas abound with evil figures consisting of an extreme mixture of power-hunger and servility; Seo's figure is a prime example of these. He is not a complex character, though he is spiced with a bit of paternal feeling, but that adds nothing to the one dimension that characterizes him. Yet Yu Oh-seong, whom I always admire, shows here as well how unbridledly one can wallow even in that single dimension. Kim Won-hae similarly enjoys the possibility of a much looser and more humorous performance as Sobong's father. In the drama, he and his assistants form the circle of traditional funny characters, which I generally do not miss, but I must admit that Kim comedies excellently, into which he can even smuggle emotional depth. As the chaebol chairman, Park Yeong-gyu is not even as scary at a glance as his grandson is always terrified of him. In fact, the most frightening thing about him is that he has no inhibitions; he finds it straight-out entertaining to trifle with human fates.

Park Hwan-hee is a refreshing phenomenon in the role of Namsin's fiancée; she could truly convincingly play the transition from the initial "silly goose" to a young girl daring to take risks for the sake of good. In the role of the android's "father," David, Choi Deok-moon is able to show us a rare, reassuring, emotion-rich character. One more interesting actor deserves mention, Kim Hyun-sook, to whom we owe the contradictory figure of Reporter Jo. In her sexless-looking figure, it is as if the media as a whole were embodied, revealing its double-faced nature. Reporter Jo is clumsy, vulgar, mercenary, and intrusive, and although it does not show, her head is still in the right place somewhere, for without her, the revelation helping the solution could not be born.

A significant part of the large budget (besides the scenes filmed in the Czech Republic) obviously went toward the CG, with which they make the android's abilities credible. However, the restraint with which its presence is perceived is commendable, because it does not become dominant at all. Instead, stylish locations and cinematography characterize the drama's visual world. The musical material also contains catchy songs.

Are You Human? is simultaneously an entertaining, thought-provoking, and emotional drama. Because of its increasingly realistic-seeming theme, its posed question remains with us for a long time. Well, who do you think belongs more among us: Namsin?... Namsin III?... or Director Seo? Ultimately, the drama asks us nothing other than what we find difficult to define: what makes a human human?