What Actually Is a Real Human?
Real Humans (original title: Äkta människor) created by Lars Lundström is a Swedish mixed-genre TV series that combines the elements of science fiction and drama, but a certain amount of crime also appears on the screen from time to time.
Before I start discussing the new Scandinavian hit, I would like to briefly elaborate on the Scandinavian/Nordic series in general. Nowadays Scandinavian TV shows are fairly prominent around the globe, which might be the result of their distinctive and easily recognisable style, but even the region itself is quite popular among both job seekers and tourists. Therefore, it’s not a surprise that people tend to talk about Nordic noir, for instance, when it comes to crime series taking place somewhere in the North.
I agree with Radio Times TV editor Alison Graham who says that Scandinavian dramas treat us as adults, and “[n]ot just [because of] the ability to follow a long, multi stranded, and complex story, but because they are quite fearless in playing around with expectations. Major characters are killed off, and there is never any kind of ‘redemptive’ aspect to the story.”
However, the ultimate success behind the Scandinavian television shows is definitely that authentic outcome that originates in the unique and well-balanced blend of the genre, the plot and the style. Other important factors are the reflections of the shows upon society and the challenges that people have to face and overcome. “Crime fiction [...] in one way or another is based on a realistic way of seeing, which reflects the problems of society.”
Scandinavian countries, especially Denmark, mainly export crime series. Series like The Killing or The Bridge provide excellent examples of TV shows that are able to attract both national and international audiences. This specific genre gives the opportunity to the viewers to experience excitement, fear, hope and anger at the same time. In addition to that, they also become part of the investigation, and, as a consequence of that, they are able to create their own theories.
Despite the importance of the genre, the plot always plays a crucial role. SVT’s drama boss, Christian Wikander says, “[w]e have managed to give universal issues a local flavour, reflecting the Scandinavian way of life with its own editing, pace and narrative styles”. More precisely, writers have managed to create a glocal – meaning both global and local – story. Indeed, Redvall has emphasized the significance of ‘one vision’ in both her lecture given during the course of Scandinavian Film and Television held by University of Copenhagen and her text on institutional authorship and creative agency. “Having a first dogma insisting that the writer should be at the centre of the production process and be treated in respect of the concept of ‘one vision’ or a second dogma specifying the need for ‘double storytelling’ does communicate a certain idea of how to make television series.”
Authenticity, ordinariness and realism with a certain extent of darkness and irony comprise the Scandinavian/Nordic style, even if we talk about other kinds of series. I admire the fact that Scandinavian/Nordic authors and/or creators in different fields of art and culture are able to face their limits and imperfection. It shows self-consciousness and allows to portray fictional characters as ordinary human beings who might – or actually – exist somewhere among us. People behind the popular TV shows know that standing on the ground of realism infected by darkness and irony creates space for completely ordinary characters to become the heroes of others. And this is exactly what happens in Real Humans, which shows the characteristics mentioned above, even though it’s not a crime series. It has a story that is both local and global as it meditates on universal social issues, and, in spite of the scientific theme, its plot is absorbed by realism and ordinariness. We follow the Engman family and some hubots, who are trying to bring about changes in society where, according to some, being different is a hundred per cent unacceptable. But who can define what is normal anyway?
The series takes place in a parallel universe portraying Sweden as a country where it is completely natural to possess one hubot or more. You are probably wondering by now what exactly a hubot is. Hubots are androids that have different roles in society; for instance, they are factory workers, servants, and you can even play Paintball with them. Besides the hubots who are programmed and do whatever their owners wish them to do, there is a group of free “hubots” who have been designed by David Eischer in a way that they behave just like us as people: they have free will and are able to develop feelings and desires, and some of them are evil and want to exploit and rule others. So it really is time to remember the question asked in the title: What does it mean to be human? I assume we all have some ideas but do we have a clear and exact answer to that question?
This ambiguity is the base of the conflict unfolding in the series. A great percentage of people do not like hubots, some want to destroy all of them. They see them partly as objects that have one goal in life, namely to serve their owners who can turn them off whenever and wherever they want, partly something dangerous that can and will attack people at some point. Although it might go a little bit too far, I still do think that being owned, sold, bought and exploited as most of the hubots – should – remind us of the victims of the organised human and organ trafficking business. These serious issues are not discussed per se but we can find some hints of them. What we can see, though, is that relatively many human(-like) – and story-wise important – individuals die during the two seasons of the show, just like in any other Scandinavian/Nordic series. Nice ones and bad ones pass away, too, and here we reach another point of human existence: death. We all know we are going to die sometime, but do we all – have to – die? Being partly science fiction, Real Humans does not take no as an answer. Though, not the old tactic that is freezing ourselves to be woken up later is the way how people ‘survive’, or should I say resurrect? To be able to avoid real(?) death, one can choose to be cloned, and then live like a hubot happily ever after. But is life so great to live forever, even if just like a machine? What makes someone or something human: the soul or the brain?
While death is viewed as a taboo topic in most cultures, and therefore we don’t really want to build dialogues or monologues on it unless we are George Carlin, for example, politics is something that provides plenty of topics to talk about, especially in today’s Sweden. Without a doubt, we all have experienced the emergence of several slightly or extremely radical political parties across Europe. The series also reflect upon this phenomenon: In Real Humans a party called Real Humans tries to gain political influence, meanwhile, it has been already operating and educating the member of its own youth movement. However, I find somewhat misleading the outfit (uniform) of the members of the youth organisation, which makes one think of skinheads who have different ‘branches’: not all skinheads are racist and discriminate against others. (But this is part of another discussion that might take place at another time.) What is significant here is that the members of Real Humans proclaim their views on hubots wherever they go and are not afraid of taking actions against them. Discrimination, aggression, anger, disappointment and the lack of knowledge feed upon their feelings.
However, there are those who fight for equality and the hubots’ rights. Indeed, Real Humans depicts a Swedish society that bears some resemblance to the current situation in Sweden, and to some other countries as well. While hubots represent the immigrants, one can also find similarities between the radical political party and its youth organisation and the Swedish Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna), which has become the third biggest party in Sweden during the latest parliamentary election, and its youth organisation. Still, Lars Lundström, the creator of Real Humans, has mentioned the relationship between people and machines as the basic idea of the series.
The article was originally published in December 2014.
