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Would You Choose to Live as a Surrogate?
Would You Live as a Surrogate?
I just recently went to see the movie Surrogates (you can read about that here) with my girlfriend, and it actually ended up starting a friendly debate between her and I (I say debate, others might say argument…tomato/tomoto…)
Anyway, I just wanted to get some others feedback on the topic. Below I’ll list some of the benefits (as I see them) and drawbacks (again, as I see them) to living as a “Surrogate”.
Benefits
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- You don’t ever have to worry about getting sick
- You don’t have to worry about being murdered
- Those days when you had too much to drink the night before, you simply call your boss and say “Hey, my surrogate is in the shop (busted flux capacitor). I’ll be in as soon as it’s fixed.”
- You can look however you want
- No more listening to your wife/girlfriend talking about wrinkles and “Crows Feet” or how your husband/boyfriend is “getting love handles”
- You’re “body” never gets tired (you simply find the nearest outlet and plug ‘er in)
- Getting yelled at by your boss or girlfriend/boyfriend? Simply turn off your ears…literally
Drawbacks
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- Everybody Else can look however they want (you just never know who’s operating that thing do you)
- The organization you work for can always supply with a “backup” surrogate…can’t ever miss a day of work….eughk
- There are actually plenty of drawbacks, but on a serious note, there is one that kind of encompasses them all…here it is:
You never actually get to live….here is what I mean (and they touch on this in the movie…don’t worry, no movie spoiler here) Have you ever done something moderately dangerous or just plain old exciting? (like skydiving, rock-climbing, wake boarding or bungee-jumping) If you have, you’ll know that crazy feeling that you get inside of you. It is similar to wanting to scream as loud as you can combined with a feeling of “I can do anything” with a dash of wanting to punch somebody in the face (not because you’re mad, but because you just need an outlet).
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You get that feeling because of the thrill behind what it is you’ve done. There is only a thrill doing those things because of the inherent danger attached to the act itself. Living as a surrogate, bungee jumping wouldn’t be exciting. Even if the machine you’re sitting in that controls the surrogate could replicate the rush of the wind across you’re face, you’re hair blowing every which way, the feeling your stomach gets like it has just been ripped out of you (caused by falling very fast…I.E. – Bungee jumping), all the little things…at the end of it, you wouldn’t be left with that feeling…because there was never any danger involved.
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Even take almost getting into a car accident…it is horrifying…but afterwords (if you didn’t get hurt) you feel like you’ve conquered the world. Even the horrifying feeling itself is worth actually “feeling” (not that I’m saying almost getting into a car accident is a good idea or anything). You wouldn’t ever have true fear or true excitement living as a surrogate…ever.
