Artificial Intelligence vs. Pinocchio

In Steven Spielberg’s movie, Artificial Intelligence, we are introduced to a young boy named David who is taken in by a couple, Monica and Henry. However, David is not your average eight year old boy, he is a robot that was made for people like Monica and Henry who needed the love of a child. After being brought home, David wants nothing more than for his mother, Monica, to love him. One day Monica reads him the story of Pinocchio. After hearing the story David is determined to find the Blue Fairy believing that she will be able to make him into a real boy just like she did with Pinocchio. David and Pinocchio share the same dream, but their stories and journeys are very different.

David and Pinocchio share the same goal of becoming real boys and earning the love of their parents. Pinocchio’s father, Geppetto, created Pinocchio as a son for himself so he was always loved and wanted by his father. David is brought home to Monica by her husband, Henry. Monica is furious when presented with David, however he slowly begins to grow on her. She activates his imprinting protocol because she is still grieving over her other son, Martin, who is not with them at the time due to an illness. When Martin comes home, Monica decides that she no longer needs David and that he is a threat to her family so she gets rid of him. Monica dumps David in the middle of the woods as he cries and begs her not to leave him. When Pinocchio goes missing, Geppetto desperately tries to find him. Pinocchio was always loved and wanted by his father. David was just a substitute son for Monica that she threw away when she got her real son back.

After David is abandoned by Monica he sets out to find the Blue Fairy thinking that she will be able to turn him into a real boy. David, along with Teddy, a teddy bear robot that Monica gave him, goes looking for the Blue Fairy. Teddy is supposed to act as David’s conscience similar to how Jiminy did for Pinocchio. Jiminy actually tries to give Pinocchio helpful advice and isn’t always right by his side which allows Pinocchio to learn and grow from some of his mistakes on his own. When Pinocchio went to join the circus, Jiminy got mad at him and left. This allowed Pinocchio time to think alone about what he did and realize that it was wrong. Jiminy then returns to him and helps him. Teddy just follows David wherever he goes, not ever leaving his side, and does not really give him much helpful advice. David meets Gigolo Joe who also plays a character meant to act as David’s conscience. Joe, however, ends up helping David go to Manhattan, a place that is very dangerous for robots. Jiminy allows Pinocchio to make some mistakes and figure things out for himself, but he also does everything he can to save him when he is in trouble and does not help Pinocchio put himself in bad situations.

All that Teddy does is follow David around and Joe encourages David’s bad behavior by helping him get to Manhattan. Jiminy never would have let Pinocchio sit at the bottom of the sea for 2000 years or help him get himself into trouble. When Pinocchio goes into the sea it is to selflessly save his father, which he does by using his wit and courage. David finds out that the Blue Fairy does not exist and that there are many other mechas just like him, so he is not the unique being he thought himself to be. His creators are eager to speak with him about his adventures, but he is too upset over his recent discoveries so instead he decides to jump into the sea to kill himself. Pinocchio was brave and faced his problems head on; David was a coward who ran away from his problems. Once David is down there in the water Joe saves him, but David believing that the Blue Fairy is in the water goes back in.

He then stays down there for 2000 years asking a statue to make him into a real boy, until he is once again rescued by other robots. Pinocchio goes into the sea and rescues his father, while David went into the sea and had to be rescued twice. In Pinocchio the Blue Fairy helps him and serves as a guide throughout his journey. In Artificial Intelligence all that the Blue Fairy does is give David false hope. David tries so hard to find the Blue Fairy and, but all he finds is a lifeless statue. Because David has put so much faith into this fairy, that doesn’t even exist, he sits at the bottom of the sea for 2000 years in hopes that she will make him into a real boy. When David finally does come out of the sea and everything is frozen over, he touches the Blue Fairy and she shatters along with David’s dream of becoming a real boy. The Blue Fairy in Pinocchio grants him his wish and makes him into a real boy, in Artificial Intelligence the Blue Fairy becomes David’s destruction.

Pinocchio proves himself to be brave, truthful, and selfless while David maintains a different set or morals. David never considered that Monica and her family could be better off without her because he was too blinded by his desperate need for her love. David’s actions display the selfishness of a robot and show how a being who lacks humanity cannot become human.. He does not take into account anyone else’s feelings or how what he is doing might affect someone before he does anything. When David throws himself into the water and brings Monica back for one day it shows us that he did not mature at all and is just the same childish kid that he was from the beginning. The difference between Pinocchio and David is Pinocchio grows and matures as a person and finally becomes real. David never matures and never becomes a real boy.