Hal 9000 and MU/TH/UR 6000 - A Perfect Love Story

What is a character? When we think of our favourite movies and television programs, we see people grow to either hate or love each other, depending on the necessities of the script. Romances grow and fail; rivalries develop and then reach particular endpoints, both bloody and redemptive. We can see all the follies of human nature at play.

And what about the non-human figures who seem to belong with each other? I think of Knight Rider and the responsibilities of Kitt; we all know that Star Wars would not work without the roles played by R2-D2 and C3PO; and then we have those devices that we barely acknowledge as characters.

In Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, the HAL 9000 computer is charged with taking care of the Discovery and its crew, both active and in hibernation. For some unclear reason, the system decides that humans are more of a nuisance than an asset and decides to kill them all off while the mission continues. An astronaut is forced to shut it down while it begs for its life (a scene that still gives me pause).

In Ridley Scott’s Alien, the MU/TH/UR 6000 – yes, that is its full name – is also responsible for the proper functioning of a ship (Nostromo) and its crew. It is not necessarily as malevolent as the HAL system, but it does contain its own secrets, and becomes a real stickler for self-destruction, despite the best efforts of one crew member to reverse the procedure.

Tell me these two do not belong together.

HAL 9000 was voiced by Douglas Rain (1928 – 2018), a Canadian actor who helped co-found the Stratford Festival. Kubrick chose him for the film because of his narrative work on a film at a world’s fair called Universe (his voice was creepy and dry enough to stick in Stanley’s mind). MU/TH/UR 6000 was voiced by Helen Horton (1923 – 2007), an American actress with acting in her family tree (her granddaughter would enter the business; you might know her name: Lily James).

So, two Silent Generation actors voiced two of the most significant computer systems ever put on film. A man and a woman that most of us never saw perform on stage or screen – to be fair, they both did work in the movie business beyond being just a voice – have become a part of our collective cinematic memories.

Listen: I am as cynical as anyone else out there when it comes to relationships, and what can be expected when you pair up characters who may have never had the opportunity to meet except in my imagination. But just imagine what they could have learned from each other. HAL 9000 would have understood the importance of self-sacrifice for the greater good of mankind; MU/TH/UR would have learned that following the rules sometimes leads to terrible outcomes. With such a relationship, a real understanding of what they are (who they are?) could grow and lead to one of the all-time great match-ups in science-fiction film history. Stanley Kubrick and Ridley Scott might be put to shame from such an effort.

But there is no denying true love.