Warm Bodies

Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies left me with a mixed opinion. Although Marion's underlying messages of dehumanization and humanity were very well done, I felt like the Romeo and Juliet aspect of the story did not work for me. The humanization of R could still contain romantic elements, but I feel like it shouldn't have been done in such a cliche manner. However, R's internal narratives are engaging and amusing, and I believe it actually plays on our fear of the "other" being capable of thinking similarly to humans. Yet, we sympathize with R and root for him as he strives to question his own existence and physical self. However, if we were given the story from Julie's point of view, would our perspective change? Would we automatically be biased due to Julie's descriptions and impressions? Would we sympathize with R less and sympathize with her anguish over Perry's death? How we relate to R's character sort of challenges the Uncanny Valley concept that we discussed earlier in class, however, perhaps the Uncanny Valley never really addressed the question about whether or not the "other" was capable of advanced cognitive thought. If there was an Uncanny Valley constructed from the "other's" point of view, where would humans place? I feel like Warm Bodies asks us to question these ideas of humanity, cognitive thought, and how much similar we can really be through thoughts and emotions.