Hugo and the AutomatonDr. Dennis M. WeissJustin NicholasEnglish and Humanities DepartmentYork College of Pennsl!aniaYork" Pa #$%&'d(eiss)cp.eduHugo and the AutomatonAbstract:*his essa seeks to ad!ance our understanding of human+technolog relations through a reflection on Martin ,corsese-s Hugo ./#0 as (ell as its source material" 1rian ,el2nick-s children-s no!el The Invention of Hugo Cabret. We argue that central to the stor of Hugo Ca3retis a sophisticated philosophical account of technolog that contri3utes to our understanding of ho( technolog mediates culture (hile simultaneousl 3eing mediated 3 culture. An account ofmediation is an important feature of much recent philosoph of technolog" especiall the (ork of Peter+Paul 4er3eek and other Dutch philosophers of technolog. While these accounts of technolog are sophisticated de!elopments in understanding the nature of human+technolog andmo!e us 3eond simplistic accounts of technolog as neutral or autonomous" the are often under+theori2ed" especiall in regard to e5amining the nature of these relations and their shape relati!e to specific human 3eings" the so+called users of technolog. Hugo" (e argue" offers a more nuanced !ie( of the nature of human+technolog relations (hich suggests that indeed human life has al(as 3een shaped and mediated 3 technolog 3ut that (e human 3eings are ne!er simpl tool+using animals. While foregrounding the role and significance of human+technolog relations in our li!es" Hugo and The Invention of Hugo Cabret also suggest that (e need to situate those relations in larger net(orks that must include human relations" as feminist philosophers ha!e long argued" as (ell as 3roader cultural frame(orks and in (hich (e recogni2e that technolog is itself mediated 3 sm3olic or narrati!e frame(orks.66n this essa (e (ould like to ad!ance our understanding of human+technolog relations througha reflection on Holl(ood cinema" in particular Martin ,corsese-s /# film Hugo. No( one might 3e forgi!en for 3eing some(hat incredulous for thinking that (e could ad!ance our understanding of human+technolog relations through a reflection on Holl(ood cinema. After all" as Holl(ood has turned its lens on technolog it has often lurched from one caricature of technolog to another" from a technophiliac cele3ration of technolog as our sa!ior to a technopho3ic damnation of technolog as the matri5 that s(allo(s up our humanit. 7rom Terminator to Star Trek" Avatar to The Matrix" it seems Holl(ood is not in the ha3it of deepl anal2ing technolog e!en as it uses the latest cinematic technologies to 8enhance9 the e5perience of cinematic stortelling./*his lo!e:hate relationship (ith technolog" the in and ang around (hich Holl(ood-s portraal of technolog has often or3ited" increasingl misrepresents the technological (arp and (oof of our dail li!es as (ell as the understanding of technolog currentl dominant in philosophical thinking. 6n a (orld in (hich ,te!e Jo3s has 3een 3eatified as the patron saint of the digital re!olution" in (hich (e are alread on our fifth generation of iPhone" and (e are (atching our mo!ies and reading our 3ooks on iPads" (e ha!e a right to 3e incredulous a3out Holl(ood-s take on human+technolog relations. Philosophers of technolog too ha!e long re;ected these caricatures of technolog and (e are no( (ell into the third or fourth (a!e of philosoph of technolog (here scholars ha!e pushed 3eond simplistic accounts of technolog as neutral tool" demon" or sal!ation. Perhaps one of the more interesting de!elopments o!er the past decade in philosoph of technolog" especiall in understanding the comple5it of human+technolog relations" is the mo!e to(ard a philosoph of technological mediation" e5emplified inthe (ork of di!erse theorists of technolog such as Don 6hde" 1runo eorge M?li@s" responsi3le not onl for man earl ad!ances in cinematic technolog 3ut also for (ork on de!eloping complicated and life+like automatons. 6n e5amining the role of technolog in Hugo and The Invention of Hugo Cabret (e (ill argue that 3ook and film articulate an argument in fa!or of the thesis of technological mediation. 7urthermore" though" (ethink that 3oth 3ook and film ultimatel challenge a central tenet of that thesis" that human+technolog relations are someho( fundamental or foundational" more important than e!en the domain of the sm3olic. 6n the gro(ing emphasis on human+technolog co+e!olution" (hich can 3e seen in te5ts as di!erse as 1ruce Ma2lish-s Fourth Discontinuity" Elaine >raham-s and Philip Hafner-s Christian accounts of human+technolog co+e!olution" And Clark-s account of natural 3orn c3orgs" Coeckel3ergh-s technoanthropological approach" and 4er3eek-s philosoph of technological mediation" technolog is seen as central to the human condition and the human 3eing is portraed largel as a product of technological relations. *hese te5ts pa (itness to a mo!e to the material and technological (orld (hich collapses the distinction 3et(een the animate and inanimate" the organic and inorganic" the human and the technological. *hese accounts often portra technolog as the dominant factor in our li!esA (e are tool+using animals. Despite di!erse theoretical 3ackgrounds and commitments" these authors ad!ocate a techno+anthropological approach to the human 3eing" suggesting that (e ha!e entered a post+human period in (hich technolog has 3ecome foundational. *he human 3eing" it is suggested" has 3eens(allo(ed up 3 technolog and our formerl anthropocentric" humanistic concerns must no( 3e mediated through and 3 technolog.Hugo" (e argue" offers a more nuanced !ie( of the nature of human+technolog relations (hich suggests that indeed human life has al(as 3een shaped and mediated 3 technolog 3ut that (e human 3eings are ne!er simpl tool+using animals. While foregrounding the role and significance of human+technolog relations in our li!es" Hugo and The Invention of Hugo Cabret%also suggest that (e need to situate those relations in larger net(orks that must include human social relations" as feminist philosophers ha!e long argued" as (ell as 3roader cultural frame(orks and in (hich (e recogni2e that technolog is itself mediated 3 sm3olic or narrati!e frame(orks. 6n the follo(ing t(o sections (e (ill 3riefl summari2e the central narrati!e strands that inform 3oth 3ook and film as (ell as pro!ide a 3rief o!er!ie( of 4er3eek-s philosoph of technological mediation. We then turn to an analsis of 3ook and film (ith a !ie( to(ard articulating the argument that (e 3elie!e is central to their common narrati!e.66The Invention of Hugo Cabert is a oung adult no!el that at first glance seems like a simple coming of age stor" a P> Bli!er *(ist knockoff (ith a steam+punk splash" 3ut it e!ol!es to 3e more than it first appears. 6t 3egins 3 introducing us to Hugo" a t(el!e ear old 3o li!ing in Paris ;ust after the >reat War. Hugo e5ists alone. He li!es in the (alls of a train station and manages to escape notice as he maintains all the ela3orate timekeeping eCuipment in the station. He inherited this ;o3 upon the death of his uncle" a remorseless drunk (ho takes Hugo in after the death of his father. *he onl reason Hugo maintains the ela3orate clock(ork of the station is to keep himself from 3eing sent to an orphanage 3 the station inspector.Hugo makes his li!ing as a thief 3ecause" (hile he (orks his dead uncle-s ;o3" he is una3le to cash an of the deceased manDs pachecks and thus must steal to sur!i!e. He therefore spends much of his time tring to out(it the station inspector" a stern man (ith a steel leg 3race (ho takes peculiar delight in shipping children to the local orphanage. HugoDs onl reason for e5istence" his onl purpose" is to finish repairing an ela3orate machine" an automaton that he had (orked on (ith his father (hile he (as still ali!e. *o fi5 this ela3orate de!ice Hugo must steal the necessar parts from a (indup to stand in the train station" and this is ho( he meets the msterious >eorge M?li@s.'M?li@s runs a small stand at the train station (here he sells (indup tos and !arious clock(ork creations to the man passers3. He catches oung Hugo stealing parts for the automaton and as a result takes one of HugoDs pri2ed possessions a note3ook filled (ith dra(ings of the automaton-s !arious mechanisms made 3 his father. When Hugo doggedl 3egs the old man to return this note3ook" M?li@s states that he (ill return the tome onl if Hugo (orks off his de3t at the to stand. Hugo agrees and thus he 3egins to form a relationship (ith M?li@s and his goddaughter 6sa3elle.>i!en his ne( access to an a3undance of machine parts" Hugo manages to reconstruct the automaton and reali2es that its purpose is to dra( a picture. *he picture it dra(s is a scene from amo!ie that Hugo-s father once sa(" and 3elo( the picture the automaton signs the name >eorge M?li@s. Hugo and his ne( friend 6sa3elle" find this e5ceedingl strange and set a3out finding out the automatonDs origins and ho( it is connected to the o(ner of the hum3le to shop.6t is at this point that (e start to disco!er the strange histor of >eorges M?li@s. 6t seems that 3efore he (as the to shop o(ner" he (as famous magician (ho upon seeing the first films thought the (ere magic in its purest form. He ga!e up his successful stage act and 3ecame a director. He (as successful for a (hile and his mo!ies (ere considered genius 3 his legions of fans. Ho(e!er the >reat War arri!ed made his mo!ies seem like escapist fri!olities in comparison to the real horrors seen on ne(s reels. No+one it seems had time for his lighthearted fantasies" and thus the great >eorge M?li@s" his dreams destroed" sold his studio and 3ecame theold and 3itter o(ner of the mechanical to shop in the train station.Epon their disco!er of his tragic histor" the children Hugo and 6sa3elle set a3out arranging a meeting 3et(een M?li@s and a professor at the Academ of 7ilm in Paris (ho is an admirer of M?li@s (ork and a lifelong fan of the man himself. Mrs. M?li@s at first for3ids this meeting 3ecause of her hus3and-s intense sensiti!it to the mere mention of (hat he considers to 3e his past failures" 3ut once M?li@s is reintroduced to his past he reali2es that his percei!ed failures (ere actuall an important part of the histor of film and his life.*he mo!ie and the 3ook 3oth end happil (ith the adoption of Hugo 3 the M?li@s famil and (ith >eorges M?li@s 3eing honored 3 the Academ of film as a pioneer in the film industr.F666Earl philosophers of technolog such as JacCues Ellul" Martin Heidegger" and Garl Jaspers (ere!er critical of technolog and sought to clearl demarcate the 3oundaries 3et(een humanit andtechnolog. *echnolog threatens dehumani2ation and its limits must 3e closel circumscri3ed.6n more recent philosoph of technolog" ho(e!er" there is a gro(ing critical a(areness of the (eakness of this analsis and an effort to tear do(n the 3oundaries 3et(een human 3eing and technolog. Bne sees this most clearl in the interest paid to technological mediation in the (ork of 1runo are Montparnasse rail(a station" and the sounds and sights generated 3 its giant steam engines shape the film-s mise en scene. *he steam engine is central to 3oth the narrati!e of film and 3ookas (ell as to the histor of cinema. *he >are Montparnasse 3ecame famous for an incident in (hich a locomoti!e derailed and crashed through the station" a scene reenacted in 3oth Hugo andThe Invention of Hugo Cabret. *he steam engine is also a central character in one of the first documentar films e!er produced" the reek mtholog. 1oth Prometheus and Hugo are thie!es and 3oth are ultimatel rescued and set free. 6n this regard" ,el2nick-s children-s no!el interestingl points in the direction of 1ernard ,tiegler-s appropriation of the mth of Epimetheus and Prometheus in !olume one of Technics ##and Time" (here he connects Epimetheus- act of forgetting to 3esto( an talents on human 3eings to Prometheus- gift of technolog" (hich then 3ecomes the ground of our 3eing. Bur anthropogenesis is simultaneousl a technogenesis. Hugo too is forgotten and in this !oid" technolog too ser!es as his anthropogenesis" or 3etter his technogenesis.*he figure of Prometheus is all 3ut displaced in the ,corsese film. We ha!e instead the figure of the ,tation 6nspector" (ho plas a much larger role in the film than he does in the 3ook. And heretoo (e are reminded of our technoanthropological nature" of our 3eing natural 3orn c3orgs" to 3orro( a phrase from And Clark .Clark /&&=0. *he ,tation 6nspector" >usta!" (as in;ured in World War Bne. *he in;ur (ill ne!er heal and he is forced to (ear a leg 3race" (hich 3ecomes his defining feature. 6ndeed" the 3race-s sCueakiness and propensit to sei2e up and get caught onthings is the source of much of the mo!ie-s comic set pieces. 1 the end of the mo!ie" though" Hugo" our modern Prometheus" has redesigned the 3race" (hich no( (orks fla(lessl" and >usta! reportsA 86t does not sCueak at all.M6-m no( a full functioning man.9 With his take on the automaton and the ,tation 6nspector" ,corsese em3races a steampunk aesthetic that reminds us that our current fascination (ith artificial life and c3orgs alread has a long histor that predates our digital era. While (e ma sometimes feel that (e are li!ing in a technologicall disrupti!e and potentiall posthuman age" our current technologies and our technologicall mediated (as of 3eing are in fact deepl continuous (ith earlier ages and pre!ious technologies.Hugo finall then seems to affirm that notion that our humanit is shaped 3 our technolog. We see the e!idence of our technological side in the film and (e understand the role that technological artifacts pla in shaping our understanding of oursel!es and our place in the (orld.7urthermore" and on a different le!el" the specific !ehicle of film technolog also underscores the thesis of technological mediation. We ha!e 3een insisting that technolog mediates our (orld. We don-t ha!e unfiltered access to the (orld. *o some e5tent this seems to run counter to (hat film might suggest. A camera simpl points and records and gi!es us an unfiltered picture of the (orld. 1ut as (e increasingl deal (ith digital technolog" it is clear that this is not the case and toda-s !ie(ers of film ha!e pro3a3l gro(n more sophisticated in thinking that film asa !isual medium doesn-t simpl record realit 3ut also highl mediates realit. What (e see is #/itself mediated 3 technolog. *his is especiall clear as (e consider the kinds of films that ha!e 3een popular in Holl(ood for some time no(A the 3ig 3udget action:sci+fi films that are reall special+effects dri!en narrati!es. ,uch films perhaps (ear their simulation on their slee!e" so to speak" such that the prime the audience to e5pect a !isual treat 3ut one that is di!orced from realit. *he foreground the simulational nature of the e5perience and in this (a underscore ho( technolog mediates. All of (hich is to suggest that perhaps it is more apparent toda that film is a technolog that mediates our e5perience of the (orld (hile simultaneousl shaping our e5perience of the !er technologies portraed in film. Hugo is especiall kno(ing in this regard" as it uses and foregrounds contemporar digital technologies to tell a stor a3out the in!ention offilm technolog. We learn in 3oth 3ook and film that M?li@s (as an earl adapter of film as a source of magic and illusion and mster and man of his films dealt (ith fantastic tales and relied on (hat (as at the time ad!anced techniCues to create fantastical images and scenes. Hugo literall pulls 3ack the curtains so to speak on the technological production of film" sho(ing us ho( M?li@s accomplished some of his tasks. Hugo itself" as a =D film" engages in some of these !er same practices of spectacle. 6t takes complicated technolog to produce Hugo" further underscoring the mediating nature of film technolog" especiall in the hands of a consummate director such as ,corsese.4All of this seemingl suggests that Hugo has escaped the dou3le 3ind of traditional Holl(ood cinema and gi!en us a more thoughtful take on human+technolog relations that accords (ith thecurrent recognition of ho( human life is fundamentall mediated 3 technolog. Bur t(in narrati!es make a strong case for re;ecting pro3lematic !ie(s of technolog that either treat it as mere passi!e instrument or cele3rate or demoni2e it. Bur li!es are indeed ine5trica3l 3ound up (ith technolog and the thesis of technological mediation (ould seem !alidated. 1ut no( (e (ould like to read 3oth te5ts some(hat against this grain and suggest that in fact Hugo does philosoph of technolog one 3etter. While a strong case can 3e made that the theme of technological mediation is central to Hugo" an e!en 3etter case can 3e made for the claim that Hugo suggests that (hile our li!es are indeed mediated 3 technolog" (e ought not to make the mistake of placing technolog in a fundamental or foundational position" a mistake too often #=made toda (hen (e place too much emphasis on the po(er of technolog and forget that it too has cultural" historical" and social dimensions. While an account of technological mediation ma 3e necessar to ethical reflection" it is not sufficient and (e cannot lose sight of competing (as of thinking and seeing.usta! is the human eCui!alent of the clock (ork mechanism. He-s a social automatonJisolated and alone" singular" (ithout a famil" simpl follo(ing orders and keeping to himself. 1ut of course also earning for a relationship (ith the flo(er girl eorges. While fatherhood plas an important role in Hugo" or at least the a3sent father does" it is relationships to (omen" mediated 3 the presence ofa heart" that finall redeem Hugo and >eorges and >usta!. When >usta! finall accedes at the end of the film to 3eing a full functioning man" it-s perhaps partl 3ecause Hugo has pro!ided him (ith a ne( prosthesis.1ut it-s eCuall 3ecause he has a ne( relationship. He speaks first to the musicians he had pre!iousl run intoA 8Don-t (orr. 6-m no( a full functioning man.9 *hen #Lhe looks directl at eorge M?li@s of course" find their place. *he 3elong. *he are not alone. And this sense of 3elonging" of place" could not 3e pro!ided 3 the automaton or the clocks or an of the other mriad mechanisms Hugo and >eorges and the ,tation 6nspector ha!e surrounded themsel!es (ith. 1oth film and no!el suggestthat relations are important and that human 3eings can onl 3e understood from the standpoint ofa relational ontolog. *echnolog plas a role in that ontolog and (e human 3eings are technologicall mediated tool+using animals. 1ut 3efore an of those tools can do the (ork the are supposed to do" (e human 3eings must first ha!e a heart and enter into a more fundamental relation (ith other human 3eings. All of this suggests that in (orking to(ards a more comprehensi!e frame(ork for the e!aluation of human+technolog relations" (e need to keep in mind that the human 3eing is more than a mere user of technolog and e5ists in relation to more than technolog. *echnolog is not the tissue of meaning (ithin (hich our e5istence takes shape. Human culture and societ is" of (hich surel technolog is a large part" ;ust not the onl part and sometimes not e!en the most fundamental part. We are not first and foremost tool using animals 3ut social animals shaped and mediated 3 human communit. *his is a theme that has 3een central to much of feminist philosoph" especiall feminist ethics" for more than thirt ears and feminist ethicists ha!e long argued for precisel the kind of relational ontolog that is at the heart of 4er3eek-s amodernist philosoph of technolog. 1ut (here 4er3eek and other philosophers of technolog 3egin (ith human+technolog relations" feminist ethicists argue that it is caring that forms the core relation in shaping human life and communit" not our relation to technolog. A relational ontolog of thesort championed 3 4er3eek" usta!. Hugo Eltimatel" 3oth Hugo and The Invention of Hugo Cabret are /&less a3out technolog than a3out (hat it means to 3e human in a technological (orld. And (hat it means to 3e human is defined as much 3 our relations to others and our dreams and our desires for a little 3it of magic as it is our relations to technolog.46Hugo and The Invention of Hugo Cabret represent a (orld that is !er much ours" a (orld shaped 3 technolog" from the technolog of the automaton to the technolog of the cinema. And these technologies are intimatel related to core Cuestions (e human 3eings often ask oursel!esA (hat am 6K (hat is m place in the (orldK Hugo initiall turns to technolog to ans(er these Cuestions. *he (orld is a giant mechanism" it has all the parts it needs and e!er part plas its role and so he simpl needs to pla his part. 6f he can onl repair the automaton its secrets (ill 3e re!ealed and he (ill once again 3e connected to his father !ia the magic of technolog.