Little Lost Robot

I’ve been working on a new page for the blog called Art and found this old drawing done by Eric when he was 6 years old. I showed it to Eric today and asked why he had liked the movie I, Robot so much when he was little. He said, “I used to feel like Sonny.” 

Maybe Eric still does not have the language yet to verbally express a complex emotion. That doesn’t mean he can’t feel it. But I do know this. Sonny, the main character of the movie is a robot that looks exactly like all the other robots. Massed produced to serve the human race. Except, Sonny was unique. He was secretly designed by his creator to be able to dream and have feelings. No one expected or wanted Sonny to be this way. He was a robot who was supposed to be analytical and make decisions, including life and death decisions, based on probability and logic. But Sonny had a heart and was being hunted down for not conforming and they were afraid of him. 

I don’t believe for a moment that Eric thinks everyone’s after him or anything like that. I do think that he relates to the isolation that comes from being different. He may also register that Sonny, like himself, needs social cues explained to him.

Sonny: What does this action signify? [winks]
Sonny: As you walked in the room, when you looked at the other human. What does it mean? [winks]
Detective Del Spooner: It's a sign of trust. It's a human thing. You wouldn't understand. 

Maybe Eric understands Sonny’s feelings about looking like a robot and how that makes it difficult for others to see that he is so much more.

Quotes, photo and note from IMDb: The idea of a robot hiding in a large group of identical robots comes from the Isaac Asimov [short] story "Little Lost Robot."