Transformers and Philosophy Read online

  While the cultural relativist could argue that under the common culture of the Decepticons and Autobots, the Decepticons are usually immoral; for instance, when Megatron appropriated the power of all his Decepticons in his one-on-one battle with Optimus Prime, he violated the law while Optimus Prime did not (“Heavy Metal War”). In this respect, the Decepticons’ evil is culturally-specific evil. But what about when the Decepticons invaded the Earth and Megatron declared the Decepticons’ goal to be “total domination” (“More than Meets the Eye, Part 1”)?

  Speaking within the context of universal human culture, the cultural relativist could try to say that total domination of the universe is wrong; however, is the cultural relativist justified in declaring human culture so universally unified? Even if we grant that this were the case, human culture, while not agreeing with Decepticon aggression, would have to be tolerant of the particular goals of the Decepticon sub-culture. To be fair, it would not mean letting the Decepticons do as they like, but it would mean that humans would be in no position to declare the Decepticons’ plans for mass slavery and genocide absolutely morally wrong. While most of us recognize that conflict is rarely black and white (hence most of us cringed when George W. Bush declared Iraq, Iran, and North Korea “the Axis of Evil”), I think it is absurd to say that some things, such as mass slavery and genocide, are only immoral for some, but not all, cultures. In the end, therefore, cultural relativism isn’t much more than glorified moral relativism—something that Optimus Prime and the Autobots rejected.

  So if morality can’t be culture-specific and Optimus Prime and the Autobots are supporters of the universal moral law, then why does Prime ask, “In this vast universe is anything truly forever?” When we see this quotation in context, we know that Prime was not asking whether everything is relative, but rather was answering Spike, who had asked him if they have seen the end of the Decepticons. While everything belonging to space and time may be relative, the universal moral law, among other things, does not belong to space and time and hence is truly forever. And it is with this idea of forever—the forever of the universal moral law—in mind, Optimus Prime and the Autobots constantly declared their sincere hope “till all are one”—not ‘one with the Autobots’ particular idea of morality’ but rather ‘one under the universal moral law, which makes possible true peace, freedom and justice’ (Transformers: The Movie).

  “Sometimes Even the Wisest of Man and Machines Can Be in Error”

  With the objection from cultural relativism aside, it should be clear both that Megatron and the Decepticons are moral (or cultural) relativists—and villains—and that Optimus Prime and the Autobots are supporters of universal morality—and heroes. This argument can be further strengthened by considering the contrasting views of Megatron and Optimus Prime in regard to moral knowledge.

  As a creator of his own morality, Megatron wants others to either leave him to his own devices or follow him and his moral ideas with blind faith; thus, like Hitler, Megatron thinks that “a warrior doesn’t need a head, just a good strong body” (“War Dawn”) and his Decepticons have no qualms about manipulating people’s religious beliefs in order to achieve their selfish goals (“The God Gambit”). Nevertheless, the price of moral relativism, which, as we know, is distantly related to cultural relativism, is that Megatron has to constantly fight off those who, like Starscream, equally—either personally or culturally—disregard universal moral commands, such as it is wrong to covet what is not yours. Consequently, in a Nietzschean world or in a particular culture where rational fidelity and honor are ignored, Megatron is right when he tells Starscream, “If you dispose of me, there will always be someone to dispose of you later” (“More Than Meets the Eye, Part 3”).

  In contrast, as a follower of the universal moral law, Optimus Prime wants to be surrounded by those who think freely and discover the moral law within; hence, he tells Blaster that he himself “must decide when it is the right time and the wrong time” to use his power (“Blaster Blues”) and asks Vector Sigma to let the Aerialbots “think for themselves, to grow in knowledge and wisdom; and . . . always value freedom and life wherever they find it” (“The Key to Vector Sigma, Part 2”).

  And so while rational obedience to one’s superior—for instance, a child’s obedience to his father when his father makes a rule in keeping with the universal moral law—is in fact a principle of the universal moral law and should be admired (meaning that Hoist and Grapple were wrong to disobey Optimus Prime in “The Master Builder” episode), blind obedience will certainly lead to trouble, even when it is blind obedience to a person whom you know to be good. It is for this reason that although Optimus Prime told Bumblebee and Wheeljack not to re-activate the Dinobots, they still re-activated the Dinobots in order to save Optimus Prime and the others, eventually prompting Optimus Prime to admit that “Sometimes even the wisest of man and machine can be in error” (“S.O.S. Dinobots”).

  We may take Optimus Prime’s point to be that although the universal moral law reveals basic axioms for how one should live one’s life, the application of the universal moral law to the particular circumstances of life is far from easy and, due to weakness of will and limited knowledge, all rational beings can make mistakes in particular situations (again, was Optimus Prime right in sacrificing Earth for the sake of Cybertron in “The Ultimate Doom, Part 1”?). Consequently, the wise being is he who, like Optimus Prime, boldly claims some universality and certainty in ethics and yet is humble enough to realize his limitations.

  “You Were Never Programmed for Self-Sacrifice”

  If a universal moral law exists and rational obedience to it is praiseworthy, then we should also expect that such rational obedience to the moral law is a matter not of any predisposition or programming, but of free choice. While I doubt any man-made robot could ever achieve the ability to make free moral choices, the transformers seem to be different than man-made robots. The very fact that the transformers are able to discern the moral law and are held accountable to it implies that they are able to make free moral choices.

  While the 1980 cartoon series speaks with an uncertain voice in regard to what constitutes the personal identity of a transformer, sometimes appearing to reduce transformers to mere physical machines (for instance “Attack of the Autobots”) and sometimes unashamedly showing them to have rational souls (“The Ghost in the Machine”), it is fairly clear that moral choice is a matter of training, not programming. For instance, in the episode “War of the Dinobots,” we are told that the reason the Dinobots didn’t destroy Optimus Prime is because they had “traces of Autobot training,” and in “The Five Faces of Darkness, Part 3,” one of the Quintessons, shocked upon witnessing Rodimus Prime saving the others from a janitorial ship, declares with the authority that comes from being the creator of the transformers, “You were never programmed for self-sacrifice.” Indeed, even the zombie Optimus Prime is somehow able to bypass his deadened state and make the heroic choice to save the Autobots from a Quintesson trap (“Dark Awakening”).

  “Everything I Ever Needed to Know about Ethics and Morality I Learned from Optimus Prime!”

  So far, I have argued that The Transformers’ universe is bound by a universal moral law, which can be comprehended and freely chosen by all rational beings. The significance of this is both historical, insofar as it illuminates the internal workings of the transformers’ universe, and also didactic, in that many children (and adults) have had their stock responses to good and evil strengthened by this show; for instance, on the internet one person wrote, “Everything I ever needed to know about ethics and morality I learned from Optimus Prime!” (http://lordcoyote.deviantart.com). And this leads to the topic of universal archetypes and their significance in The Transformers.

  Why GoBots Have Not Endured

  While many mythologists, such as Carl Jung, C.S. Lewis, and Joseph Campbell, agree that people share a kind of collective unconscious, in which universal archetypes, such as “the virgin birth”
and “the orphan hero,” exist, most do not agree on how these archetypes got into our minds and what their significance is. I generally agree with C.S. Lewis, who sees mythical archetypes as irreducible, divinely-originated images of some mysterious truth which is consistent with, though not reducible to, general moral commands (An Experiment in Criticism, pp. 43–44). For instance, while a universal moral command states that a good leader should be revered, an archetype of the good king doesn’t state anything but rather presents us with an image or vision of a noble king, such as King Arthur or Aragorn, which in turn carries deep meaning and points to something important, mysterious and true about higher reality.

  Yes, the archetype of the good king teaches us the important moral principle that it’s right to revere noble leaders, but, no, the significance of this archetype is not simply that it teaches us moral commands; that is, besides its clear didactic purpose, this archetype, for instance, gives us quasi-revelatory knowledge about something deep and elevated.

  And this is why The Transformers, with its universal ethics and its profound mythical archetypes, has endured, while GoBots, for instance, have not. What’s my evidence for this? One name: Optimus Prime.

  “We Didn’t Know that Optimus Prime Was an Icon. We Just Thought We Were Getting Rid of the ’84 Product Line.”

  According to Flint Dille, before Transformers: The Movie was released, he and all those working on The Transformers didn’t know that Optimus Prime was “an icon.” Dille went on to say that he and the others had simply viewed the show as “a toy show,” which, “in the business sense,” demanded the elimination of the old, and the introduction of the new, product line (Transformers: The Movie, Twentieth Anniversary Edition, “The Death of Optimus Prime”). Of course, to every fan of the show, this is blasphemy which only confirms C.S. Lewis’s belief that sometimes the author is not the best judge of the mythical elements in his art (The Personal Heresy, p. 16). Why? Because Optimus Prime is more than a mere product to be bought and sold. He is one of the finest examples of the archetypal noble leader that this generation, and perhaps any generation, has ever seen.

  In Transformers: The Movie, myriads of people were deeply moved when Prime declared, “Megatron must be stopped, no matter the cost” and then slowly transformed to the inspiring music of Stan Bush’s “The Touch,” and these same people could not hold back the tears when the heroic leader’s lights were finally extinguished after his epic battle with Megatron. People were affected in both cases, not simply because Optimus Prime was a deeply moral being—though he was certainly that and this, as I have said, adds to the love people had for him—but more importantly, Optimus Prime was also an archetype who gave us a glimpse of something grand in weight and scope: in short, he is the hero who died saving the world; he is a powerful Christ-type, through whom many of us could feel almost religious awe and numinous in addition to proper ethical admiration.

  13

  Optimus Prime: Hero for Our Time

  COREY NEIL

  This chapter is for anyone who shed a tear when the Autobot leader Optimus Prime died after his heroic battle with the evil Megatron in the 1986 animated film, Transformers: The Movie. Something about the character Optimus Prime was powerful enough, inspiring enough and lovable enough to break the heart of any youngster who was mildly interested in the Transformers story line, upon seeing his death.

  What was it about this animated robot that was so emotionally moving for so many fans? What was it about this artificial being that inspired a large part of a generation to do good and stand for justice and honor? There are surprising ways to answer these vital questions.

  Where Did He Come From?

  Lets start with a little bit of history. As seen in the episode “War Dawn,” Optimus Prime began his life as a robot named Orion Pax, a mostly defenseless dock worker during the Golden Age of Cybertron (the Transformers’ home planet) nine million years ago. At the time, a new breed of robot had recently appeared on the planet with new flight capabilities that led Orion to idolize them.

  Unfortunately for Orion, when Megatron, the leader of the new group of robots, approached him with inquiries about using one of the dock warehouses, Orion was swayed by Megatron. Orion was severely wounded when Megatron and his forces then attacked in order to claim the energy stored there. Searching for someone to help them, Orion’s friends took him to the ancient Autobot, Alpha Trion, who used Orion as his first subject for a new reconstruction process, thus rebuilding the frail Autobot frame into a battle-hardy configuration.

  With this reconstruction, Orion Pax became Optimus Prime, the first of the Autobot warriors. Optimus Prime took the mantle of leadership as a civil war against the Decepticons erupted, and would remain in that position for the next four million years.

  In the first episode of the Generation 1 TV cartoon, both groups find themselves marooned on the energy rich and teeming-with-life world called Earth after having been out of commission for four million years due to a crash landing of both of their space ships. As the Transformers are woken up, the stage is set for the struggle between the two groups to find enough energy to fuel their forces to victory over their opposition.

  In the early episodes of this series, you quickly learn that the Decepticons are perfectly willing to exploit the planet Earth and any living species on it, to retrieve enough energy to fuel their troops. This is in stark contrast to the Autobots, largely because of the example set by Optimus Prime, who are only willing to utilize energy sources without causing harm or disruption to the human species already inhabiting the planet. There are countless examples where the Decepticons are trying to exploit energy sources such as the kinetic energy of running water, solar energy, or the heat of the Earth’s core—much to the peril of the planet—and the Autobots step in to stop them. Most, if not all of the time, this effort to stop the Decepticons is made primarily with the goal of protecting the human species and all other forms of life on Earth.

  Why Is He a Hero?

  Based on extensive research into world mythology, the popular writer and college professor Joseph Campbell uncovered a pattern in many of the mythological stories about great leaders from around the world. Campbell called this pattern the “myth of the hero” and published his great book The Hero with a Thousand Faces in 1949. This pattern can be seen in legends about many great religious leaders, such as Osiris, Moses, Jesus, and Buddha, and also in stories about demi-gods and kings such as Prometheus and King Arthur. Once you get this pattern, you begin the see it everywhere. Intentionally or unconsciously, storytellers from Shakespeare and J.R.R. Tolkien to Walt Disney and George Lucas have re-told the hero myth in their own heroic characters.

  Campbell describes the classic journey of the archetypal “hero” in four basic stages. First, the potential hero undergoes a reluctant separation and departure from his homeland. Second, he enters a strange new realm where he undergoes severe trials and victories of initiation against dark and evil forces. Third, some magical or even supernatural power shows up to strengthen the emerging hero. Fourth, having been transformed in this strange realm, he then returns to his homeland with helpful wisdom and power for leadership. Campbell’s careful analysis of hero myths reveals more details found across most legends. However, we don’t need such details to make good use of this four-stage pattern to take a second look at Optimus Prime.

  Using Campbell’s model, we can analyze the origins of Optimus Prime to support the idea that he is a classic example of a hero. The essentials of the story go as follows. A group of Autobots are sent back in time seven million years to Cybertron, the home planet of the transformers, during the golden age of their civilization. At the time, Autobots did not yet exist, and the Decepticons had just recently been created. The character named Orion Pax, who would become Optimus Prime, is introduced as having lived on Cybertron as a young, friendly, and happy Transformer. Living the simple life of a dock worker, Orion admires the Decepticons until one day he is deceived and betrayed by Megatron, th
e leader of the Decepticons, and Orion is left for dead. The Autobots, witnessing these events, intervene to take the dying Orion Pax to a wise elder transformer named Primus for repairs. Primus rebuilds Orion Pax into the first Autobot and names him Optimus Prime, who then takes the leadership role for the Autobots.

  Campbell’s model of the hero does apply fittingly to Optimus Prime. The first stage of Optimus Prime’s journey from being just a peaceful Transformer, Orion Pax, shows him to be a young and relatively naive character, living as simple member of the community. As he is drawn towards the Decepticons and then directly encounters Megatron, he embarks on the separation-departure stage.

  During the second stage of conflict and trial, Orion Pax is beaten up so badly by Megatron that he is close to death. With the hero’s fate in doubt, the third stage arrives on the scene. First he receives “supernatural” aid from the group of Autobots who traveled back in time. Then the powerful Primus rebuilds Orion Pax into Optimus Prime as the first Autobot. Now ready for the climactic battle over dark forces, Optimus Prime daringly confronts Megatron and the Decepticons in their first battle with the Autobots. By representing the dangers of this journey, the story of this battle can be viewed as the victorious climax of the trials of the initiation stage. The fourth stage then finds Optimus Prime successfully taking up the mantle of leadership in the war against the tyrannical Decepticons. All four stages of Campbell’s hero model are fulfilled in the story of Optimus Prime. We have seen a true hero emerge, who is more than capable of leading his community.