Robocritic's New First Prime Directive

There's a reason why Robocritic was fitted with a human, and not just made purely out of metal and software. Imagination is a crucial quality in the engagement with art - without it, most plays would just turn into a bunch of people running about on stage, and paintings would become blobs of meaningless paint on canvas.

Unfortunately, the original prime directives militated against the exercise of imagination, leaving a series of failed critiques littering Robocritic's hard drive. He thoughts on A Chorus Line, for example, consisted of repeated complaints that the characters kept dancing and singing for no good reason.

Three new prime directives have been installed, but these are more by way of suggestion than absolutes. Each of these statements have been hardwired into Robocritic's consciousness. They are always true, he believes, and always applicable. But unlike the original directives, they do not correspond to definitive statements and can be interpreted without the need for the installation of a post-modern deconstruction chip.

Prime Directive One

Monsters Inc is a really good film because it relays an important moral in an entertaining fashion. In fact, it has that wonderful quality, when the point being made correlates with the format of the film. Presenting the idea that laughter is a better fuel than fear for the Monsters' energy need, it relies on comedy rather than terror to get the message across.

The first soundings are good. Robocritic now insists that the structure of A Chorus Line now explains why the cast keep bursting into song: they are at a rehearsal for a musical, and it would make sense for performers, trained as triple threats, would best express themselves through their training. He also agreed that the choice by Glasgow Music Theatre was a wise one, since the community nature of the production (being inclusive and consequently having varying abilities) is not only protected by the scenario - it's an audition and perhaps some performers would have less skill in one or more area but the range of parts means no one performer has to shoulder the entire success or failure of the production.

A print-out of Robocritic's feelings on Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares is also positive. If Celtic Connections is now more concerned with the connection than a strict Celtic music theme, the emotional connection made by the beauty of the Bulgarian State Radio and Television Female Vocal Choir is a more persuasive argument for international collaboration than an essay on the United Nations.