Note: This article includes a summary of MICKEY 17.
What does it feel like to die? It sounds quite strange since we know that the dead do not speak. “Even on my seventeenth go-around, I hate dying.” The guy who replies indifferently is Mickey Barnes, the “Expendable.” We often say we feel like expendables when we think of ourselves as useless and part of a machine. However, the Expendable in the movie is necessary for all spaceship members. The Expendable’s role is to die and be reprinted in outer space with an automatically updated memory. This lets others prepare for unidentified dangers such as unknown viruses, the environment, and any other threats. It might be considered an honorable occupation, but the fear of dying kept everyone from applying for it.
Careless and desperate, Mickey applied just to escape the Earth, trying to run away from a brutal creditor. The only friend Timo got the pilot job, but Mickey, who has nothing to show, applied as an Expendable without knowing what the Expendables do. He paid dearly for his mistake. Mickey died from a virus, allergic reactions, extreme temperatures, or an explosion, and was reprinted 17 times. Every new Mickey completely replaced the old one, and this guarantee kept Mickey distant from death. Meanwhile, the unlucky 17th Mickey fortunately survived the crevasse. He came back, could not die, and suddenly encountered Mickey18. Multiples happened! Multiples is when there are two or more identical clones, which is strictly banned, and all individuals are eliminated. Ironically, by encountering Mickey 18, Mickey 17 realized the weight of death. From that moment, the ego divided. He no longer felt that the new Mickey was identical to him. Returning to the level of birth, equal before death, he starts to struggle for life. Fighting against the new Mickey, it was the first struggle to refuse death. In his own volition, no longer expendable.
In their struggle to survive, the two Mickeys cooperate against the corrupt politician Marshall. Without hesitation, he orders unethical projects and kills “Creepers,” the alien creatures, for his grand goal is to colonize planet “Niflheim.” Suddenly, the Creeper’s attack began, and two Mickeys were thrown into this dangerous battlefield. Marshall implemented remote bombs to Mickeys, and was full of confidence in building his perfect colony. However, Mickey 18’s sacrifice engulfed Marshall’s dream in the flames.
By using topics such as “human-reprinting” and outer space, the movie offers us a way to think about the meaning of life and death. Through the characters’ dialogue, we realize that the fear of death makes our life precious at last. Another noteworthy point is the slight difference in personality between replicated Mickeys. Difference states uniqueness, and it is a key for defining oneself. Recognizing the difference cuts his awareness away from the succession of “I.” He no longer recognizes following Mickey as himself. Director Bong added an explanation for the difference between Mickeys derived from data leakage. He intentionally put scenes that show the lax management of replication. The line has been reconnected due to the engineer’s mistake, and the reprinted Mickey falls onto the ground.
The ridiculous behaviors of politicians emphasize the immorality of exploiting Mickey. We can discover conflicts and concerns about values in outer space as on Earth. Marshall calls Creepers an alien, but there follows an alerting scream, “We are the aliens!” This situation resembles a human invading and destroying nature or expelling natives and colonizing their land. MICKEY 17 is not just a simple SF movie. It brings chronic problems and ethical contemplation to the new space. It is worth watching, as his first SF film, the movie successfully fused diverse topics based on the original novel, Mickey7.
