"I Found This Rock to be Immensely Attractive"
Emily III has to learn about and gain her humanity as she experiences the world around her. One way that Hertzfeldt explores Emily III’s humanity is through her feelings for love. In a beautiful way, the complexity of the objects that Emily loves evolve as she does. While Emily III shows Emily Prime her life, she randomly inserts the different objects that she has loved. As the viewers watch, the love interests of the clone’s life evolve from less complex objects to more complex beings. This evolution of love for Emily III tracks her evolution to finding her humanity.
The stories about the objects of Emily III's affection begin with the memory of her work on the moon. Briefly, Emily III mentions that she fell in love with a rock. At first glance this seems like a strange thing for her to love; however, even with the simplistic animations, the viewer can easily the sincerity that is involved with the statement. In this moment, Emily III does not fully understand her emotions and only has the capacity to love a rock from the moon.
As Emily continues to experience life, she gradually falls in love with beings that are more complex. After the rock, Emily III falls in love with a fuel pump and then an alien named Simon. The relationship with Simon, at this point in the film, is the one that the viewer has the most time with. Emily III explains how she found Simon as an egg and that they gradually fell in love. The whole relationship with Simon isn’t completely explained, but it ends when Emily III decides to leave. She comments upon Simon’s emotions but not on her own. The very fact that she fell for a living being shows that she has found more of her humanity.
Emily III’s love stories end with the clone of David. This is the relationship that is explored the most. When Emily III falls in love with David, she has reached the capacity of emotions that she is able to feel. She has fallen in love with a clone like her. She bonds with him in a way that she couldn’t with Simon or the other objects because she has learned from her past experience. When David dies, Emily III shows that, in spite of discovering some of her humanity, she does not have the emotional ability that Emily Prime does. Emily III says, “I do not have the mental or emotional capacity to deal his loss.” With this one statement, Emily III admits to her own lack of humanity. This begs the question, do the clones in this future have any hope at retaining the humanity of their originals?
