MovieChat Forums > Moon (2009) Discussion > If the clones consistently start falling...

If the clones consistently start falling apart before 3 yrs is up ....

posted 8 years ago by mel-holden
9 replies | jump to latest

Why don't they end his contract at 2 1/2 years?

By him losing his physical and perhaps mental capabilities like he was, and the others before him shown via past recordings, he could make costly mistakes. If my hair's falling out, if I'm having headaches and losing energy, I'm not going to be 100% focused on my task and his task was huge if he was helping supply 70% of the earth's energy needs.

Surely they'd have somehow tested the clones to see how long they stayed 'fresh'

How could they not know he's falling apart while still on the job?

[–] yurenchu 8 years ago

Why end the contracts at 2 1/2 years if tests/past experience had shown they could still use each clone for about six months before the clone really becomes unusable?

The company managers were indifferent opportunistic scumbags. They'd save the most money and would make the most profit if they'd use each clone for as long as possible and get away with it; so that's what they would try. They're not concerned with the safety of the clone. Most of the job was automated, Sam-clone was only there to supervise and was mostly kept busy with simple tasks. The four harvesters (actually three, since the fourth one had already been broken for quite some time and the company postponed repairing it) had already been producing more than enough for a while; so if something went wrong, the company wasn't in any immediate problems, they'd still have time to repair and in the meanwhile run on what they were keeping in stock on Earth.

______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0

[–] avortac4 (3453) 4 years ago

The most logical thing would be to have GERTY observe Sam's health and as soon as sufficient health deteroriation is detected, the clone-replacement procedure is activated, so it would be more determined by what's actually happening, and everyone would still work as long as they're 'viable' and then immediately discarded to be replaced with a new clone.

It's kind of illogical to let them work so long that they become as weak as shown in the movie, but then, maybe it's just to point out the absolute greed of the corporate suits - even financial sense (more efficient and streamlined facility and staff) doesn't override the 'let's save a few pennies'-attitude. Go figure.

[–] Ace_Spade (9346) 4 years ago

Exactly right; these guys are squeezing every last dime they can out of the operation, including taking risks with the clones.

[–] suzie-digby 8 years ago

From reading the trivia page it seems that his sickness was in fact symptoms of radiation poisoning and that was making him sick. Every Sam that went into the pod seemed weak. I think it was done not only to kill him but also so when Sam wakes up he has some memory of not being too well before his "accident" Just a thought

[–] yurenchu 8 years ago

From reading the trivia page it seems that his sickness was in fact symptoms of radiation poisoning and that was making him sick.

The IMDb Trivia pages are written by IMDb users like you and me; not by experts with some sort of authority. So the information you find there is just as good and reliable (or as bad and unreliable) as the information on these boards.

Every Sam that went into the pod seemed weak. I think it was done not only to kill him but also so when Sam wakes up he has some memory of not being too well before his "accident" Just a thought

That doesn't add up. Every new clone is not supposed to be a continuation of the last clone. When a Sam-clone "wakes up", he does not have memories of how the last clone felt before he went into the pod that destroyed him.

When a new Sam-clone is awakened, the last thing that the clone remembers is the (fake) memory that he was traveling in a spaceship from Earth to the Moon. GERTY then tells him the lie that there was an accident when the spaceship landed on the Moon, and that that crash had knocked him unconscious. This lie is what GERTY tells to every Sam-clone. In other words, every new clone starts from exactly the same starting point.

See also my replies in this earlier thread:
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/board/nest/254461374

______
Joe Satriani - "Always With Me, Always With You"
http://youtu.be/VI57QHL6ge0

[–] ace2 (543) 2 years ago

Good question. I wasn't sure if this Sam was sick because he had been out in the wrecked rover for so long, or if the clones died within around 3 years by design. Weird how it wasn't acknowledged that he was sick, and no attempt at a cure was made.

Also weird that the original Sam can be heard off the phone on earth, did he signoff on being cloned?

[–] Ace_Spade (9346) 2 years ago

I thought the implication was that he was dying from his shortened clone lifespan, not because of the crash.

I don't know if Sam okayed the cloning deliberately. Maybe he just signed a document while on-boarding with the company?

[–] ATG6 (3000) 2 years ago

I think the clones decline and die due to cosmic rays hitting the moon -- there's no atmosphere and no Van Allen Belt like Earth has to block them.

That's why they need clones -- no humans would sign up for dangerous long term stays and it would cost too much to send new crews frequently.

[–] Ace_Spade (9346) 2 years ago

That's reasonable.