Plura
Angela Plura
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Dr. Eugene Richie
English 112
17 November 2009
The Many Faces of the Prophet
“In cyberspace, it is well known, one’s body can be represented by one’s own textual description: The obese can be slender, the beautiful plain” (Turkle 124). Turkle’s quote illustrates the world that the audience is found in Surrogate . In both the graphic novel and the film of Surrogates , Zaire Powell III is portrayed as the "Prophet"--the leader of the non-surrogate human community. While there are many ways in which life is affected by the invention of surrogates, Zaire seems to be the one who is tormented, and torments, the most. In the film, he is merely a tool used by the creator of the surrogates, whereas in the novel, he is a legend and a revolutionary for all who feel humanity is falling at the mercy of technology. In both media, the Prophet has many reasons for being anti-surrogate, but they all add up to the Prophet’s religious tendencies and his criticism of a human’s loss of faith in God. However, it is important to recognize the events that lead up to this anti-surrogate attitude and how it affects the eventual deterioration of the Prophet's reign.
It is important to recognize the Prophet’s role in the film and how it differs from that in the novel. In the film, as it turns out, the Prophet is merely a surrogate of Lionel
Canter, the creator of the surrogate industry. Therefore, the Prophet portrayed in the film

Plura is actually a manifestation of a different person. However, it can be said that Lionel
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Canter as the Prophet is more poignant that Lionel Canter as the creator of surrogates.
The Prophet is bitter and disgusted with humanity, much like the Prophet in the graphic novel. However, in the film there is no room for background information on his life. He is portrayed as the antagonist who runs the surrogate police out of the Dread reservation. This ambiguousness in character makes it easier for Canter to be controlling his every movement. Canter uses the Prophet as a means to distract and decoy the police from finding out who is responsible for killing off all the surrogates and their operators simultaneously. It is slowly realized that the characters in Surrogates are using the technology for their own personal gain and greed. This is shown not only with the character of the Prophet, but with Stone as well.
In the film, the chief of police, Stone, is supposed to be helping solve the case of the surrogates who are being destroyed. Instead, it is discovered that he has been working against the police force, aiding in deaths and giving false leads for investigations all for his own monetary gain. Greer tricks Stone into admitting this when he confronts him,
GREER: I almost forgot, Victor Welch sends his regards
STONE: I’m sorry?
GREER: Guy from VSI. You looking forward to moving to his private sector?
Will you finish out the year here? We’re sure gonna miss ya … I know it’s hard to resist, better hours, better pay…

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STONE: Welch told you about this?
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GREER ( grins, beat) : No. I was just fishing.
This illustrates how deeply the technology-oriented greed affected Stone in particular, to the point where one of his own had to do detective work aside from the severe issues already infecting the society to catch his own boss in illegalities.
The Prophet’s character in the graphic novel takes on a more prominent role.
Much background information is given on his childhood and the tragic events that shaped his core being. A transcript in the graphic novel describes Zaire Powell III as “the thirteen-year-old boy who was the only surviving member of his family” (Venditti 60).
Although there is background information, the more information received makes his character all the more ambiguous. There is never an explanation in the novel as to what his motives would be behind killing his family, nor is there a conclusive answer as to whether or not he truly committed the crimes. It is difficult to say whether or not his role as the leader of the anti-surrogate community is at all related to his conviction as a child, and there is no clear evidence that can be found in the novel.
While there are differences in the Prophet’s roles and backgrounds in the film and the novel, the major similarity between the two characters is the sense that each has a strong calling to do God’s work and both manifest religious tendencies. In the novel, these religious views are more obvious, whereas in the film they are on a deeper level.
In the novel, Lieutenant Greer meets with the Prophet, and the Prophet preaches his word to him:

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“Why is it so hard for you to believe that the Lord will not punish those who
4 blaspheme his name? How long do you think He will allow your heathenish ways? Each of us is made in God’s perfect image—and yet you would seek to improve upon that perfection. To create an existence judged not by the laws of
God, but by the laws of men.” (Venditti 57)
This clearly shows the reader how surrogates have disrupted the religious community. It can be said that, although the Prophet is the leader for the anti-surrogate community, it is also a community of people who have not lost faith in God. In contrast, those who use surrogates have indeed lost their faith in God, religion, or any form of a higher power to whom they must answer. For those who follow God and religion, the outrage sources in the idea that only God has the power to give a creature life. Religion stems of this very notion, and when the power to take and give life is transferred from God to man, it is natural for religious followers to feel outraged.
Although he doesn’t state such feelings outright, Canter as the Prophet clearly is on a God-like power trip. By creating surrogates in the first place, Canter was doing the exact deed that the Prophet in both the film and the novel preaches against—attempting to perfect God’s work. When Canter realizes what he has done by creating surrogates, he takes the form of the Prophet to try and stop his creations. When he finally realizes that surrogates are truly destroying mankind, he develops followers that feel the same. He preaches to the followers as if he is enlightened and is able to lead revolutions against the surrogate community with no one to stop him. Canter acting against his own creations can be compared to a similar notion if God tried to destroy his creation of man. By doing

Plura this, he is attempting to restore humans to humanness, rather than living life vicariously
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When the creator destroys the creation, it is important to take note of the incidents that have occurred to get to that point. In the case of Surrogates , Canter is attempting to restore people to their sense of what makes them a human, and fight against the corporate greed that has infected society. Although Canter has contributed to both the lack of humanness and the corporate greed, he feels it is his responsibility to rid society of these evils since they are a product of what he has created. He accepts this responsibility through the character of the Prophet, who allows Canter to have a voice when he changes his mind about his life’s work. Although this is a science fiction story, it is important to recognize its place in society. Is there truly room for a technology like surrogates to come into the modern world? The Prophet’s role illustrates how easy it would be for a society to get wrapped up in this technology, and how the difficulties of fixing it are much greater than the benefits it offers.

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Works Cited
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Brancato, John and Michael Ferris. Surrogates (Screenplay). 16 Oct. 2007. Script
Collector.
Script Collector. Web. 18 Nov. 2009. < http://scriptcollector.blogspot.com/
2009/10/surrogates-2009-screenplay.html>.
Surrogates . Dir. Jonathan Mostow. Perf. Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund
Pike,
James Cromwell, and Ving Rhames. Touchstone Pictures, 2009. Film.
Turkle, Sherry. “Cyberspace and Identity.”
Writing and Reading Across the
Curriculum: Brief Edition.
Ed. Laurence Beherens and Leonard J. Rosen. New
York: Pearson-Longman, 2004. 123-132. Print.
Venditti, Robert, and Brett Weldele. The Surrogates.
Atlanta: Top Shelf, 2006. Print.