Ergo Proxy: I think, therefore you are

You know an anime has substance when it uses Radiohead’s Paranoid Android as it’s ending song. At first glance Ergo Proxy may seem like another dystopian cyberpunk fiction that fuels our anxiety towards the tension between humans, machines and the natural environment. The slow tempo and monochrome graphics would make many drowsy but nerds like me find it delightful.

Ergo Proxy is riddled with references to philosophy, Greek mythology and classic science fiction works such as Blade Runner and Ghost in a Shell. The series begins with a poem by Michelangelo:

Sweet is sleep to me and even more to be of stone

While the wrong and shame endure

To be without sight or sense is a most happy change for me

Therefore do not rouse me. Hush! Speak low

The stone statues who form the governing advisory of Romdeau city take on the names of eminent thinkers: Husserl, Berkley, Lacan and Derrida. Ergo Proxy is also influenced by Gnosticism, which presumes that there is a supreme, hidden God and other lesser divinities who are responsible for creating the material world. Distinct from Christian theories, Gnosticism is more interested in concepts of illusion and enlightenment, rather than sin and repentance. Gnosis, or knowledge, refers not to an absolute and objective truth, but a kind of inner knowing based on personal experience or perception. As the protagonists, Vincent Law and Re-l Mayer escape Romdeau, the supposed last paradise on earth, in search of their individual raison d'être, we eventually learn that Vincent, or Ergo Proxy/Proxy One is a representative of God, entrusted with the task of establishing and populating Romdeau. Re-l could be viewed as a surrogate of the divine feminine being, Sophia, a symbol of Gnosis and also a great prototype of our exiled and alienated human condition. A subtle hint is given when Re-l presents her ID, which spells her name as R.E.A.L. Mayer. Split into two, Sophia’s higher self manages to reach enlightenment and returns to the Fullness, while her ego, or less self descends further. This split is echoed in the experiences of Re-l and Vincent, as we watch them struggle with their id, ego and superego, across episodes that interweave memories, dreams, realities and fantasies.

When I began my MFA I was obsessed with this idea of the ‘surrogate’. I used words like ‘avatar’, ‘substitute’, ‘medium’ and ‘vessel’ interchangeably to refer to the personas I created, who were meant to be surrogates for young women and children subjected to the tyranny of patriarchy. I’m not sure why the word ‘proxy’ never crossed my mind, perhaps being a Millennial I solely thought of it in the sense of proxy servers. Yet savouring the title of this anime now, the term ‘proxy’ feels deliberate and powerful. It bears the existential weight of raison d'être, a motif that shape many characters throughout Ergo Proxy. ‘Proxy’ also makes me think of ‘approximate’ and Freud’s essay The Uncanny. Tracing the etymology of the German word ‘unheimlich’, Freud elucidates that ‘unheimlich’ is originally derived from what is now its antonym ‘heimlich’, meaning ‘homely’. The uncanny often evokes this unease that ‘something’s not quite right’ precisely because it was once familiar to the psyche, it is in proximity to what we already know but somehow becomes estranged and frightening, crossing over to the territory of the unknown. A proxy is such an existence, not quite human, not quite God, they are feared and revered at home, but not loved by their own creations – the humans.

This theme of alienation in Ergo Proxy is a stand-out. The three travel companions - Vincent, Re-l and Pino are all perceived as aliens in Romdeau’s oppressive system. Vincent first appears as an immigrant who desperately tries to fit in to become a model citizen, but fails as expected; Re-l is the rebellious girl who grows critical of the illusion of paradise and willingly exiles herself in order to seek her own truth; Pino, the AutoReiv (android) becomes infected with the Cogito virus and gains self-awareness, which turns her into a threat again human society. On the other hand, our own thoughts can be alienating too. Ergo Proxy’s subconscious or instinct, described as ‘the heartbeat of beginning’ in the anime, is in constant battle with his alter ego, Vincent. Unable to face his past traumas as a proxy, Ergo Proxy erases his memories only to retrace his footsteps in the identity of Vincent, in order to retrieve his lost past. The last episode reveals that even Ergo Proxy is a clone of Proxy One, the creator of Romdeau, which makes Vincent feel further estranged from himself. Upon returning to Romdeau, Re-l is confronted with the uncanny appearance of her own replica, a product of her childhood friend, Daedalus Yumeno’s unrequited love. Vincent and Re-l’s circumstances question the authenticity of the self, and implies that we are our own mirrored images, copies of copies whose origins have been obscured.

The name Daedalus Yumeno is obviously a combination of Daedalus, the Greek inventor, architect and sculptor who is said to have built the labyrinth that imprisoned the Minotaur, and Yumeno Kyūsaku, who allegedly drove many of his readers insane with his detective novel Dogra Magra (there’s also a character named after him in Bungo Stray Dogs). Like Ariadne in the Greek myth, Re-l 2 carries a ball of yarn with her so that Daedalus can always follow her trail. Daedalus had cloned Re-l using the cells of the Monad Proxy, who is suggested to be the former lover of Proxy One. When Daedalus learns that both Re-l and Re-l 2 are in love with Vincent and not him, he abandons his purpose in life and accelerates the destruction of the city. As Re-l 2 reaches her final stage of ‘completion’, she grows wings and ascends to the heavens, only to disintegrate like Icarus.

Re-l’s entourage, Iggy is submerged in a similar ontological dilemma (given the director’s music preferences I can’t help but think this is a tribute to Iggy Pop). After catching the Cogito virus, Iggy becomes torn between his two personalities. One half of him is tender and caring, while the other half is resentful of Re-l’s arrogance and impotence. Ultimately Iggy sacrifices himself to save Re-l from another exploding AutoReiv. Iggy and Daedalus’ tragedy demonstrate that sometimes raison d'être can be the cause of our own demise.

‘Cogito, ergo sum. I think, therefore I am.’ It’s a sentence repeated through the mouths of many in Ergo Proxy. It is unfortunate for self-aware beings that suffering begins with thinking, if only we could be rid of our sight and senses like Michelangelo wished for in his verse. Indeed, the great stone statues of Romdeau chose permanent sleep when the death of the city seems inevitable. However, silence is not the path chosen by Re-l, Vincent or Pino. Through interactions and conversations, the egos and relationships of the trio are constantly evolving. They all experienced another level of awakening when their fate became intertwined. To Lacan, speech supposes the existence of a speaker and a listener. If language is a structure, speech is an act. To speak is to refute inaction, to actively recognise the existence of the self and the Other. When Vincent awakens from a psychological trap devised by another proxy, Re-l tells him: ‘I think, therefore you are.’ Challenging Sartre’s famous phrase ‘Hell is the others’, Ergo Proxy suggests that we find salvation not in God, but in each other.

AutoReivs infected with Cogito will adopt a prayer posture, as if calling out to God. In the end Pino didn’t reach God or her papa, but she formed an unbreakable bond with Vincent and Re-l. God is dead, and it is up to us to find our raison d'être. Human agency can only be grasped when we acknowledge our subjectivity and relationship with the Other, but at times we can also surrender to the unpredictable. I am particularly fond of episode 16, where the trio’s ship is stranded in a barren wasteland due to lack of wind and there’s very little action. Re-l becomes visibility bored and agitated as the days pass by, but eventually embraces a different mindset and mimics Vincent, yelling ‘Stupid wind! Come get me! I’m your foe!’ As she thinks ‘I can let myself smile’, the aurora illuminates the landscape and the wind rises. It is small moments like this that transform the mundane into the poetic, and reminds us that we are capable of change because of the presence of the Other.

Perhaps the lesson here is somewhat idealistic and romantic, but I like the idea that our existence can be affirmed by the tender gaze of another, and that we may find strength and solace in companionship. I will always be touched when I hear the opening theme of Ergo Proxy:

You complete my fate

The world unwinds inside of me

…

You will fill my place

Come and save me