[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”14624″ img_size=”800×450″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]While Technical Boy may have gotten on everyone’s nerves in the first season and probably some of the second season, he’s slowly grown into one of my favorite characters. Which, made the fourth’s episode conclusion all the harder to watch, as we were given a heartbreaking layer to the god of technology that no one was expecting to see. All expertly acted by Bruce Langley, who sat down to speak about his character and how he is “more human than he lets on”, as well as how new as he actually is.
(Interview provided by io9)
io9: Over the last couple of episodes, the show’s begin to brush up against the idea of what happens when gods become redundant. The Technical Boy’s the god of technology, but tech has also become a part of Argus, and New Media’s a god who couldn’t exist outside of the digital age. With all that established, is the Technical Boy really as “new” as he’s made himself out to be?
Bruce Langley: In no uncertain terms, yes, I would say. Technology’s existed since we started using sticks to reach slighter higher distances. That’s us deploying tools to further our own reach. What is that if not technology? So, I think in terms of analyzing when that may or may not manifest as a deity—that’s an interesting question. I think gods like the Technical Boy are the representation of a critical mass point where enough of the people in the world were believing in/using a particular technology.
io9: In your mind, does he truly see himself as part of this new era of gods, or is he potentially something much older?
Langley: I’m going to be very…vague with my answer here. In my opinion, that ephemeral embodiment of, let’s just call him the god of technology? There’s a very good chance he’s much older than we think or he thinks of himself as being. I think it’s interesting to consider him as being the essence of a much older god whose whole existence has been about constantly updating, or if he’s meant to be a discrete manifestation of one particular kind of technology. You can see some of that in New Media’s relationship to Media, where she says she still feels her inside of her and the Technical Boy says “No, she didn’t die; she changed into you.”
Implicit in that is this question of whether the new version is aware of the existence of the old. To that point, the Tech Boy knows that whether or not he’s the newest incarnation of technology as a whole, if he’s not the shiniest, most recently-updated version of himself, he’s not important.
io9: Talk to me about the rivalry with New Media. They’re both fighting to be in Mr. World’s good graces, but it’s so interesting that she’s taken on this new form that feels like an outgrowth of what the Technical Boy’s created.
Langley: They’re something close to a symbiosis. She couldn’t exist with him. But without her, a significant about of Tech Boy’s worship wouldn’t be there, or it would be significantly different. He’s somewhat more of a necessity for her, that she is for him, however; if she were to supplant him with another union with a deity that would render him inert, that’s a huge chunk of his worship potentially gone.
io9: Which explains his hesitation to give Argus everything he needs.
Langley: Argus’ powers are literally rooted in technology, and so the Technical Boy still has some degree of control over him. But again, if the Tech Boy isn’t the cutting edge, he might be forced into a position where someone old like Argus could very easily overtake him.
Part of his consciousness is human, he’s the condensation of human belief. He’s distilled humanity and humans are emotional in ways they don’t understand or want to admit. Imagine how lonely it would be to be constantly worshipped and to have to constantly be better. To be worshipped is to be separate from the people who’re doing the worship and to be so focused on having to become something new, you’re dealing with the externalization of you not being enough as you are. He’s in a lot of pain, and he’s very, very lonely.
For the full interview, check out io9! What did you think of the Technical Boy’s emotional episode and do you think this is the last we will see of him?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
A girl with too many fandoms to count.
