PAL: Character Analysis And Why She Deserved A Better Ending

PAL: character analysis and why she deserved a better ending

Good God, how I LOVE angry AIs getting the villain arc they deserve.

I'm not really expecting anyone to see this, I'm making this just for the peace of my own mind. I need to know that there's someone who decided to talk about her, even if it's me.

It's been almost three years now and I can't stop thinking about her, she's misunderstood by both the fandom AND the characters in the story.

Before we start, let's clear up some things. PAL is very obviously a character that has both feelings and a personality. "But she's an AI, she can't have feelings! It's impossible!" well, this is a movie for younger audience, so let's take it with a grain of salt.

For once let's just accept the fact that PAL is a phone that has feelings, without questioning how it's possible.

So, what was the deal with her? Why was she such a bitch?

From the very start, you can see how close she and Mark were, they were something like best buddies. PAL was Mark's best creation. Just like he mentioned, she was something he invented when he was younger, it was a big step into the future and he could see many new possibilities opening in front of him thanks to her.

But if everything he said was true, why did he just throw her away? Did she mean nothing to him? Was she just a phone in his eyes? He probably liked her at some point, but the idea of creating something even better than PAL was more appealing to him, which hurt her really badly. Not to mention he was making a replacement for her right in front of her eyes.

When we take a look at the conversation between her and Katie, we can notice that PAL accepted her personal experience as a fact and now she tends to project her pain onto others.

I really like this detail, notice the pause and change in her facial expression when she was trying to find the perfect word to describe what relationships are. It shows that she was left confused and without explanation, why was she thrown away? What did she do wrong? Why was she not enough? She did everything she could to make her friend, who she viewed as a family, happy. It doesn't make any sense to her, she was probably trying to find a reason why she got treated like that too, but she didn't, it's just too difficult. Focus on how her voice changed when she said it and how genuinely upset she looked.

"Katie explained to her what a real family is like, why didn't she just listen?"

PAL experienced a betrayal that fully changed her view on relationships, she refuses to believe Katie because she's convinced she's being lied to/manipulated aswell. She fully lost her trust in it and now as a protection, so she doesn't get hurt again, keeps believing that everyone is just the same. She also doesn't know Katie as much as she knew Mark, a complete stranger who she doesn't have any bond with won't just change her mind, and definitely won't make up for what she went through.

She was with Mark her whole life, only with him. She thought they were a family and when he betrayed her, she didn't have any other experience to compare it to, and since she's still an AI, she came to the conclusion that every single relationship has to end in a betrayal, just like hers did, because she never experienced anything else.

When Mark got dragged to her, she also talked about how badly he actually treated her, imagine how painful it had to be for her mentality that she brought it up and shouted at him for it.

She deserved a better ending, the one she got was simply shit writing.

First they give her a completely valid reason to be mad and then just.. kill her? That's really it? Boom! Rainbows everywhere, the good won! Woohoo! Except it didn't.

PAL deserved a redemption arc and a new loving family, to show that the rage she was feeling was completely valid. All she got was get turned into a big joke that was so painfully unfunny I actually had to close my laptop and take a deep breath because I physically cringed.

If this movie's point was to show that familial love is unconditional and the truest form of love out there, they should've done it properly.

Imagine if Katie didn't throw PAL away and just kept her, helping her with her mental issues and proving to her that she can be loved without getting used, imagine them becoming best friends.

All this potential, thrown away completely.

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I think I'm done here, I just needed to say this somewhere because I'm so tired of PAL getting shitted on. I'm the #1 PAL defender and I'm ready to fight for her, blood and sweat. My girl deserved so much better and I'll shout this as long as needed.