TRON: Legacy

TRON: Legacy was one of the more interesting movies of 2010. The following are some themes which were explored and contains spoilers, so be warned.

References to the Christian religion

Kevin makes CLU in his image, just as God made Man in His image. Man rebels against God, just as CLU rebels against Kevin. Man was supposed to be perfection, just as CLU was supposed to be perfect in his world. In the Bible, Man tried to reach the heavens by creating the Tower of Babel; CLU tries to reach the outside world through the portal which is a beam of light shining skywards. The Light Transporter with its captured programs on board, serves as a metaphor for Noah's Ark.

References to Eastern philosophy, Taoism (duality), Sun Tzu's Art of War

Kevin does not engage in open warfare with CLU. When CLU tries to exert his "will" on the world, he upsets the cosmic harmony which runs counter to Taoist philosophy. When Kevin and CLU merge, the world ends because they are a natural duality i.e. Yin-Yang, passive (Kevin) vs aggressive (CLU), matter and anti-matter, male and female, so on and so forth. Thus it is meaningless to think of Kevin or CLU as independent forces of good or evil, for they are inter-dependent.

Biology & Evolution

Isomorphs are life-forms discovered independently and were not Kevin's (God's) creations. The existence of isomorphs are possible because organisms governed by simple rules are able to exhibit complex, non-random features (cellular automaton). When Quorra gets wounded she is restored to health by manipulating her "code", which is analogous to DNA/gene therapy (the movie even uses a double helix, duh) which repairs "damage" to the genes. Programs placed in the games are expected to "evolve" (self-modifying), with the best ones facing off against the champion Rinzzler.

Perfection

CLU's singular mission is to achieve perfection by ridding the world of imperfect beings. Most cultures place undue emphasis on youthfulness as perfection, which is why CLU appears as a human male in his prime. Even Quorra (played by Olivia Wilde with her nigh-perfect symmetrical features), except for her quirky hair-style and mysterious "tattoo" on her arm which marks her as an isomorph.

MINI Habitat Singapore does not perform Preventive Maintenance

Both the driver and passenger sun visor hinges on Eve's R56 MINI were worn and were close to breaking. The passenger-side was replaced under warranty while we were told that that we had to wait for the driver-side to be stocked, which would be outside the warranty period.

When we sent it back for servicing (for a leak from the oil filter), we were told we had to pay for the visor despite being assured that it would've been replaced at no cost to us.

Additionally, they told us that the engine mounts were worn and had to be replaced at about $1000, despite having no prior indication that they were due for replacement.

Download the audio where the service manager states clearly that MINI Habitat does not perform preventive maintenance.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2348098/MH3%20audio.mp4

If that does not sound ludicrous to you, then consider the implied message. e.g. if your MINI develops a crack on the windscreen, and as long as you can see through the windscreen and the elements do not hinder your driving, MINI Habitat will not replace it. Or maybe one of the brake rotors develops a severe crack from normal day-to-day driving and they do not replace it because technically it can still perform its function. Until it suffers a catastrophic failure and breaks, sending your car spinning into the armco.

Of course I understand parts exhibit accelerated wear-and-tear from atypical activities like racing, abuse or just plain high mileage. But Eve's car is driven daily on Singapore roads for work purposes. It's not like she's out to win the 24 Hour Le Mans. The other point that I'm unhappy about is that the wear on the engine mounts were undetected since the last servicing, which was about a month prior. Either it wasn't checked then or the wear significantly worsened since that time. Which is the more likely explanation?

My family has 3 Saabs which is also under Trans Eurokar but we've never had any problems with the workshop servicing. So let me make this clear: I'm not bashing Trans Eurokar.

As a customer, I have no complaints about the MINI. In fact I feel the car drives very well and is comfortable enough for long-distance touring. However the after-sales is worse than amateurish. At least with amateurs you're dealing with people who are trying their sincere best to solve your problems.

I will not recommend this car unless you have access to trustworthy professionals who specialize in it.