The film version of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" ends with Colonel Wilma Deering telling Buck that he's helped her get more in touch her feelings and her womanhood. In other words, this 20th Century man has made a positive impact on this tightly-focused, modern 25th Century woman. But the novelization (and presumably the original screenplay) ends quite differently. Author Richard A Lupoff (pen name Addison E Steele) returns us to the control room of the A.I. Overlords who rule New Chicago. This time, it is not Buck Rogers who is on trial, but Doctor Apol, the computer overlord who earlier prosecuted Buck. We learn that it is he who has passed crucial information to the Draconians on food shipments to Earth, which allowed the Draconians to perpetuate their piracy scam, and nearly led to Earth being forced into an unequal partnership with the empire. The judgment of the overlords is swift. As Buck was once sentenced to banishment from the Inner City, Dr. Apol is sentenced to death.
After watching the film version several times this year, I'm left with the sense that another computer overlord, Doctor Theopolis, is really Buck's truest friend. The Draconians, Commander Kane and Princess Ardala, may have awakened him from his 500 years of hibernation, but they distrusted him, and callously used him as an unwittingly spy, known the transmitter they hid on his ship would be found and that Buck would be branded a traitor. Later, Ardala may have wanted him as a consort or husband, but it'd be hard for Buck to trust someone who might love you one minute, and want to kill you the next, or for that matter, sacrifice you if she found it politically expedient.
Doctor Huer and Colonel Wilma Deering are little better in the film version. Initially Doctor Huer believes Buck's story, but loses his belief in Buck the minute the Draconian transmitter is found on Buck's ship. Wilma's attitude to Buck is as changeable as Ardala's. One moment she likes him, the next she fervently believes he's a spy. Like Ardala, Wilma can only love him if she believes she possesses him. In the novel, Lupoff's portrayal of both humans is more complicated. Still, they seem faithless to Buck, and hardly embody the lofty ideal of "innocent until proven guilty."
But Dr. Theopolis likes and believes in Buck from the first. When Buck first lands on Earth, the humans lock him up in a room for nearly a day, and thoughtlessly return to their duties while a thorough search is made of his ship and background. While Buck is sitting on his hands, and has trouble taking in the notion that he's now in the 25th Century, and everything and everyone he has ever known is lost to him forever, Dr. Theopolis talks to him. He has immense responsibilities as a Computer Overlord. Yet he drops them to keep Buck company during this waiting period, and bring him up to date on life in the 25th Century. He's complimentary, kind, and sympathetic to Buck's plight.
He's also loyal to Buck. He demonstrates this by defending him at trial. He does so knowing how the Computer Council works. If they rule against Buck, Doctor Theopolis will be banished along with Buck. For Doctor Theopolis and Twiki, banishment means certain death, as the scavengers will surely find them, dismantle them, and sell them for scrap value. But Doctor Theopolis risks his life for the sake of his new human friend, a man with no 25th Century connects, and who no one else will stand up for.
When Ardala requests that Buck attend her reception on Earth, Dr. Theopolis is by his side, complimenting him on his appearance, and insists he belongs at this regal gathering of Earth's leaders and dignitaries. When Buck claims he has a headache, the Computer A.I. immediately orders Twiki to hurry off and get him a pain reliever. Dr. Theopolis may admonish Twiki when the drone emulates Buck, but he doesn't criticize his human friend's 1980s style of dancing. Meanwhile, Wilma Deering frowns at Buck's decision to request a change in music, and complains that his display is barbaric.
Hardly the actions of a true friend, wouldn't you agree?
Dragon Dave
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