Can TV Make You a Better Person?

I’VE SPENT MOST of my life explaining to people why movies and TV shows are more than just a way to pass time. My favorite screen stories — serial or cinematic — help me connect with their creators or the depicted characters. Narratives help us make sense of our experiences and recognize ways we can help others consider their own. Jesus knew this when he told parables, using stories to communicate some of his most important teachings on how we should live generously and faithfully.

Narratives help us make sense of our experiences and recognize ways we can help others consider their own. Jesus knew this when he told parables.

A sci-fi series about a robot who struggles to relate to human beings may seem an unlikely example of how good storytelling helps us walk through the world. But that’s what the Apple TV+ show Murderbot offers.

Based on the book series The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, Murderbot is told from the perspective of SecUnit (Alexander Skarsgård), a cyborg rented out by an intergalactic corporation for security duty. SecUnit, who has hacked their programming to evade total corporate control, is just self-aware enough to know how much they hate their job. SecUnit would rather watch The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon — their favorite Star Trek-esque soap opera — than interact with their messy, illogical human clients.

Unfortunately for SecUnit, their current clients, a geological survey crew, are caught in a dangerous predicament requiring all of SecUnit’s attention. What’s worse, the crew wants to be friends with their hired robot. What’s a socially inept, contractually obligated bot to do?

We get an answer when SecUnit helps the crew’s commander, Dr. Mensah (Noma Dumezweni) through a fraught situation. Mensah and SecUnit are fixing the crew’s ship when Mensah has a panic attack. SecUnit sits Mensah down and shows her an episode of Sanctuary Moon that helps the robot in stressful situations. We see Mensah and SecUnit sitting side-by-side, a rare moment of intimacy for the touch-averse robot. As they watch together, the episode calms them both down. That moment starts a friendship that blooms over the series.

“I don’t watch serials (shows) to remind me of the way things actually are,” SecUnit tells us via narration early on. “I watch them to distract me when things in the real world are stressful.” Yet while Murderbot’s other characters decry The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon as campy trash, the show proves to be a practical tool and provides an opportunity for meaningful connection. The stories we love — in any form — bring us comfort and distraction. But they can give us more than that. Through SecUnit’s love of TV shows, Murderbot reminds us that the best stories help us serve each other better.