Foil

Character Role Analysis

Alicia/John

Alicia is pretty different from John, but manages to be just enough like him that she can translate feelings into his language. So, for example, when he's trying to decide if they should get married in a very scientific way, she explains the need to take a leap of faith with love…but in a science-y way that he can understand:

JOHN: Alicia, does our relationship warrant long-term commitment? I need some kind of proof, some kind of verifiable, empirical data.

ALICIA: Um, I'm sorry, just give me a moment to redefine my girlish notions of romance. A proof. Verifiable data. Um, okay. Well, how big is the universe?

JOHN: Infinite.

ALICIA: How do you know?

JOHN: I know because all the data indicate that it's infinite.

ALICIA: But it hasn't been proven yet?

JOHN: No.

ALICIA: You haven't seen it.

JOHN: No.

ALICIA: How do you know for sure?

JOHN: I don't; I just believe it.

ALICIA: Mmm. It's the same with love, I guess.

See? She's obviously a lot less of a robot than John, what with her "girlish notions of romance," but she also gets his perspective and meets him halfway.

And as a result, she gets more romance out of John than anyone certainly could have imagined when the movie first started.