Modeling (SPOILERS)

"Why are the donors modeled after other people or "possibles?""

To create a clone, it has to be modelled on somebody. After all, that's what a clone is - a genetic copy of an existing individual. The people the donors are cloned from are probably like men who donate sperm to sperm banks. Just ordinary people who donate some genetic material because they need a bit of extra cash. These people wouldn't really think about how their "delayed twin" is going to turn out, any more than sperm donors would care about what kind of child their sperm will create. There might be some kind of screening process. The scientists would want people who are fit, healthy, no history of disease.

I don't think clones at Hailsham or other schools would have been encouraged to think about their "possibles". What would be the point?

The clones raised in the battery farms are probably modelled the same way the clones at Hailsham were, it's just that they're not nurtured and taught to act like ordinary people. There's so much we don't know, it's anyone's guess how these "battery farm" clones are treated.

The reference to battery farms shows that, after the closure of Hailsham and the assumed failure in the minds of the government of the programme to show that clones had souls, there are no longer even any pretensions of normality for the clones; they are simply grown, harvested and die. They are just resources, like tissue grown in a vat, or like chickens in a battery farm - they are reared for food, the clones are reared for organs. Hailsham was the 'organic' version.

www.chrismrogers.net, a website for architecture and visual culture

I haven't read the novel, but I don't remember ever seeing in the film any evidence of 'models' or cloning. They were just orphans. The cloning story was just a form of religion, to keep them calm and submissive. But ultimately, this is irrelevant. The main story is if there is a way out of suffering-mortal life and if the answer is true love. Tommy is the true tragic hero here. He was focused on cheating the system, calculating to prolong his existence. He was supposed to do what Kathy did. Enjoy the existence, true love while it lasts - accept the circumstances. The origin of Tommy's frustration and tragedy is desire - for something unattainable. Etc.

Why are the donors modeled after other people or "possibles?"