A reflection on cyborgs, robots, AI, and replicants

        I think that there are numerous issues that the rise of technology and mechanization of our society present for us; non-ironically, however, at the same time, it raises some existential questions that I think maybe we won’t ever get the answers to. Questions such as, how different are we really from cyborgs when prosthetics exist? Or how different are we really when there are gene editing tools such as the CRISPR-Cas9? Or, as raised in Spike Jonze’s “Her”, what does it really mean to have “consciousness”? I really enjoyed watching Her in particular, mainly because of its thought-provoking basis. I think it was really hard for me to try to understand the relationship between Samantha and Theodore, considering the emphasis the world currently puts on appearance and the physical being of partners in relationships—one that isn’t quite depicted in Her.

       On the topic of gender, I think that the Terminator 2 doesn’t necessarily provide the best representation of women as a whole; throughout the series but particularly in the the second one, Sarah Conner is only really portrayed as a “tough and violent” woman, paralleling her male counterparts in the movie — ultimately sending out the message that masculinity is what should be associated with power. While this representation is important, I feel that if we are to encompass the entirety of what makes a contemporary woman today, we must incorporate both feminine and masculine aspects in an integrated manner, just as Wonder Woman does.