Science fiction is the link between popular culture and modernity. Through it we can engage in fantasies that allow us to imagine ourselves in situations that seem too radical to realistically adopt but offer desirable alternatives to everyday life, at least in small, manageable doses.Perhaps the most popular of these alternatives are the myriad approaches to artificial life in film, television, and other media. The Jetsons lived in a ubiquitously computed house, which was managed by a robot housekeeper. Likewise, Small Wonder offered a convenient alternative to both hiring a housekeeper and raising a real child. These relationships erase class and social hierarchies, removing things like animosity, disgruntled workmanship, and feelings in general.
Of course, the threat of takeover by these artificially intelligent companions has also been considered. Film classics like Metropolis and Bladerunner offer complex stories that mix elements of the future, the government, and the Underground with trust being a common theme of exploration. (Can we trust machines? Can human-machines be considered beings simply because they were designed in the likeness of humans? Is it unethical to kill one, for example?)
Manga/film combo Ghost in the Shell and The Matrix created additional blur to the distinction between human and machine, suggesting a soul is present in these manufactured objects, capable of feeling and constructing thoughts beyond logical computation. With these and many other varieties, it seems that every possibility has been entertained. What more can we add to the fictional amplified human?
Not much, but luckily the fun isn't over. Dollhouse, a Joss Whedon creation that debuted on Fox this season, gives the human-machine a new setting, operation, and mode of technological function, and leaves viewers with entertaining fodder for surveying the postmodern condition. It combines the ass-kicking vitality of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, clever dialogue, and just enough bite to maintain a sense of humor, despite the heavy theme of human-as-vessel and all of the other areas mentioned above.
Last week marked the season's finale, but all episodes are viewable on Hulu.com and Fox.com.
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