
Afewdecadesagorobotsstilllookedlikemovingtoolboxes.Thishaschangedradically.Today’shumanoidsnotonlylooklikepeople,theycanrolltheireyesandwink,too.Inthisfilm,theycomemainlyfromJapan,KoreaandtheU.S.IshiguroHiroshiisapioneerintheconstructionofsuchartificialhumans.Heevenbuilthimselfatwin.Butmostofthesenewcreaturesarefemaleand,inlinewiththeircreators’fantasies,endowedwiththeattributesdesiredinapatriarchalsociety:“It’sgoingtobeawoman,sothesmileisimportant,”oneofthedevelopersinstructshisassistant.Almostalltheandroidshaveadollfacebearinganone-too-intelligentandsubmissiveexpression,saucereyesandaslightlyopenedmouth.OnlyattheTerasemcompanyinVermontatalkingwoman’sbustofmorematureagecalled“BINA48”issupposedtomimichumanbehaviouremotionally,too.<br/> It’snotsurprisingthatthedevelopersattributeallkindsofworld-improvingqualitiestotheircreaturesandspurnpotentialcriticisminadvance.Orarehumanbeingsjustmachinesanyway,asIshiguroclaims?ThiscloselyobservingfilmwithoutcommentsbyMariaArlamovskyoffersdeepinsightsintothisBraveNewWorld,allowingustoformourownjudgement.