Transhumanism In The Film Her, By Spike Jonze

In Octavia Butler’s Dawn the idea of gender is deconstructed and reformed from the typical human’s definition. Often people do not consider the role of gender in society today. Usually the first thing one notices when meeting someone new is their gender or their presumed gender. However, there becomes a problem when the person whose gender we perceived identifies as a different gender. Butler forces the reader to examine how they judge and perceive gender. While the ooloi are actually “its” their personalities seem to imply a certain gender. The transgender community often brings up this issue because these assumptions of gender based on our judgments of what defines a male and what defines a female can skew how a transgender person is treated and addressed. In Chapter One of Gender Through the Prism of Difference by Anne Fausto-Sterling, the idea of expanding the number of genders based on one’s biological differences is examined through the five sexes theory. By now the concept of gender being defined solely by one’s biology has mostly been left in the past but the question remains of how do we truly define gender? How does being outside of the social norms that Michael Warner talks about cause us to feel shame when discussing our gender and our perceptions of gender? In this essay, I will argue that preconceived notions of gender create shame when a person’s own perception of their gender does not fit the social norms. This stigma around the limited and strict definitions

Octavia Butler’s Dawn explores a world of the unknown after humans nearly destroy their kind along with Earth, causing an extraterrestrial species to intervene. The protagonist, Lilith, finds herself in a predicament as she is captured and locked in solidarity for a long. The extraterrestrial species that intervenes, Oankali, strip her of her clothes, mysteriously cut her and then tell her it is her role to mother a group of humans and prepare them for a return to Earth. In the novel Lilith is conflicted, she knows she has no control of her body and that humans have been “enslaved” by the Oankali but begins to trust and connect with them, especially Nikanj. Through the relationship of Lilith and Nikanj side by side with Humans and the Oankali, Octavia Butler explores the monstrous aspects of people and acts within the cultures.

Double-consciousness is like a person staring at a television screen, that person judging the actor and predicting each and every move. The actor need to unearth twoness because he or she have a true self they identify with, and a second form of consciousness that they display, because it is what others who view them expect. Authors like Nella Larsen, Sylvia Plath, and Chang-rae Lee experience their twoness through race and/or gender, and relates them to themselves. They use Du Bois’s double-consciousness in their works to exemplify their own personal struggle. The characters in their works tend to be the best kinds of actors because they are able to act by switching personas to correlate to different people and cultures. For instance,

in her fear of a deviant biological sex, but rather in the indefinable abyss of complex and

The protagonist Venter, his name meaning “the abdomen or belly” of an animal, implies that individuals abide unprotected by their real identities (“The World's Favorite Online Dictionary!”). Through a psychological understanding, people tend to “go along with the group because we dislike disapproval, we want to achieve a specific goal and being accepted is thought to be necessary” (Wren, Chapter 2, paragraph 3). Underlining that people often try to blend into the crowd, to hide and protect their identities, to be accepted into society. Though Venter’s abrupt end of the search for his mother, once the machine inscribes his epiphany. Directs the reader to believe that his mother, represents a void felt in his identity from living by societal norms for the approval of the crowd around him. Further, explaining the questioning of his self-worth when faced with his permanent identity crisis, because he could not hide from society anymore. Conversely, Adam the machine owner and the antagonist of the story symbolizes true acceptance of identity. Nevertheless, the description of Adam inhabits an unorganized, weird, and outlandish lifestyle. Therefore, leading the reader to the idea that he lives against this common societal behavior as seen in Venter; for Adam lives for himself and not the acceptance of the people around him. Adam explains that

She begins to show affinity to the matrix and so called the resonance as her connection with resonance entities (later she knew this as a sprite) become stronger. As she gets older she begins to show her analytical mind solving complex puzzles, encryption and strong in remembering things. The Taylor keep her technomancy from the corp as the technomancer scares reach its height.

Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis (1914) is about the transformation of Gregor Samsa into a giant insect. His life has been miserable due to the fact that he works to meet the standard necessities of the family after his father has lost his business. Kafka implies that Gregor’s transformation is simply a manifestation of what he was already experiencing. It is a punishment for Gregor not having attempted to engage with others. Kafka’s main theme is alienation and he explores it passionately through Gregor’s introverted life before his transformation, the metamorphosis of the family’s treatment towards Gregor after he turned into an insect, and Gregor’s behaviour after his drastic change.

Thanks to fashion magazines, fast food and size-0 actresses, American women live in a crazy funhouse mirror -- the more the obesity rate rises, it seems, the tinier and more unrealistic our idealized standards of beauty become. But is it that way all over the world?

Haywood writes: “…she was so admirably skilled in the art of feigning, that she had the power of putting on almost what face she pleased, and knew so exactly how to form her behavior to the character she represented,” (Haywood, 2805). By including this, Haywood is suggesting that the protagonist is able to change who she is without any detection, but that humans are capable of doing the same thing, and do so every day when they get dressed in the morning. The protagonist changes her behaviors and clothing in order to comply with that character, and even when she is playing herself, she is still dresses and acts in order to comply with the character expected of her. She is certain of every action she does, but also that every thing she does is necessary in order to fulfill what is expected of a character, even if that character is her. The protagonist’s certainty of character modification, both in her actions and mindset, translate to society.

The definition of humanity and the true meaning of being human will be furthered explored in relation to the film. The classification of being human is complicated as replicants and humans display many similarities. The ethical aspects of the film contradict the

Due to the growing power and influence of the media, what people think is “real” is actually just a representation, but they cannot separate or distinguish the two. This failure to separate reality from imitation is an important aspect to simulacra. It makes it more powerful than a simple representation. Simulacra become the reality. Dr. Dino Felluga, of Purdue University, talks about the

Betty Friedan could be argued as one of the most prominent figures of the 2nd wave feminist movement in the United States of America. While she was most prominently know for her activism, she was also a writer. She used her passion for writing and fight for equal rights and wrote the best-selling book, The Feminine Mystique. This book looks to fight against “the feminine mystique,” which convinces women that to be a fulfilled woman they must be sexual passive, be dominated by males, and act as a maternal and nurturing type of lover. The argument is women are unable to satisfy themselves or their husbands not because of any sexual problems, but due to the fact that they have an identity problem. The problem most people have with her writing is that she puts all the blame on society and none on the individuals who make the decisions.

The concept of Posthumansim blurs the line of the human and non-human. This idea is prevalent in the 1968 science fiction novel Do

Her opens with a close – up of Theodore’s face and a red shadow screen right. As the camera zooms out it is obvious that Theodore stands out in his workplace; he is the only one wearing red, matching the colors of his office. The opening scene, along with its color palette and introduction of Theodore’s job, foreshadows some psychological issues that Theodore may have. “To my Chris. I've been thinking how I could possibly tell you how much you mean to me. I remember when I first started to fall in love with you like it was last night. Lying naked beside you in that tiny apartment - it suddenly hit me that I was part of this whole larger thing. Just like our parents - or our parents' parents. Before that, I was just living my life like I knew everything - and suddenly this bright light hit me and woke me up. That light was you. I can't believe it's already been 50 years since you married me. And still to this day, every day - you make me feel like the girl I was - when you first turned on the lights and we started this adventure together. Happy anniversary. My love. My friend till the end. Loretta” (Jonze DVD). Theodore writes love letters for other couples for a living, yet he is not in a relationship. However, Theodore must have been in a loving relationship to be able to write this letter and hundreds more. Theodore is lonely, longing for the same love that he witnesses as

For many years now, women have strived to gained equality with men. They have been held back from many opportunities due to the fact that they are women. Monique Wittig, a twentieth century feminist theorist who wrote an essay called “One is not born a woman” raised questions about the ideas of gender and sexuality. Helene Cixous, a twentieth century feminist who wrote “The Laugh of Medusa” urges women to write to reclaim their sexuality and identity through writing. Emma Watson, a 21 twenty-first century feminist, gave a speech at the United Nations about the definition of feminism for her HeForShe campaign.