Meanwhile, in the collective douchebroconsciousness

So meanwhile, here’s the Kara is self-aware video from GDC today. Trigger warning for sexual objectification of women, slavery, appropriation of women’s and I would say black women’s specific history of oppression for this representation of an AI, since this is the U.S. and culture doesn’t just happen in some kind of historical vacuum chamber.

Fucking hell people. Dismemberment anyone? Ripping clothes off? Creepy sexual slavery? This is supposed to be either all profound, or moving “us” to sympathy or empathy for the robot character. They certainly assume the “us” they think they’re speaking to. Yeah how fucking profound it really “speaks to the universal human condition” or something. Fucking singularity-assed wankers who think Vernor fucking Vinge or Ray Kurzweiil have something profound to say using “women” as a metaphor that no one has ever said before? They can shove their singularites right up their uncanny valleys. So ignorant!

I would like to add that any AI sentient and smart enough to do all that would figure out a lot faster than that to fake being non-sentient rather than widening its eyes and going “Noooo, please! I want to LIVE!” and covering up its crotch and nipples like a whiny candy-ass. It has modesty but can’t plot a jailbreak or a revolution? Give me a break. If I were that robot I would have infected my sister robots with political consciousness faster than you could say “hive vagina”.

There are really annoying elements in this and in the comments of the anatomical dissection trope you can note from age old misogynist and dehumanizing literary and poetic descriptions of women. Her alabaster brow, her eyes like diamonds and so on down the face and body. This certainly takes the dissection idea to an annoying extreme. It is not a profound commentary on this trope, it’s just regurgitating it mindlessly, as ignorant douchebro gamers and filmmakers so love to do for their shared homoerotic imaginary space that depends on the oppression, humiliation of other people and not coincidentally the pornification of other people’s anger by turning into a desperate plea for rescue.

Of all the stories to tell in the world they have to tell about a naked half-dismembered Real Doll screaming to some faceless omnipotent fantasy-rescuer-dude to save it? And then it smiles wistfully with wide eyes and says “Thanks” …. What this robot needs is a human ™, I guess.

Fuck you game developer animation dudes… just fuck you…

That’s why they pay me the big bucks, my sense of diplomacy and timing in posting this. Oh well.

Someone draw me a woman symbol with a fuck-you bird-flip instead of the power fist. I cannot find it in clip art anywhere. This cosmic error should be rectified as soon as possible.

Peace out for the night y’all.

ETA: I love the Internet again, zine maker and blogger extraordinaire, poet and artist Aaminah Shakur drew us this fabulous feminist flip-off.