(no subject)

[twincityhacker]

Dad and I went to see Spiderman 2, and we got back an half hour ago. Since I was all bouncy from seeing the movie, I decied to go over to the computer and read myself to sleep.

Then I found the ship manifesto, and ate some chocolate, and I'm thinking the world really, really needs a paper on the Joike (Should I feel guilty about highjacking a fuzzy moment from the Mike era Christmas special for a pairing name?) and Forrester/Frank pairings. I would include Servo/Crow, but lets introduce MST3K slash with humans over the age of consent... though the 'bots and Mike *are* over 500 years old if you count the time they spent as beings of energy at the end of the universe.

Hee, I love MST3K. You can talk about things like the legal age of robots and invisable elves and no one thinks you're *that* strange. Maybe a little werid, but that's okay.

Comments

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

though the 'bots and Mike *are* over 500 years old if you count the time they spent as beings of energy at end of the universe.

They were at Milliways? *shot*

BTW, you can't argue that the 'bots are of age because fictional computers with artifical intelligence and robots (who are just the former with a body) generally don't age the same way that biological creatures do. Upon gaining sentience, most of the time an AI will rapidly mature to a certain age, usually dicated by the personality of the AI much in the same way its gender is, and plateau. Maturity is very slow after this and it takes a major shift in the environment to cause another "jump". Robots and computer based characters tend to be stubborn and don't change their ways easily. Probably the only robot character in MST3K to have a "jump" was Crow during seasons 7 and 8.

[msp-hacker.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean. Most robot/computer charecters, that I've seen/read, have been given ages between a little kid and teenagers. But then again, this could be made as the largest agument that they are "alive", since it shows growth and development. Not the growth that the rule intends, but growth none the less.

But my point was that for some people, it's the charecter being over the age of consent physicaly is what is important, not the charecter being mentaly/emotionaly old enough to have a relationship. Romeo and Juilet is a prime example. They were trying to marry Juilet off, but she obviously wasn't ready for it.

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

But then again, this could be made as the largest agument that they are "alive", since it shows growth and development. Not the growth that the rule intends, but growth none the less.

How this growth is used to become "alive" depends on the author. In the Space Odyssey novels, HAL was truely alive. There's no question about that, because when Discovery was destroyed, HAL was transformed into a a funky starchild being to become a companion to Dave Bowman. HAL's consciousness had to be at least on the same level of a human in order for this to work. However, in the novel Factoring Humanity the computer Cheetah was self-aware enough to commit suicide but the author contends that the computer was never alive or felt anything; it was a process of logic that caused Cheetah to delete himself.

And if you REALLY want to explore the issue further, in Neuromancer, Wintermute and Neuromancer needed to fuse together to become "alive". Which would raise the question of robot/AI sex and reproduction. The anime movie Ghost in the Shell has similar themes. Or, hell, look at the movie Blade Runner. If there was an robot that looked human, lived among humans and was treated as such, would he realize that he was a robot or believe over time that he was human?

So many questions.... @_@

Romeo and Juilet is a prime example. They were trying to marry Juilet off, but she obviously wasn't ready for it.

Yes, but Shakespeare's Romeo and Juilet are around the age of 14. Growing up in an urban community, I've seen a few 14 year olds who attempt a sexual relationship at that age and the results aren't pretty. The idea of 14 years getting married is very silly. Plus, Romeo and Juilet is an awkward play to pull examples from. Despite what modern culture tells us, it's not a full tragedy in the classic sense; it's a fusion of tragedy and comedy or possibly an attempt at an early political comedy. In turn, it doesn't have that much merit in literary circles. The Shakespeare fanbase may tell you different, but most of them are a bunch of angstful teenages who wouldn't know dark humour if it hit them in the face.