STATUS – COMPLICATED

Text topic: Studies – Influence of Science Fiction on Modern Culture

Text author: Весна Перић

The paper researches romance between humans and artificial intelligence, in terms of gender, in science fiction film narratives of the 21st century and examines the extent of the dominant matrix in which the man is human and the woman is artificial intelligence, subordinated to the male consumer/creator. Also, the paper explores what constitutes the gender identity of a woman as an Other in virtual and cybernetic environments, starting from the framework of the phenomenon of post human, as understood by Katerine Hayles and referred to by Slavoj Žižek, inspired by the cult essay A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Harraway, as well as the gender determination as researched by Judith Butler in her dialogue with Simone de Beauvoir. In the film narrative slike Her by Spike Jonze (2013), Ex Machina by Alex Garland, Zoe by Drake Doremus (2018) and the debut film Ederlezi Rising by Lazar Bodroža (2018), a man creates and/or communicates with an android,building an emotional connection. On the other hand, in an episode of the BBC series Black Mirror titled Be Right Back (2013) directed by Owen Harris, there is a singular example of a woman re/creating the beloved man in the form of a silicone android. These examples destabilize rigid binary gender model, introducing new values to the concept of gender.