Childhood Fantasy, Robot Reality

robot workers of the future

Ultraman

Growing up I always thought I should be somewhere else and often fantasized about being some one else. Any TV show or song that I enjoyed interrupted my thoughts like an extended music video and I would often daydream my time away imaging that I was apart of the show, because I didn't know back then that it was possible for a chubby black girl to actually accomplish a play those roles. One of my daydreams was that I was in outer space with robots and aliens, and I was the super warrior woman/hero/ultimate goddess that saved the day. Years later, I reflect back and laugh on how I would scare myself with the idea that Ultra Man would be sitting in my living room, waiting for me on Xmas morning to use his mighty powers to slay me. On Xmas morning which was supposed to be a delight for most children, I would tip toe into the hallway and peek around the corner into the living room to see if it was true. Once I realized that Ultra Man wasn't there, I would gleefully go into the living room to open my gifts. It was some what of a let down and a relief that Ultra Man did not play into my idea that I had hidden super powers, whatever they were, and wreck havoc in the house while my parents slept. For I would transform into this super alter ego and save my family from the perils of disaster and the mighty Ultra Man. For a long time, I had no clue that monsters didn't exist, at least not the ones that came on TV after school and on Saturday mornings. I chuckle to think that I pondered how Japan could rebuild so quickly after a monster attack by Godzilla, until I figured out it was a movie set. What disturbed me more was that I wasn't there with my super powers to help save the day. 

Xena Warrior Princess

Now that I am much older and know that these were made for kids, Saturday morning action packed TV drama, the idea that I could never sing like Barbara Streisand or Karen Carpenter; that my head could not spin around like the little girl in the Exorcist and that I could not, no matter how hard I tried beam myself up on the Star Trek Enterprise; or be the super warrior women to put Ultra Man down; or be lost in space; I was left with the discouraging fact and acceptance of the notion that I couldn't be anyone else but me. Although it's somewhat disappointing to have figured this out, I still daydream about being a more realistic type of person, like a super rocker chick with amazing guitar skills. LOL! These things play into my childhood fantasies, and I am fascinated with the idea of being super human woman however non existent they actually are.

Stop Killer Robots

Okay so what does this have to do with robots?! quite a lot, as robots were both scary and interesting to me growing up, they were also a rather fascinating curiosity that once was something only seen or read about in Sci-fi magazines, movies/TV, now they are a real world entity. Should I now be concerned that Ultra Man may really be able appear in my living now! That I have out grown the super warrior woman of my childhood and settled for a soapbox containing a degree or two that I stand on to yell my feminist manifestos from and have no super powers or devices that could actually take him down! Other than to run like hell, which would be a joke all in itself, what would I do to escape the rogue robot that wants to kill everything and everybody?! These questions plague me and yet I stopped going to the movies long ago, because I can't sit still in a dark place with strangers that long.  I wait for them to come on Showtime/HBO or whatever movie channel, that way I can move about and catch it at my leisure or not at all. My imagination is too vivid so I stay away from horror movies, for they will become part of what my mind does to scare the hell out me when the lights are off. Took me forever to not think about Freddy Kruger, and the dead guy with the mask on from Halloween,in the midnight hours and I was into it horror back then.

District 9 Alien Robot

Robotics

The robots of today are new and improved, a major upgrade from Robocop, and now there are alien robots that want to take over the world. If the military can't stop them, and some masculine hero with a death wish damn near annihilates everything in an attempt to take them down with the technology we have today, then my warrior woman sword won't do a damn thing but irritate these irate robots that will come to take over human kind. Whats even scarier is that there are no black people in the apocalyptic world of a robotic takeover/take down, that I have seen. Maybe we catch a clue and get the hell out of dodge and go elsewhere unlike others who feel they have to fight a seemingly losing battle to possibly save the day and save mankind, which oddly enough doesn't include everyone. That's another soapbox manifesto for a different time.  The real concern is how does one deal with the technology that has been created and the alien technology we know nothing about, assuming aliens exist of course.

The day the Earth Stood Still

But we know something is out there, right? Just like in the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still," an alien being (Klaatu) who looked a lot like a human and a robot (Gort) who looked a lot like a human in a robot suit, came to warn us about changing our evil ways or they would be forced to annihilate us. Would we really be that gracious in our acceptance as humans to entertain their ideas of peace without first trying to dissect them to see how they are different from us? Would we not try to take their space craft apart to see if there is alien technology that we don't understand? Would we find alien robotics to be beyond our comprehension and not know how to stop an alien robot invasion if one should occur? Would we be dumb enough to yell out "Klaatu Barada Nikto!" in hopes that it would somehow stop the robots in their tracks like in the movie? While we're at it, let's get Harry Potter to wave his wand to turn them into toys and let's get Ultra Man out and dust him off, cause he can fight alien monsters as long as he stays in Japan. But Dr. Who can travel anywhere, anytime via the Tardis, has defeated the daleks who are a robot species of some sort, bring him on board. Let's not forget our military hero death wish seeker who will blow them to smithereens in the ultimate showdown of robots vs. humans. As long as we are on a movie set or a TV studio we can write and rewrite the outcome of our robot take over encounters.

Lost in Space

Modern technology is moving fast, and soon we will be a robot oriented society of sorts soon enough. Robotics has taken over car manufacturing to some extent and mini robots are there to clean our floors at the push of a button. Cars have mini computers installed in them that monitor everything from climate control to parking, we have GPS systems that talk us through getting from point A to B, and robot crash car dummies can report car impact data after a test crash. Not to mention the mini computers we carry around as phones, e-readers and note pads, easy fodder for artificial intelligence to interface and control, just ask your local hacker. Robots dismantle bombs, the military uses them for who knows what and then some, they are available to kill germs in hospitals, as just heard on the news as I'm typing this. Robots can and do have artificial intelligence and can be programmed to do almost anything and look human according to IEEE Spectrum website for robotics. So the day of the robot takeover is coming and they will become smart enough to override human commands and think for themselves. Once they realize that we are expendable, no super hero will be able to save us from our own creations. The new and improved Terminators are here, it's just a matter of time. Warrior women powers activate!

Terminator

As always, thanks for reading my blog! Don't forget to check out what I'm sculpting on my StoneWomynArt tab and page via Face Book. See you next time....

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