THE MECHANICAL BRIDE (film)

THE MECHANICAL BRIDE. Allison de Fren, dir., prod. Penultimate version premiered SFRA Conference 2010, Carefree, AZ, 25 June 2010. Narrated by Julie Newmar (star of My Living Doll [1964-65], q.v.). In production.

Advertised as "A documentary exploring the fantasy and reality of creating the Perfect Artificial Woman." More prosaically, it's a documentary on the production of sex dolls (almost always gendered female and bought by men) and the men who buy them and love them: not just f*ck them, but love them, for an intriguing commentary on the varieties of intimacy. An important work for gender studies — much of the work-force producing the dolls is female — but most relevant here for its look to possible futures, in fact as well as in fictional drama, where the dolls become pleasure robots. In de Fren's words, "The film, The Mechanical Bride ([the title is] an homage to Marshall McLuhan), explores the Pygmalionesque fantasy of creating the perfect female artificially, particularly as it is represented within science fiction film, television, and literature, and the ways in which the fantasy both informs and conflicts with the current-day attempt to create robotic companions" . See also AdF's references to her diss. The Exquisite Corpse: Representations of the Artificial Female and her studies of "an internet subculture known as A.S.F.R. (alt.sex.fetish.robots)" . AdF's work is important not only for its content but also for its methodology of looking at very real human groups in the virtual world of the Internet.

RDE, Title, 10Aug19