The Ever-Faithful Robot

The Ever-Faithful Robot

I love robots.

Like, I really love them; more than people, often.

They’re amongst my list of favourite things, along with dragons, lasers, dinosaurs, Christmas lights, and, peppermint.

Honestly, I want a Roomba JUST for it to be my cute little friend (because, honestly, I hear they’re not the greatest at actually vacuuming yet, but, I hear they’re developing new ones!)

Lucky for us, there have been some amazing robots is recent development and media, the most recent being the awesome robots in Interstellar, and, the adorable Baymax, of Big Hero 6.

Most robots are in at least one, if not more, of the following categories:

A) Adorable Robots

B) Past-Meets-Future Robots

C) Murderous Robots

The amazing thing about the robots in Intersteller is that they really challenged the usual robotic archetypes. They were fun, unique, smart, and refreshing.

However, we love our classically cute robots because we find their quirky personalities, and their flaws, endearing, and, we love the past-meets-future robots because it gives an intriguing contrast of time, and it gives us a sense of belonging and understanding in such an unknown period, the future. Also, it’s just funny to see what horrible technology people used to find futuristic. Despite how much I love blinking lights, why anyone thought literally walls of unlabelled blinking lights was the way of the future, I’ll never understand. Both categories give us a much needed break in tension, and often comedic relief. Space is a cold, brutal place, which usually breaks our hearts. So, we count on our dependable robots to get us through the dark times… Literally….

Whereas we love the quirky, childish tendencies of most robots, that appeal to our humanity, we ironically love the silent, oozing horror of the lack of humanity in murderous robots. They can’t be reasoned with, bargained with, bribed, starved, poisoned, and can survive without oxygen, a helpful quality for space, if they’re in space, which they often are. The thing about murderous robots is they’re such scarier in lesser numbers. Like with Alien, Terminator was horrifying because there was a SINGLE nearly invincible robot trying to hunt you. The war concept for Terminator was an interesting passing detail, but, the trailer for the newest Terminator movie, which inspired this post, made me realise why I lost interest in the series. It’s just a depressing war series now. I feel like the mystery and horror is gone. Jaws, Alien, Predator, Terminator, The Most Dangerous Game, and countless other horrifying stories leaned heavily on the idea that a single entity, or a small group, desires to hunt and destroy you, and has the overwhelming ability to. This style leans heavily on music, lighting, cinematography, directing, and more on what isn’t seen and what isn’t known, than what is. I feel this style is more interesting.

All in all, though, I love robots.

Especially Baymax. He’s friggin adorable. Definitely in the running for one of the cutest robots of all time.

Whether it’s the glimpses of humanity we look for in robots, or the lack thereof, robots are only going to become more and more of reality. They’re already changing the job market. What happens when most jobs are done by robots? Like it or not, they’re here to stay; don’t piss them off.

Oh my gawd... This. Changes. Everything.

I think, in tribute to my love of robots, I'm gonna sketch some robots in the next week. =] maybe I'll scatter some new Snarky Fox single panels in there, as well =]

"The Boy Not Allowed in Schools"

I grew up without Harry Potter.

Coming of age in a Christian home, right in the thick of the Christian ridicule of the series, it all became extremely taboo. My mom never quite understood WHY things were taboo, other than the vague ideas of “evolution” (Pokemon), “witchcraft” (Harry Potter), and even just “violence” (Power Rangers). She never investigated or researched, or sought understanding. She was just afraid. Luckily for me, she’d forget things she was afraid and/or just loosen up. So, I’m thankful that she wasn’t as blindly ignorant or hateful as many, but, regardless, I didn’t grow up with Harry, Hermione, and Ron, as they grew up with their loyal fan base.

Fast-forward.

I’m now 19, and my soon-to-be-ex (whole different story for another day; simply said, we were two broken people who needed the other to not be broken) blessed my life by letting me borrow the series that summer. I dived into to the beautiful series. I wept numerous times, pretty much every time Harry’s parents were mentioned, or, when someone died (that increases ten-fold in the last few books). I marathon’d the series. Reading them, for the first time, as an adult, provided such context. I could see this whole painful, beautiful journey, start to finish- I saw it whole.

My favourite book this first read-though was The Half-Blood Prince. I adored the context that the memories gave. Everything was starting to make sense. And, the whole end surprised me.

Upon finishing the series, I instantly had beef with the Christian community. Keep in mind, I love Jesus, and, consider myself a Christian. But, I became fully aware that no one criticising the book had actually read it, and, if they had, they needed to get their heads out of their arses as soon as possible, because their heads are so far up there that they could suffocate at any moment. The worst part is the bigotry. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote about the struggle of good versus evil magic too, but, since he was a prevalent Christian male, with a cool story, and who helped lead C.S. Lewis to Christ, that’s okay. Don’t get me wrong, I adore both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, but, I feel there’s a double-standard and judgement and bigotry that happened in the Christian community, and still happens to this day. I think if they were still alive, both of those amazing British authors, and many like them, would have loved the world that J.K. Rowling created. And, on top of that, as a free-thinking human, one should be able to simply use an idea as a plot device, even if they don’t quite believe in it. I’m not quite sure how I feel about Evolution; there’s so many questions I have. But, I LOVE Jurassic Park. Evolution is a MAJOR plot device in the two books. But, guess what? I’m okay with that. Books, fiction or not, should challenge you and dare you to think and dream. At the least, you should think, “that’s an interesting view,” and, at most, maybe you’re opinions will change. But, if you’re too childish and weak and stubborn and blind to even respectfully HEAR the ideas and standpoint of others, I pity you- you will struggle and you will hurt others and you WILL offend.

What I saw before me, with Harry Potter, was this beautifully spun tapestry of good vs. evil, sacrifice, love, power, family, relationships, civil rights, and more. The series addresses many of the most important issues we will ever face, and, above all urged you to choose goodness, bravery, and love. “You always have a choice” essentially describes the whole saga. Yeah, Harry Potter is a prat at times, but, understandably so, and, he stepped up when he needed to. What really hits me in the emotional gonads, though, is the support and sacrifice of those around Harry Potter.

Fast forward again to now.

I just finished my second read-through. Of course, lots more crying, and, even more, “OH MY GAWD! FORE-FUCKING-SHADOWING! HOWWWWW?! SEVEN BOOKS AHEAD?! HOWWWWW!!!!”

That woman knows the long-con, and, she knows it well.

I think J.K. Rowling is one of the most notable and inspirational people of our time, and, a fantastic role model.

But, I think I came out of this second read-through with a new favourite: The Deathly Hallows. I’m sure your favourite adapts to what stage of life you’re in. However, this read-through, Harry’s change part-way through the finale really got me. His strength and determination and trust and respect.

I think a lot can be learned from Harry Potter. It teaches people of all ages to be brave, to be good, and to take a stand against injustice.

With the sudden popularity of Game of Thrones, I realise now that we got off lucky. J.K. Rowling had MANY more of our favourites that she could have killed off. Each of her deaths meant something, though. It wasn’t just “sacrifice;” it was never just “death.” It always meant MORE. It meant “being orphaned;” it meant “under-age death and sacrifice;” it meant “losing your other half;” it meant “losing your family;” it meant “losing yourself.” She didn’t NEED to kill anyone else; the deaths that occurred carried so much weight already.

So, even though I didn’t grow up with it, Hogwarts will forever be my home; it will always be a part of me. Just like a Muggle-Born, or Harry Potter himself, I grew up without Hogwarts, and, then, suddenly, one day, it’s real and amazing and everything is different.

And, never forget:

"Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

That moment when a cute person thinks you're cute, and, you're like, "WHUUUUT."

Me, literally, on the freeway, passing someone going 50mph: "Vroom, vroom, asshole!"