Identifying with the Inanimate
Published by marco on
Spirit (XKCD) anthropomorphizes the Mars lander that was meant to operate for 90 days and has now been in operation instead for 2274 Mars days. Because it has been unable to unstick itself from an impediment since May of 2009, it has been deemed a “stationary research station”. The winds and sand will eventually corrode its solar panels to such a degree that it will lose contact with NASA.
The cartoon evokes a feeling of pity for the robot because we are convinced that it thinks and feels—like us. The film Wall-E (IMDb) evokes similar feelings, as we watch a robot diligently clean up the Earth for centuries, all the while collecting tschochkes that remind it of people. The robot can’t speak—except for its own name and that of its “girlfriend”—but still we anthropomorphize it. The mini-cartoon Burn-E—available on the Wall-E DVD—similarly convinces us to feel a little maintenance robot’s frustration as it tries to complete its job.
A few years ago, Ikea ran a commercial about a little, forlorn lamp (similar, in fact, to the anthropomorphized mascot of Pixar, Luxo) abandoned by its owner at the curbside (shown below). At the end of the advert, when the music and camera angles nearly had you in tears, commiserating with the plight of the poor lamp, a narrator steps into the frame and declaims:
“Many of you feel bad for this lamp. That is because you are crazy. It has no feelings. And the new one is much better.”