Susana Viegas is presenting at the Film Studies Research Seminar Series at the Department of Film Studies of King's College London: "Do Androids Die? Exploring the Life and Death of Technological Beings".
Abstract This talk investigates a growing field of study: posthuman thanato-film analysis, situated at the intersection of philosophies of death, film, and technology. Moving beyond conventional depictions of death and dying in cinema, this interdisciplinary approach examines how films contemplate mortality and finitude through the lens of artificial beings such as androids and humanoid robots. While death traditionally pertains only to living organisms, the “death” of androids introduces alternative semantic frameworks, including deactivation, decommissioning, or disconnection. This presentation explores the connection between technology and mortality, focusing on narratives where humanoid robots confront their finite existence and grapple with artificial death, thereby blurring the boundaries between humans and intelligent machines. I analyse Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and the HBO television series Westworld, co-created by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan. Both the replicants in Blade Runner and the hosts in Westworld challenge the human perception of death and dying, while themselves embody divergent temporal understandings of life and mortality. Notably, androids do not experience biological death in a chronological sense. Yet, their existence and imagined consciousness prompt questions about their capacity to comprehend finite temporality and engage with concepts like mortality. These explorations shed light on the intricate relationship between artificial intelligence and human consciousness, offering profound insights into the nature of life, death, and what lies between.
Chair Catherine Wheatley
February 5, 5-7PM, Bush House SE 2.10
📸 Blade Runner [1982], by Ridley Scott
