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cyborg individuality

Marina's picture

Lynn Hershman Leeson's film Teknolust seems to raise some important questions regarding cyborgs and individuality. The cyborgs that were created by Rosetta Stone were intended to be exact copies of one another yet as they interacted and experienced the world outside the virtual world they began to form individual personalities. Ruby developed this individuality through her ability to escape the virtual world which she did through motivational romantic films, and collecting y chromosomes from unsuspecting men. Olive seemed to crave independence and identity as she began to act out against Rosetta Stone by speaking in codes which neither Marinne nor Ruby partook in. Additionally, when Marinne visited the salon she asked to look like herself whereas Rosetta asked to look like Bjork. This is interesting because the cyborg seems to crave an identity to call her own whereas Rosetta, who has her own human identity, seems to desire to copy the identities of others. It seems that the film is suggesting that the creation if cyborgs ultimately leads to a struggle for individuality as the influences of the outside world cause the cyborgs to desire their own sense of identity and humanity.

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