FEMBOT FILM & TV : FARSCAPE/RICHIERICH/SPYKIDS/WARWORLDS

[MAGNUS]

Here are a few more robot appearances in film & tv that have been briefly mentioned in discussion topics in the past but at the present time do not appear on the master list.

1. FARSCAPE : tv series from 1999 - season 4 episode 16 ( #82 in the series ) titled BRINGING HOME THE BEACON featured a bionoid replica of the character aeryn sun played by claudia black. I have not seen this episode but i did see the beginning of the next episode which showed scenes from the prior show. These scenes showed commander john crichton, played by ben browder, shooting aeryn's android duplicate. She is revealed as an android when the shot destroys half of her head which emits sparks before she falls to the ground.

2. RICHIE RICH'S CHRISTMAS WISH : movie from 1998 featured the live action appearance of irona the robot maid from the comic books. I was always expecting that the first film adaptation would have included this robot character & i was disappointed that she was not in that version. In this movie you see irona as well as an evil irona.

3. SPY KIDS : movie from 2001 featured a robot double of carmen cortez played by alexa vega. There were also robot doubles of other young girls in the plotline. There should be a separate category to include young actresses who play robots so they aren't confused with the other sexbots on the master list since alexa vega was only 13 years old when this film was made.

4. WAR OF THE WORLDS : tv series from 1988 - season 1 episode 22 titled THE ANGEL OF DEATH featured a synth from the planet qar'to. The alien android was named q'tara & was played by elaine giftos. She was an android assassin who came to earth to wipe out the alien invaders.

Check www.epguides.com & www.imdb.com for details on these films & tv episodes. Go to www.tvtome.com for info on the war of the worlds tv episode.

MAGNUS

[keraptis]

3. SPY KIDS : movie from 2001 featured a robot double of carmen cortez played by alexa vega. There were also robot doubles of other young girls in the plotline. There should be a separate category to include young actresses who play robots so they aren't confused with the other sexbots on the master list since alexa vega was only 13 years old when this film was made.

Not to get on a whole side tangent about underage girls, but it does strike me as a very interesting cultural phenomenon that Disney in particular, and to some degree other kids media companies like Nick et al., seem to put quite a bit of fetishistic imagery into their kids and pre-teen films and TV shows. Having kids myself who are getting old enough to watch some of this stuff, I'm amazed at some of the things I've seen. And I'm not just talking about cartoons like Kim Possible and Totally Spies, which center around cute girls in sexy clothes. Even the live-action stuff seems to feature quite a bit of shiny spandex, mind control, robots, physical conversions into various living and non-living things, and other themes that to me are clearly fetishistic.

I'm not saying this to get on a soapbox and denounce it, I'm just saying (a) it's more proof to me of how prevalent these themes are in our collective imagination (i.e. it's not just us who dig this stuff), and (b) it seems kids entertainment is a "safer" place to explore some of these themes ... I guess if it's presented in a wrapper of innocence, it's OK to put some of these ideas out there.

Or maybe, we think it's perfectly normal for kids to have wild imaginations, and for entertainment producers to encourage them, but for some reason we think all that is supposed to shut off when we become adults, so that anyone who still thinks it's cool to imagine superheroes, or robots, or whatever is thought of as the exception ("geek" at a minimum, "pervert" at a maximum) rather than the rule.

[Rotwang]

For the record, Irona is played by a man ...

[MAGNUS]

The first part of this post is a reply to keraptis.

I had to include SPY KIDS since it does meet the master list requirements of having a robot that is also female. It is here for the sake of having a more complete list than anything else. I guess SPY KIDS & SMALL WONDER should both be sub-categorized into a gynoids under age 15 section. I wonder if it is only us who perceive shiny spandex, mind control, robots & physical conversions as a fetish? I wonder if non-robot lovers think of these things only as fashion statements or gimmicks?

Here is a synopsis of the FARSCAPE episode titled BRINGING HOME THE BEACON. This was taken from a website which featured an episode guide to the series. I can only comment on the fembot content i've seen as i have stated in the first post.

FARSCAPE : BRINGING HOME THE BEACON

The women on moya head down to a trading station on a derelict leviathan to buy a sensor distorter for moya. While it's being customized, they have four arns to kill.

Wandering through the station, aeryn & sikozu are shocked to see grayza & braca, with a squad of peacekeeper commandos. As they hide, another ship arrives - carrying a scarran delegation.

They follow the two groups to a clandestine meeting, at which it becomes clear that grayza is prepared to strike a deal with the scarrans in return for peace - & her own advancement. The price is the handing over of the luxan territories to the scarrans. As grayza signs a treaty, aeryn prepares to assassinate her. Before she can, the scarrans turns on the peacekeepers, killing the commandos & taking grayza & braca prisoner.

Meanwhile, noranti & chiana have hidden themselves from the peacekeepers by having full genetic modifications - changing their species & DNA. They meet up with aeryn & sikozu, who are attempting to reach grayza to kill her. If they do not, the scarrans will learn that the peacekeepers don't control wormhole technology from her - the only thing preventing them from an all-out attack.

Chiana returns to the transport pod, & the rest of the group defeat the guards around grayza. They are forced to rescue her & braca by graza's threats of a patrolling peacekeeper command carrier. Aeryn holds off the scarrans while the others escape. On the way to the pod grayza tricks sikozu, & she & braca make a break for it.

Aeryn returns to the pod in the nick of time, & the four women return to moya. Pilot immediately starbursts as a scarran dreadnaught remains on their tail. The ship & the girls are checked for a homing beacon.

John & aeryn decide to leave together so that the others are safe, but when john asks if the baby will be all right, aeryn doesn't understand. John realizes she is the beacon, & shoots her, to reveal a bionoid replica.

The sensor distorter is installed & fools the dreadnaught. Moya's crew realise that the grayza that escaped was also a replica, & the real one is in scarran custody. D'argo assures john that they will search for aeryn, & find her.

MAGNUS

[MAGNUS]

I somehow knew mentioning SPY KIDS here would create some conversation.

I have read prior posts on the subject of SMALL WONDER. I grew up & practically forgot about this series until a friend of mine reminded me about it. The only reason i thought it should be mentioned here is due to SMALL WONDER being included on the master list. Either SPY KIDS & SMALL WONDER should both be included on the list or both be removed from the list for the reasons pointed out in robotman's post. That is why i suggested these items should be classified in a separate category. Maybe they should be under a heading of female robots that are non-sexual in nature.

There are other robots on the master list that have a female persona but are about as sexy as a toaster. I am referring to the non-human varieties of robots. An example of this is another item under this post topic. Irona the robot maid from RICHIE RICH'S CHRISTMAS WISH is not what i would describe as a sexy robot. Another example i'm including is dot matrix from SPACEBALLS. I never think of this robot as sexy unless you find the voice of joan rivers to be sexy. Despite all this these items appear on the master list of female androids. One more robot i mentioned before is the laurabot from the FAMILY MATTERS tv episode. This is another example of a robotic suit or outfit that is female in design but something i don't really find sexy.

I guess i am looking at robots from another perspective entirely. I have always been interested in any & all robot stories in whatever form they appear whether they are human, non-human or even an intelligence like in 2001 : A SPACE ODYSSEY & DEMON SEED. Anyways, i simply thought SPY KIDS could be on the list & that's it. I had no more interest in this film other than making a report on it.

P.S. - Thank you, robotman, for your comments. It is nice to be appreciated for the work i've been putting into these posts. I'm sure some of this info is not new to many people here but a few of these topics have had little or no discussion about them. I have only one more dream projects topic to post but there are a couple of fembot film & tv topics i am also developing. After that i might take a break for awhile. This is taking up a lot of time. I need a vacation!

MAGNUS

[MAGNUS]

The following is the plotline for RICHIE RICH'S CHRISTMAS WISH. I am also reviewing the fembot content for this movie.

When richie accidentally wrecks a sleigh full of presents for needy children, he wishes he'd never been born. But richie gets more than he bargained for when professor keenbean's wishing machine actually makes his wish come true!

Now he's caught in the middle of an upside-down world where nothing's the way he remembers it and no one remembers him either! Richie's having the adventure of a lifetime in a hilariously wacky race to get back to his own wonderful life and set things right with his hot-tempered cousin, reggie, who is trying to ruin christmas for all.

Come join richie, his pals gloria, freckles and pee-wee, and his lovable dog, dollar, for excitement, fun and a thrilling ride in a family film sure to make all your holiday wishes come true!

The above info is the movie description from the back of the video box. There are only five sequences with irona the robot maid in the movie. The details are below.

The first scene occurs after richie is testing an electronic fishing rod. Richie goes into a chamber within his room to change his clothes while irona is cleaning. Richie fixes irona by adjusting a valve on the side of her body by turning the mechanism.

The second scene occurs when richie has crossed over into the upside-down world. Richie & his friends are playing tag in the forest on estate grounds when the evil irona robot breathes fire & pursues the kids who run in the opposite direction.

The third scene occurs when richie is being chased by the police within the halls of the mansion. Richie is running around a corner of a hallway when he bumps into the evil irona robot. Irona is again breathing fire as richie keeps on running away.

The fourth scene occurs when reggie brings the wishing machine back to the mansion. The evil irona robot is lifting the machine into the mansion & sets it down in the main entrance room & she is seen during the sequence where reggie wishes that he could fly.

The fifth & final scene occurs when richie & his friends sneak back into the mansion. They are greeted by the fire-breathing, evil irona robot. Richie's friends hold her while richie turns the valve on her side reverting her back to a good-natured robot.

MAGNUS

[fection]

I appreciate the work you've been doing too, Magnus, but as a kind of 'old-timer' member, it's really reports of new gynoids that interest me.
I'm not exactly sure what you're using as your source for the 'Master List' (I know there have been several kicking around on other sites) but I don't think any list should be seen as 'official' or a barometer of what makes acceptable discussion in this forum. If there IS a master list on this site (I'm not aware of one) that includes Small Wonder, I think the show should be removed. I for one would not associate with this site AT ALL if there was an 'under-age' catagory.
I don't think it's wise to discuss it at all in the context of this site.

[keraptis]

I hope this doesn't come across the wrong way, and the LAST thing I want to do is discourage anyone from posting, especially when it's all on-topic and there's so much effort behind it.

But I'm wondering Magnus, whether some of the material you're posting might be better suited for display on its own set of web pages, rather than as threads on a message board. A lot of what you post is not really conversational, it's sort of a combination between (a) reference material of potential value to everyone and (b) one person's weblog of interesting ideas and unfinished symphonies.

If you put up a web site, or got somebody to give you a little place to put up pages on their site, you might be able to organize all of your thoughts in a more accessible format. You'd even be able to maintain your own "master list(s)" in a more permanent and useful way.

Just an idea. Let me be clear, I think what you're posting has plenty of value and I want you to keep at it, but I'm just suggesting an alternative vehicle. Perhaps other people have even better ideas than mine.

[tinyspider]

I agree 100% with Keraptis. Magnus, If you feel this is the right place to post your threads, you're more than welcome to keep on doing it, but it would be great if you could take a couple suggestions that can enhance the experience, for you and all of us:
1- Try to assemble all your posts in one single thread, that way the people who's already interested in reading your threads doesn't have to search several times to get all your information
2- I don't know if I have some sort of hidden dislexya, or it's my mild astigmatism, but....
line #1: READING SEVERAL LINES
line #2: OF TEXT IN ALL CAPS
line #3: TENDS TO BE VERY ANNOYING
line #4: AND ALTHOUGH I KNOW THE POST SHOULD
line #5: PROBABLY BE INTERESTING/EDUCATIONAL/USEFUL
line #6: THIS DISCOURAGES ME FROM READING
line #7: NOT ONLY YOUR POSTS, BUT ALSO EVERYONE ELSE'S

I apologize if this offends you in some way, I write this with the best constructuve effort

[MAGNUS]

New gynoid reports : If i come across any brand new material i will certainly post it. There are very few new films each year with female robots. A search into past tv & movies is slowly yielding more & more items i have never known about before. I am reviewing these items since to date they are not on the master list.

The master list : I had help in printing out this list from the gynoid gallery which no longer functions. This was brought up under my last fembot film & tv topic for outer limits/ twilight zone/ & ray bradbury. The oldest list i have dates back to 1999 & the most recent printout i made was from 2001.

Since that time i have been hand-writing any new additons myself. All of the items under my fembot film & tv category do not appear on this list. Noidguy pointed the way to the new version of this list at http://www.gynoid.dreamhost.com/4images

Small wonder : Small wonder appeared on the list i described above & this is the only reason why i brought up the topic of spy kids was for the list to be more complete even though it is a controversial topic.

Web page/ single thread topics : A friend of mine recently suggested in an email this idea after he saw the amount of work i have been putting into these posts. The funny thing is i'm an organizing freak already which is why i have been numbering all of my post topics.

The reason my topics are numbered & all in capitals is they are set up like files so i can periodically deposit ideas & thoughts on certain subjects. I figured these topics wouldn't be hard to find the way they have been indexed.

The key issue with this is that i have limited computer capabilities so it may be a lack of computer experience more than anything else. I will try & use the next film report as the final place for putting any film info.

Conversational topics/ reference material : I realize that my posts are generally more like a newspaper column article & less like a conversation. I figure i have two more months of material i want to talk about & then i plan on relaxing a little with all this. I guess i have become a little obsessed with this stuff lately. I wasn't going to keep doing things like this forever. My friend says i'll burn out at the pace i'm going. I only plan on starting two more topics soon : fembot film & tv part 5 & fembot fantasy part 10.

Unfinished symphonies : Some of these rough ideas only exist in this format. I put them into posts as inspirational material. Sometimes an unfinished drawing can have merit so i thought some might find them entertaining in some way.

A few of these ideas might be incorporated into stories but most will probably remain simply as ideas. I enjoy coming up with ideas but i have too many of them to ever develop into complete story format. It was merely an experiment to see if anyone was interested in sharing incomplete thoughts or something like a brainstorming session.

Capitals : A friend told me to stop writing my email messages in capitals a long time ago. I'm talking about every single word. Since then i've cut down a lot. I actually write like a robot. I print everything in block capitals. This will probably ensure that no one will ever read my handwritten notes.

The only places i have been using capitals are for headlines, lists & topic titles. I can cut these down in the future if this will help. I will keep this in mind when writing posts.

I guess i kind of got carried away with posting since i joined the board. This is the first time i've ever been able to share my ideas on robots with people who are interested in this subject. I'm probably making up for a lifetime of keeping this interest to myself. I was planning on slowing down a little after the first or second months of posting but i suppose i had an overwhelming need to express these ideas & thoughts.

MAGNUS

[keraptis]

I guess i kind of got carried away with posting since i joined the board. This is the first time i've ever been able to share my ideas on robots with people who are interested in this subject. I'm probably making up for a lifetime of keeping this interest to myself. I was planning on slowing down a little after the first or second months of posting but i suppose i had an overwhelming need to express these ideas & thoughts.

Trust me, we understand! NOBODY is asking you to stop expressing your ideas, thoughts, etc. ... whether they are well organized or not.

If you're concerned that a lack of computer skills would prevent you from putting your ideas into a more structured format, don't be. Even if you just use Microsoft Word or any other word processor to make your documents, you can easily save them out as HTML that you (or someone else) can publish on the web. It's a lot easier than you may think!

[MAGNUS]

Actually, i am virtually computer illiterate. I don't have microsoft word & i don't even know what an HTML is at all. I had a good friend of mine set up my computer last summer so aside from turning it on & off & doing a bit of typing i know less than anyone else on the subject.

I will have to keep things the way they are for now as far as where i put my info but i will try to incorporate other suggestions regarding the way i'm doing things. I don't really want to spend even more time than i am already spending at the moment.

The film topics that are missing from the master list don't go on forever. I was hoping to slow down a bit on the time i'm spending doing this as opposed to working on a web page for this stuff. This would mean involving one of my friends to do this work & i don't really want to unnecessarily involve someone else in extra labour. I only ask for help when i can't use the computer like after a virus hit or something. There is a finite list of films i am going to cover since there are not millions of films on robots out there.

MAGNUS

[MAGNUS]

The following is a review of all robot content for the movie Spy Kids.

The robot children are first seen in a sequence in Floop's castle. A robot girl & boy are shown & it is explained that they have super strength but no brains. The eyes light up in the robot boy & Robert Patrick's character is flipped by the robot girl.

Later in the film the villains discuss sending robot kids to catch real, human kids. Robot copies of Carmen & Juni approach their human counterparts in a playground & a scuffle begins. The robot Carmen's eyes glow & Juni pulls off her necklace as she takes the electronic brain from him. The two robots blast off with jets in the bottom of their feet. The necklace reveals that the doubles are limited edition sky kids No. 1 of 500 & are part of an army of robot children created by Floop Industries.

In the main room of the castle one of the villains orders the robot copies of Carmen & Juni to take Floop to the virtual room after examining some of the robot children. In another room a conveyor belt moves with robot children having electronic brains installed as the tops of their heads open up during this procedure. Carmen & Juni follow the army of robot children when they are all ordered to report for loading. The robots' eyes glow when they discover the human kids & chase them thru the castle passageways.

Carmen later sneaks into a robot factory in the lower levels of the castle where the robots that are composed of all thumbs are being assembled. A female robot that is also made up of all thumbs assists another robot by attaching a new hand as Carmen observes from a distance. Gregorio & Ingrid are caught by robot copies of their kids while on their way to the control room before the robot army is programmed.

Carmen & Juni find their parents captured & end up in a standoff with their robot doubles. The robots' eyes glow before the fight begins. The robot Carmen punches the corner of a wall smashing a section out before attacking Juni. Juni uses electroshock bubblegum on robot Carmen to escape her grip. The kids manage to push their robot doubles into the corner of the hallway where they are trapped when the kids use an instant cement device on them. The two robots break free from the web of instant cement & pursue the kids.

Gregorio & Ingrid are with their kids in the main room of the castle when the villains order the approaching robot army to kill the Cortez family. All the robots' eyes glow as they advance but they attack the villains when Floop is successful in reprogramming them from the control room. At the end the cortez family watches the robot children on television performing acts of heroism. Floop is also on tv introducing new characters on his show & the robot copies of Carmen & Juni are seen with their eyes glowing on the tv program.

MAGNUS

[MAGNUS]

War of the Worlds 1988 Tv Series

I am reviewing the fembot content for the 1988 War of the Worlds episode titled : The Angel of Death.

Day 1 : A spacecraft soars to earth & lands bringing with it a mystery woman who knocks out a security guard. She communicates with her alien world telling them she has arrived & is starting her seven day mission.

Day 2 : The mystery woman walks the city streets & follows three men to a parking lot. She knows they are aliens disguised in human bodies & she uses laser beams emanating from her hands to kill them & watch as their bodies dissolve.

Day 3 : Harrison & his team are puzzled over the alien body count in recent days & they all wonder who is responsible. The mystery woman threatens one of the aliens in a human body & asks him the location of the alien leaders. The alien jumps into an elevator shaft & falls to his death rather than being interrogated. The mystery woman once again contacts her alien world.

Day 4 : Harrison & his team investigate the alien death in the elevator shaft & theorize that he jumped to avoid a fate worse than death. The alien leaders in the caverns discuss the new threat & the people who can identify them for their true alien selves. The alien leaders send soldiers on a mission to find out who is responsible for the alien deaths.

The mystery woman approaches three aliens disguised in human female bodies inside the botanical gardens. The mystery woman fires laser beams at each of these women & watches them dissolve. The last one of these women shoots herself rather than being interrogated. The alien leaders continue discussing the menace to them & finding a way to fight back.

Harrison & his team are at the botanical gardens examining an alien's remains & now say the alien body count has doubled. The team is being followed by one of the aliens disguised as a human being. The team analyze lab results from the small crystals & chalky, white outline that surrounded the alien bodies. They determine it is an organic tissue that has been turned into glass & that they are dealing with new players.

Day 5 : The mystery woman communicates with her people about her interrogation methods. Harrison & his team devise a trap for the aliens at a warehouse using a bacterial agent to capture them & make them talk. The alien leaders discuss the trap that the humans have prepared but must go along with it to find out more about the new threat.

Harrison & his team mobilize & prepare the trap while the aliens monitor the team's broadcast signals. The aliens enter the warehouse as lights are turned on & gas is pumped into the room. The mystery woman appears in the smoke & fires laser beams at the aliens. Ironhorse disappears during the battle & the rest of the team thinks he is dead.

Ironhorse awakens hanging upside down looking at the mystery woman. She asks him who he is & then releases him. She questions Ironhorse about his knowledge of the alien leaders. She tells him that she was the only one sent to annihilate the aliens before she begins mind reading Ironhorse.

The alien leaders in the caverns are shown photos of the woman they believe to be the synth that has assumed the shape of a human female. The mystery woman is reading Ironhorse's mind & learns all about earth's war with the aliens & tells him they share a common enemy & she wishes to preserve humanity.

Day 6 : Ironhorse returns to the rest of the team & tells them that the mystery woman is called Q'tara & she is their friend. He further explains that she was sent by peaceful aliens from beyond the stars & she needs their help. Q'tara is leaning at a horizontal angle against a wall with her eyes wide open where Ironhorse had left her.

The aliens use a tracking device to locate the synth & find her in a building. The aliens report back to their leaders who are in the process of transforming humans into host bodies for their own people. Harrison hypnotizes Ironhorse to find out what he has revealed to the synth & they discuss meeting with Q'tara.

Day 7 : Harrison & his team arrive at a building as the aliens monitor them from a distance & wait for reinforcements to arrive. The team greets Q'tara inside the structure & she puts them in a force field to show them her power. She explains that she is their friend & knows all of them after reading Ironhorse's mind. She says she will return in a year but she must leave their world & travel thru the dimensions.

The alien reinforcements arrive & invade the building attacking the synth & Harrison's team. Gunfire is exchanged between the humans & the aliens while Q'tara uses the laser bolts from her hands to destroy the enemy. The aliens use a special weapon on the human woman in Harrison's team with no effect & realize that she is not the synth.

The aliens fire their weapon at Q'tara & hit her in the belly as she destroys them at the same time. Harrison's team have all sustained bullet wounds but the battle is over & all the aliens have been neutralized. Harrison & Ironhorse go over to Q'tara & see the damage caused by the alien weapon. A hole from the laser blast has burned thru Q'tara's outfit & synthetic skin on her belly revealing glowing rods beneath the surface. They realize she is actually an android robot.

Q'tara wraps her arms around her own body & repairs herself in a glowing aura surrounding the damaged area. Q'tara then heals each member of Harrison's team in the same fashion. Q'tara tells them she must leave as Harrison escorts her to the roof of the building. Q'tara communicates with her alien world in a foreign language. She tells them that her mission is incomplete & she must return for reinforcements because humanity as a future food source is still in danger. Q'tara tells Harrison she will return before light completely envelops her in the form of a spaceship & she travels back to her own world.

War of the Worlds 2005 Feature Film

I am personally looking forward to the new version of War of the Worlds. I think i am more interested in this film than i was about the last Star Wars movie. This could be due to all of the hype & media coverage prior to its release. Watching Star Wars Episode III : Revenge of the Sith was anticlimactic because i knew most of the story before i watched the film.

I like the fact that the new version of War of the Worlds hasn't given away too much in all of the trailers & ads. I am very excited about the design of the alien ships. They have gone back to the original novel idea of walking tripod alien machines instead of the flying saucers from the classic 1953 movie. As a side note to all this is the 1982 John Carpenter version of The Thing which is actually more faithful to the original novel than the classic 1951 movie.

MAGNUS