Being Bionic: The World of TV Cyborgs (Investigating Cult TV)

The contradictions & complexities of the cyborg therefore hold particular appeal to program makers of dramatic TV narratives. Bronwen Calvert examines the uses & representations of the cyborg in this ground-breaking text, by looking at its frequent appearance in a wide variety of popular & cult shows: from the iconic Daleks of Doctor Who & bionic female empowerment in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, to the duality of humanoid & distinctly robotic cyborgs in Battlestar Galactica. In doing so, she reveals how television's defining traits shape our experience of cyborgs & help us as viewers to question contemporary issues such as surveillance & terrorism, as well as the function of simulation & ultimately what it means to be human.Bronwen Calvertis an associate lecturer with the Open University in theNorth of England. Her research looks at embodiment in fantasy & science fiction narratives, with particular focus on cyberpunk fiction &the‘cult’ female action hero of television.TheInvestigating Cult TVseries is a fresh forum for discussion &debate about thechanging nature of cult television. It sets out to reconsider cult television &its intricatenetworks of fandom by inviting authors to rethink how cult TV is conceived, produced,programmed &consumed. It will also challenge traditional distinctions between cult&quality TV.Offering an accessible path through the intricacies &pleasures of cult TV, the books inthis series will interest scholars, students &fans alike. They will include close studies ofindividual contemporary TV shows. They will also reconsider genres at the heart ofcult programming, such as science fiction, horror &fantasy, as well as genres like teenTV, animation &reality TV when these have strong claims to cult status. Books will alsoexamine themes or trends that are key to the past, present &future of cult television. Cover Author bio Endorsement Series Page Title page Copyright information Table of contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Troubled Boundaries and Transformative Cyborgs Cyborg History Cyborg Manifesto Cyborg Corporeality Cyborg Gender Cyborg Virtuality Cyborg Television 1 Exterminate, Upgrade: Doctor Who Inside/Outside: Doctor Who’s Technological Monsters Anything for an Upgrade: ‘Rise of the Cybermen’/ ‘Age of Steel’ ‘It was a woman’: Experience of Cyborg Embodiment Who is the Monster?: Going Into the Dalek ‘Remember me’: ‘Asylum of the Daleks’ ‘I gave them back their souls’: Individuality and the Cyborg ‘When we talked’: the TARDIS as Cyborg 2 Resistance, Assimilation and the Collective: Star Trek: The Next Generation and Voyager Locutus of Borg: Embodiment on the Technological Borderline Seven of Nine: Embodiment as Borg, Embodiment as Female Community and Collective: Cyborg and Non-Cyborg Connections Cyborg Monstrosity: ‘Unimatrix Zero’ Re-assimilating the Cyborg: Seven of Nine as Parent and as Child 3 Toasters and Replicas: Battlestar Galactica The Cylon Centurions: Muscular Cyborgs Cylon Raiders: Machine, Animal, Cyborg Cylon Resurrection: Doubles, Duplicates and the Uncanny Humanoid Cylons: Cyborg Femininity and the Femme Fatale Reproduction and Hybridity Hybridity and a Cyborg Future 4 ‘Between Life and Death’: Embodiment and Virtuality in Caprica Virtual Space and Cyborg Identity A Cyborg Dances: Zoe-A as Cylon/Cyborg Making a Place in Virtual Space: Life and Death in V-World How to Live a Virtual Life: Apotheosis and Grace ‘The Shape of Things to Come’: Cyborgs, Corporeality, Virtuality 5 The Cyborg as Action Hero: Bionic Woman The Bionic Body and Cyborg Physicality ‘I’m losing control again’: Sarah Corvus, the First Bionic Woman ‘Fifty million dollars’ worth of my property’: Power and Control Bionics, Prostheses and Disability 6 Us and Them: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ‘Come with me if you want to live’: Cinematic Cyborgs Move to Television Versions of Female (Cyborg) Embodiment Cyborg Embodiment: the Muscular Cyborg and the (Female) Action Hero Television Terminators and Visual Spectacle Terminators, Cyborgs and Emotional Intelligence John Henry: Cyborg as Child ‘The answer is yes’: Rethinking Them and Us 7 Hacking the System: Dollhouse Taking Apart the Mind and the Body ‘Hack the system’: Creating a Cyborg Doll/Active Simulations, Dolls and Cyborgs ‘Tell me I know who I am’: Simulated Identities and the Self ‘The real deal’: Sierra/Priya and the Struggle for Authenticity Return of the Imprints: Creating a Cyborg Identity 8 Complete Control: Fringe ‘Do Shapeshifters Dream of Electric Sheep?’: Cyborg Embodiment and Intertextuality The Sympathetic Cyborg Technological Affinity and Cyborg Transformation ‘You don’t even know what you don’t know’: Peter and Observer Technology Humanity through Hybridity, Again Conclusion: Cyborg Futures Notes Chapter 1: Exterminate, Upgrade: Doctor Who Chapter 2: Resistance, Assimilation and the Collective: Star Trek: The Next Generation and Voyager Chapter 3: Toasters and Replicas: Battlestar Galactica Chapter 4: ‘Between Life and Death’: Embodiment and Virtuality in Caprica Chapter 5: The Cyborg as Action Hero: Bionic Woman Chapter 6: Us and Them: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Chapter 7: Hacking the System: Dollhouse Chapter 8: Complete Control: Fringe Filmography and TV Film Television Bibliography Index "The cyborg - an organic body augmented with technology - is an enduring figure that can be found across science fiction stories, novels, films, and, more recently, television. What can its marked presence in cult TV shows tell us about the rapidly changing world we live in, and indeed about the human condition? This book explored how the image of the cyborg attracts our fears and fascinations. These bionic creations encourage us, as viewers, to think about our interactions with technology in an age of immediacy and surveillance, reassess our own corporeal experiences, and re-imagine gender binaries and racial differences. Chapters draw together cyborg theory and criticism from science fiction and television studies to analyse a variety a popular series. From Doctor Who to Stor Trek: Voyager, and Battlestar Galactica to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the cyborg appears as action hero, villain, or as a reflection of ourselves. Whether manifested in the Daleks, the Cylons, or the Borg, these figures are ideal sites to explore concepts such as replication, uniformly, performance, embodiment and virtuality, and the serial narratives of cult TV offer the ideal format to analyse changing cyborg representations over time. This book uses the televisual medium as a tool to understand a range of cybernetic characters, forming a notable event in a growing field that will delight scholars and fans of futuristic television alike."-- Provided by publisher The cyborg - an organic body augmented with technology - is an enduring figure that can be found across science fiction stories, novels, films, and, more recently, television. What can its marked presence in cult TV shows tell us about the rapidly changing world we live in, and indeed about the human condition? This book explored how the image of the cyborg attracts our fears and fascinations. These bionic creations encourage us, as viewers, to think about our interactions with technology in an age of immediacy and surveillance, reassess our own corporeal experiences, and re-imagine gender binaries and racial differences. Chapters draw together cyborg theory and criticism from science fiction and television studies to analyse a variety a popular series. From Doctor Who to Stor Trek: Voyager, and Battlestar Galactica to Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the cyborg appears as action hero, villain, or as a reflection of ourselves. Whether manifested in the Daleks, the Cylons, or the Borg, these figures are ideal sites to explore concepts such as replication, uniformly, performance, embodiment and virtuality, and the serial narratives of cult TV offer the ideal format to analyse changing cyborg representations over time. This book uses the televisual medium as a tool to understand a range of cybernetic characters, forming a notable event in a growing field that will delight scholars and fans of futuristic television alike. Book jacket Technologically-enhanced human bodies can be the stuff of dreams, but also of nightmares. The contradictions and complexities of the cyborg therefore hold particular appeal to programme makers of dramatic TV narratives. Bronwen Calvert examines the uses and representations of the cyborg in this ground-breaking text, by looking at its frequent appearance in a wide variety of popular and cult shows: from the iconic Daleks of Doctor Who and bionic female empowerment in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, to the duality of humanoid and distinctly robotic cyborgs in Battlestar Galactica. In doing so, she reveals how television's defining traits shape our experience of cyborgs and help us as viewers to question contemporary issues such as surveillance and terrorism, as well as the function of simulation and ultimately what it means to be human.