Cyborg cinema : an emergence of the non-normative imagination

• Main Author: Zahira Hayati Mohamed Amin
• Other Authors: Brian Bergen-Aurand
• Format: Theses and Dissertations
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Literature::English; DRNTU::Humanities::Literature::American; DRNTU::Visual arts and music::Film
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/64834
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

There is a stigma attached to disability. Disabled folks are generally thought to be less abled because of their impairment and often, society defines the person based on their impairment. What society has failed to realise is that this stigma that it attaches to disabled people is baseless and highly misinformed. It is a prejudice that is borne out of an enforced normalcy, a false perpetuation of what it means to be human such as having the qualities of strength and independence. Vulnerability and dependence on something other than oneself is seen as a weakness and weakness is normatively socially undesirable. In the recent years, there is an increased production of cyborg films. The notion of the human-machine hybrid has persisted since the 1980s with Blade Runner and the Terminator series. And today, society continues to find interest in the world of cyborgs proven by the support given to blockbusters like the Iron Man series and the latest remake of RoboCop. Even though cyborg films typically portray a bleak future, the fact that more of such films are being produced shows the extent of the demand for them. While spectators may fear the chaos and destruction that may befall them, they remain to be attracted to these concepts. This is the complexity of the filmic gaze. It consists of the simultaneous repulsion and attraction towards an object. Cyborg Cinema: An Emergence of the Non-Normative Imagination brings two fields, Film Theory and Disability Studies, together to demystify disability as socially unconstructive and suggest a way for society to spur a change to the attitudes able-bodied people have regarding disabled folks in order to achieve an inclusive society that embraces the diversity of differently abled persons.