Do Robots Dream of Slaughtering Electric Sheep?

Do Robots Dream of Slaughtering Electric Sheep?

Of course not. I mean, we all know that's not in the three laws, right? Well in any event, there's this short film, roughly 12 minutes long, about the timeless classic story between a Boy and his toy Robot Blinky™. Blinky™ is happy to do what ever is asked....

I guess the lesson here is just be careful at what you ask for.....

Blinky™ from Ruairi Robinson on Vimeo.

I really loved all the subtle futuristic details that were laid out throughout the short. Not to mention the really abrupt ending. It looked like there was going to be some kind of hide-and-seek-themed chase involved with that final shot, but I liked the suddenness that it got to even better.

The restraint that made everything before the dinner scene so good just vanished at the end there. It was as if the director was knocked out by Sam Raimi and shoved in a closet with two minutes to go and bam! Evil Dead time.

Did they really have to show those last five seconds or so of it? I mean.. they didn't have to spell it out anymore than they had leading up to it. We get it, the stupid kid actor from Where the Wild Things Are gave the robot a command that wasn't suppose to be taken literally.

Though I do like how his mother also inadvertently gave the command on his fate. But they really didn't have to show the shower of blood like that. The robot closing the door slowly as the officers walked in would have been creepy enough.

But then again, I did laugh pretty wildly at the way that Blinky said "I recycled him. I cleaned him, and cooked him, for dinner. You're eating him!" with such glee. Oh that poor little robot. All he ever wanted was to be friends.

I have to say though, I do find the robot to be creepy all in its own. Mainly for the same reason that dolphins, Clowns and huge smiles mask are creepy as fuck. It's that they aren't really actually smiling. It's just the shape or image of a person smiling and you're just interpreting it as a smile. It has nothing to do with what is going on inside their head.

All those items that have a forced/forever smile on their face are just creepy as fuck if you really think about it. And for that this Blinky Robot is just really freaky.

But then again, that's what makes this short piece all that much better.