Sci-fi genre and sociohistorical context

Allegory- a media product that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one- a media product that has a hidden meaning. e.g. animal farm

Zeitgeist- the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time. Something that defines the times 

An example of an allegory would be Godzilla (Japan 1950), which is an allegory for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The monster represents America, and the fact that he is a mutated species represents the nuclear/toxic waste and the way that it was unnatural and inhuman. once America had overtaken Japan they made them become more left wing and westernised. 

Zeitgeist examples:
All examples are sci-fi films

Invasion of the saucer men (USA1957): cold war (USA and the Soviet union)

Independence day (USA 1996): Global terrorism- associated with the middle east- the war against terror- white house represents America and everything that it stands for. 


Humans sci-fi conventions:

• blue eyes
• the use of the word 'synth'
• theme tune- computer generated
• robotic speech 
• robotic head movements
• electronic sound effects - when the synth is turned on 
• clean mise-en-scene  
• very stiff, awkward and upright posture
• themes of artificial intelligence
• clean blue mise-en-scene 
• synths stand out 
• the use of robot

Allegorical aspects of 'HUMANS':

• sexualisation 
• sexual exploitation
• modern slavery
• capitalism and the nuclear family
• prostitution and the rights of sex workers
• racism

Capitalism and the nuclear family:

within 'humans' we can see that the father of the family seems stressed and overwhelmed by the housework. He then buys a female synth, making it once again a nuclear family while the mother is away. he is not a stereotypical man of the household.When the mother (Laura)  also sees Anita with the child she gets protective of her and this challenges the audience to think about what makes people human and the family relationships of the people. the synths make life convenient, and this makes people want to buy them and it is a very profitable business. There is also the aspect that they synths are being used to make a profit, for example in the tomato farm and the synths that are used in order to be carers for the elderly.

• sex robots are actually a real life thing- which people are trying to ban- considered ethically wrong as they are a representation of humans- could lead to boundaries and expectations being changed- linked to the cultivation theory - it cultivates the ideology that sex is purely for pleasure, and also that sex has little boundaries or foundations in real love.
• The show is also about pornography- when the son first sees Anita
• Linked to modern slavery- when Anita is in the warehouse it is like what would happen at a slave market
• exploitation- encoded through the way that the synths have been programmed to do all the housework for the family when they aren't getting anything out of it like money-you can also turn off their pain 

Laura meets Anita scene:

Laura is visibly annoyed that her husband has brought a synth

slow zoom on Anita and Laura's face which emphasises Laura's annoyance- also creates a contrast between them- shot reverse shot they're the opposite of each other- Laura is older, and english,  Anita is younger, east asian - the mise- en- scene shows Anita has been cleaning emphasising her role in the house