Robots (2005)

Perhaps an inherent consequence of sentience, human beings have an urge to apply their lived experiences to other experiences they witness or fantasize about. In that context, it’s understandable, albeit confusing, why robots throughout fiction have been gendered beings. If they have to be gendered though, I hope future writers follow the blueprint Blue Sky’s Robots!

Robots tells the story of Rodney Copperbottom who joins Bigweld Industries as an innovator. Copperbottom has grown up with stories of Mr. Bigweld, a renowned entrepreneur who advocates for better living conditions for the underprivileged by not gatekeeping new innovations from them. However, Rodney is confronted with a harsh reality, learning that a new man called Ratchet has taken over in place of Bigweld. Ratchet keeps introducing upgrades and is treating older robots without newer parts like they’re scrap metal, melting them to make more upgrade parts which he then sells at exorbitant prices. This capitalist nightmare doesn’t stop Rodney though, and with the help of Fender, his first acquaintance in town, and his friends, he sets out repairing robots so they don’t get melted. This fight leads him to a disillusioned Bigweld, who he ends up inspiring. Finally, with the help of Bigweld, and his new group of friends, Rodney leads the revolution which results in Ratchet being overthrown.

On the face of it, Robots is an anti-capitalist comedy. But delve a little deeper, and you’ll realize it deconstructs gender. The most obvious reference to a transgender existence is the story of Fender, who when trying to escape from being melted, replaces his lost lower body part with a piece which turns out to be originally intended for a female robot. Fender literally goes through a sex change operation so to speak! A fun bit of trivia for the film nerds reading this, he was voiced by none other than Mrs. Doubtfire himself, Robin Williams. So, in the universe of Robots where parts are detachable and not romanticized, bodies are endlessly modifiable.

I can’t help but wonder how liberating it would be to have such an existence if you suffer from body dysmorphia. You could keep replacing your parts with others to build for yourself the ideal body. This would be a dream benefit for cisgender and transgender people alike. Fender and the other robots live in such a dream world! I wouldn’t go so far as to diagnose him with body dysmorphia, but even though he was confident in his male form, he’s more flamboyant and noticeably less clumsy in his female form. There’s a fight sequence where Fender dances to Britney Spears’ “…Baby One More Time” and takes out a bunch of Ratchet’s minions. I dare you to find me a more queer moment than a fight set to Britney, effectively a moment of awakening and coming out. There are also more subtle elements of the allegory beginning with Rodney himself. When he was a kid, his parents used to get him newer parts on his birthday to suit his age, and they were all hand-me-downs from his cousin/sister because they had a similar build and new parts were too expensive to afford. Robots challenges gender norms right from the get-go.