Anyone else old enough to remember Short Circuit? A 1986 family comedy about a military drone turned into a mechanised hipster by a lightening strike, Frankenstein style. The 1988 follow-up was one of those rare sequels that's as good as the original, if not better.
In hindsight, Neill Blomkamp's Chappy (2015) borrows as heavily from Short Circuit as it does from the Robocop franchise. All 3 are coming of age stories for sentient robots.
(1/2)
In hindsight, Short Circuit's Jonny 5 appealed to me because their onscreen experiences - like those of Spock and Data - were so relatable to me, an #autistic person navigating a world run by and for allistics.
Jonny doesn't want to return to the military, or even fight off the street thugs who menace them, and doesn't understand why anyone would. They just want to live ("no disassemble Jonny 5!"), make friends, read encyclopedias, and explore a wondrous and mysterious world.
(2/2)
Strypey