HASS Lecture: A Living Doll?

Western culture has been obsessed with winsome near human figures since pre-history.

In the middle ages punch and judy manically beat people to death; young people are taught to nurture using dolls; puppets like Howdy Doody and Charlie McCarthy were the rage at mid-century; cartoon figures Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, and Hanna Barbara cartoon families (The Flintstones, Jetson, Top Cat) ruled sixties television.

But more malevolent versions of proto-people have emerged including Chucky from Child’s Play; Annabelle, the cursed doll from The Conjuring; and the renegade robots from Channel 4’s Humans (and Swedish TV’s Real Humans).

There are the proto-people of The Sims and other video games and, of course, the ubiquitous allure of Barbie, The Cabbage Patch Kids, and the American Girl series of dolls. Wax figures and mannequins still provoke fear when passing a quiet mall window.

Join Professor Lenig on a ghastly journey into the dark world of puppets, dolls and the near-human.

In-person: Library 205

Zoom: https://columbiastate.zoom.us/j/3416150757
Meeting ID: 341 615 0757