head 2 head

In this new column, we sit Megan Merino and Kevin Fullerton down in front of a contentious bit of current culture and ask them to say yay or nay. And also write 200 words each on it. Here is what they thought of horror robot TikTok juggernaut M3gan. Next time, we’ll try and get them to analyse something that almost looks like ‘Kevin’ . . .

M2GAN

If you’re familiar with the story of Frankenstein et al, then the plot of M3gan is as see-through as a wet white t-shirt. A genius roboticist invents an AI doll that inevitably outsmarts its creator and begins ‘fulfilling its objective function’ way too intensely. Naturally, chaos ensues, blood is splattered and spilt, blah blah blah.

As a camp comedy thriller, M3gan is a chuckle-inducing piece of entertainment. And sure, the murky undercurrent of tech-addiction rings true. But the very ‘sci-fi’ idea that artificial intelligence could really bite us in our hiney is hardly ground-breaking stuff. Why, then, is M3gan already a pop-culture phenomenon?

My guess is the film successfully hit numerous key cultural touchpoints before its release: it birthed its own TikTok trend from a short (mind-boggling) dance scene featured in the trailer, was already turned into Halloween costumes last October, and was more latterly the subject of its own SNL sketch. In a highly ironic marketing strategy, M3gan used the beast of social media to embed itself into public consciousness, without the need to build a cult following like the numerous films it’s satirising. Though like any flash-in-the-pan trend, I imagine it won’t stand the test of time.

KEVIN

Like any good-thinking person enduring the 2020s, I’ve grown deeply suspicious of technology. I think social media is a cancer, that our attachment to mobile phones is creating a world of socially stultified misfits, and that having an Alexa in your home is like inviting the Stasi to take notes at your next revolutionary meeting. I’d get on well with the makers of M3gan, then, who’ve distilled the dystopias of Black Mirror into a campy tech satire.

Every character in Blumhouse’s murderdoll killztravaganza is hooked on the endorphin-producing stupefaction of electronic devices. Awkward men are caught ‘Pornhubbing at work’, kids are hypnotised by the bright colours of predatory apps, and hyper-intelligent roboticists are tasked with inventing knock-off junk to perpetuate contemporary society’s idiotic carousel. The generative AI M3gan is emblematic of this; uncannily real, addictive for the kids that interact with her, and fatal to all that cross her path.

A sequel is already in the works for M3gan, which seems a shame. Two films in and this sharp slice of popcorn culture will inevitably be reduced to the cheesy parody of the Chucky and Leprechaun franchises. Until that happens, this is late-night entertainment doling out harsh truths about the modern world.