Experiencing the Posthuman: the Cinematic Clone in the 21st Century

Abstract

The clone, especially in its audiovisual version, has often been treated as a marginalized being and its body understood as a repository of violence and pain, especially since its mere existence has traditionally been subjected to maintaining the integrity of the ‘original’ human body. This is visible in films in which we observe the figure of the clone treated in ways contrary to the critical posthumanism postulated by Braidotti, Ferrando or Vint, among others. The Island (2005), Never Let me Go (2010) or the animated series World of Tomorrow (2015, 2017, 2020) make us reflect on our responsibility toward the consequences of certain uses of biomechanical technology. A process of social denunciation is carried out through the emphasis that these films give to posthuman subjectivity, and thus these clones show their concerns and make viewers participants in their marginalized experience. Viewers see life from their perspective, we share their biological consciousness and their very existence leads us to reflection and denunciation