When Devices Turn Daughters

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Small Wonder's greatest flaw and squandered potential was in failing to present this question in a semi-dramatic fashion. Rather than touch the ramifications of a life-like non-human in the household, the series took a tangent on the lighthearted sitcom route and forsaked its potential of being one of the most introspective sci-fi series on TV. What made this show's premise different was that it initially set out for a technologically accurate portrayal of a contemporary domestic aide gynoid robot were the nation's current full industrial resources brought to bear in building one. V.I.C.I. (here, my blanket term for all domestic robots like Vicki) is far from being a futuristic sentient being, far from even having the feelings or mind of a toad, yet her effect can be just as powerful on those in her orbit as any human child. Of all genres and premises, television and science fiction has yet to exploit the niche which Small Wonder carved in robots in sociological sci-fi.

That a robot like Vicki would alter the rhythm of a family is undeniable, far beyond how the introduction of a cat or dog subtly changes the mood, day-by-day routine, duties and expenses of a family. Because of 1980s speculative market research, household androids not only won't resemble metallic space creatures but nor like semi-real overgrown dolls since they'd have to appear as human as possible otherwise any less natural likeness would appear too bizarre and eerie for aesthetic and family-friendliness acceptance. (Read the physical side of this in Sex, Gender and Robots). Behaviorally, a real-life V.I.C.I. (as idealistically depicted in Vicki On Dunahue) would likely resemble a taciturn, very reserved, somewhat slow-witted though zealously obedient child, but programmed enough non-verbal human characteristics so not to pose an unnaturally stoic social interface with the family. Like Vicki, it's its "human fidelity" and nearly perfect human perception to the household that will dramatically alter the sociodynamics of a family, and en masse, even society.

Because of this physical fidelity, you are presenting into the household the seeming person of a lovely child whose presence can't simply be subjectively regarded or dismissed as a pretty vacuum cleaner or washing machine. Even though the robot's performance is basically taciturn and stilted, its sheer physical effect of a real child will doubtlessly alter the family's perception of it. Exactly what happens to a family with a V.I.C.I. in the house is open to conjecture, but it's safe to say that any parallels with pets are inappropriate and misleading. In Small Wonder, the robot is in the form of a pretty 10-year-old girl, which is very close to the market research ideal as also suggested by the show's fan mail from senior citizens, mothers, and fathers ; a form that cannot be readily dismissed as a mere household device or even an animal. The situation becomes even more complex and volatile when brothers and step-children enter the equation.

The best real-world indication of what effect a true domestic aide android robot in the house would have on its immediate users are the examples of chimpanzees raised within human families. A bonding takes place with successful enough toilet training and table manners and sharing many traits with Man to heighten expectations of near-human behavior and comprehensions of social rules with the baby chimp. However, nature usurps when their human indoctrination begins to falter and they start swinging from the rafters. Nevertheless, such are the closest non-human domestic situations that exist in the real world and the family's emotional bonding with the primate is nearly as deep as with a human being, with as nearly vehement ties of possessiveness to a human child. On the other hand, though lacking spontaneous expressions or intimate humanity, a V.I.C.I.'s sheer life-like effect would gradually induce such a bonding, all the more deeper because she's been preprogrammed the art and mechanics of dealing with the vagaries of simple human relationships. Unlike a chimp or dog or cat, V.I.C.I. could "comprehend" human need and desire and requirements to anticipate them in the service of its domestic aide functions. V.I.C.I. learns and knows the particular personality structures of the household members and their individual likes and dislikes and idiosyncrasiesn in order to best serve those users with the least interference and social friction. Ironically, on the the other hand, it's quite likely that the reverse will occur as the family makes non-industrial demands on a robot that's too obvious and comely and cute to ignore puttering around the house.

Small Wonder only lightly touches this aspect with Joan's treatment of Vicki beyond a household utility but more as a pseudodaughter. She bakes cakes with Vicki, does laundry, sews, gardens and does her school lesson plans with Vicki, the back of her mind knowing Vicki is but an appliance but not allowing fact to get in the way of the pleasure of the fancy of a real daughter. It's basically a harmless delusion, but Joan is sowing a deadly weed in that rose garden by playing up to her wistful illusion, though Small Wonder's producers shied the countless dramas of the consequences. We get a taste of how deep her attachment's become in "Class Comedienne" when Joan grieves over Vicki's accidentally erased memory "feeling like I lost a real child." It's understandable: In her years in the household, Vicki's acquired a database of all of Joan's personal particulars, habits and feelings and how to deftly attend them, whether in a domestic task or passively "listening" (though not necessarily comprehending) to Joan's occasional homilies. Unlike a dog or a cat, in a far truer fashion Vicki becomes a totally attentive and coherent confidential companion to whom Joan can trust her innermost thoughts and fantasies and pines because Vicki can actually forward recommendations (however flawed) or a provide an interactive catharsis for Joan's feelings. In a sense, Vicki is "better than a dream" in resolving one's troubles because the solution comes from outside one's limited inner universe. That most people prefer ATM machines over human bank tellers to conduct one of civilization's most holy transactions gives us a hint of how much and willing we might be to entrust our private feelings and confidences to a machine.

It's not at all wild to imagine family competition for the home android's time in personal domestic service or private "heart-to-CPU" sessions to unload one's burden or beefs on a passive and attentive party. There might incur family squabbles pertaining to the "proper use" of the android, bringing up operating rules one would never avail with say, a washing machine, and some family members, such as brothers, might even be restricted from private use altogether with all the slinging incriminations and bitter protests that'd bring forth. Mothers and grandparents might balk at their husbands and sons "mistreating" their little V.I.C.I.s in helping out with strenuous tasks and dangerous projects. Daughters might find themselves happily sharing clothes and doing makeovers on their cybernetic babysitter/guardian/homework tutor "chambermaid", then one day even finding themselves resenting them for the new attention their parents give them.

Near the series close, the Lawsons become so attached to regarding Vicki as one of their own that they've not only bought her a nearly full wardrobe (and almost a bedroom) but take her along on trips, even if it means extra airfare and hotel bills. Again, Vicki is more than merely a personal valet and confidant along who also does windows, and though their human senses know that in reality there's "no one home", that no true mind or soul dwells Vicki's head, her familiar cozy, humorous and comely effect more than compensates for this elementary lack of humanity. A handy maid, a family mascot, a slightly "retarded" adopted child, take your pick or the combination of which, but the owning family would almost certainly retort any mention that V.I.C.I. is merely a machine, just like the family dog called "just another mutt."

What's most sublime and disturbing in Small Wonder is that Vicki is so mentally primitive (A.I.-speaking) yet generates the kind of emotions and possessiveness from her owner-family usually reserved for other human beings if not at least a dog. The question is whether in achieving the idealized materialization of the home android that people will be submitting their secrets and hearts and fancies to a machine rather than with one another. It will be very interesting when technology gets to the point when a future V.I.C.I. will possess true voluntary decision faculties to elect not to wash the dishes or darn Jamie's socks.

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