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My thought when I was reading it was that Murderbot is a stand in for people on the autism spectrum. This is an unusual viewpoint in literature and probably re
by jandrese 2y ago
My thought when I was reading it was that Murderbot is a stand in for people on the autism spectrum. This is an unusual viewpoint in literature and probably resonated with a lot of people in a similar situation. I personally liked the stories and will read the next installment when it comes out, but found myself gravitating more towards ART than Murderbot. If I had any quibbles it would be how the living people are underdeveloped and sometimes no better than background furniture. This naturally arises from the viewpoint of the protagonist, but can be somewhat annoying to the reader.
- giraffe_lady 2y agoIt seems to have a lot of resonance with trans people too. I'm autistic but there's enough overlap between the two groups that I've noticed how people in both communities react to the series.
- the_af 2y agoOne thing I found cool about Murderbot is that there's no implication "it" is of any particular gender. I'm a man, so I went in with my prejudices and automatically assumed Murderbot is a "he". When reading a review that considered it a "she", I re-read most of it and there's no single indication of its gender, if Murderbot even assumes one. I found that interesting, kind of like that trick Ursula K. Le Guin pulled when she didn't tell her readers Ged from Earthsea was dark skinned.
- jandrese 2y agoI read murderbot as androgynous. I’m pretty sure they even mention how there are no reproductive organs because why would a SecUnit have that? There is even a story where Murderbot befriends a sexbot and feels glad not to have to deal with that sort of complicated hardware. There are parts of the story where Murderbot passes as either a man or a woman so I figure the body shape must be fairly neutral.
- shepherdjerred 2y agoI’m pretty sure Murderbot explicitly doesn’t have a gender
- disgruntledphd2 2y ago> I'm a man, so I went in with my prejudices and automatically assumed Murderbot is a "he". When reading a review that considered it a "she", I re-read most of it and there's no single indication of its gender, if Murderbot even assumes one. Wow, I've only read the first one, but definitely considered Murderbot a she (even though I'm male). Hmmmm....
- fennecbutt 2y agoMurderbot definitely comes off as a she in many of the interactions, imo. Though I'm a gay man so what do I know.
- giraffe_lady 2y agoI don't think it's fair to call that a trick of Le Guin's. She does tell the reader the first time it's relevant, which is fairly early on. In any case it's explicit in the text. Which is very different from the sort post facto declarations other fantasy authors have made about their characters in response to fandom theories, which does feel sly to me.
- the_af 2y agoYeah, on second thought I don't think it's fair either. I didn't mean "trick" in a derogatory sense. In fact I was praising Le Guin! I do think it's unquestionable that she was purposefully subverting and playing with the standard expectations of fantasy novels written by white and male authors. I think Martha Wells does a bit of the same with her depiction of both Murderbot as well as -- in general -- the role of women in her series. In particular Dr. Mensah impressed me: she's fair, intelligent, and in charge. She's not an action hero nor does she know her way around extreme violence, yet she's not downplayed as incompetent or lost (arguably after overcoming some initial naivete); in fact she's possibly the most competent character (in things other than killing people, of course).
- Maxamillion96 2y agoI was the opposite, when reading the novels I always felt a female vibe from murderbot so when the news came out about the tv series and the actor that was chosen to portray them it kinda shocked me and forced me to wonder why i assumed that.