Buffybot

Joshua

Huge Spuffy Fan!
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Did anybody else feel sad for the Buffybot? The Scooby Gang is forcing "Her" to be the real Buffy Summers.

Kinda sad imo.
 
Why would that be sad? It's an imitation of Buffy. Passing it off as the real Buffy until they bring her back from the dead fulfills the robot's purpose better than using her as sex bot, in my opinion.
 
brinkster130
brinkster130
[No message]
Nope. Buffybot is a robot. It doesn't have real feelings, only programmes. We see that as complex as it is, the functions are limited to carrying out commands and programmes to simulate an actual being. It's not really an AI like... Cortana in Halo, for example.

ETA: Also, she's programmed to be Buffy. It's not like they're making her pretend to be Cordelia or whatever. Her purpose is to be the Slayer.
 
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Abbeycat
Abbeycat
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Did I feel sad? Nope. They only used her as the Slayer so that her enemies wouldn't know that she's gone. They didn't 'force' her to 'be' the real Buffy. They only used her at night.
 
Nope. Buffybot is a robot. It doesn't have real feelings, only programmes. We see that as complex as it is, the functions are limited to carrying out commands and programmes to simulate an actual being.

(This is something that I was reminded of from a similar question from another one of my favorite shows, "Star Trek: The Next Generation.")

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PMlDidyG_I"]Measure of a Man - YouTube[/ame]

Like that show, "Buffy, The Vampire Slayer" is a work of pure fantasy, but since they ARE both fantasy, I see no difference in believing that demons and vampires, or Vulcans and Klingons exist than I do in believing that, within the parameters and limitations of those two universes, as well as others with that same theme, robots and androids do exist. Also, I have no problem in feeling a degree of sadness at their demise.

I also got kinda choked up when Arnie was lowered into that vat of molten steel at the end of "Terminator 2."
 
(This is something that I was reminded of from a similar question from another one of my favorite shows, "Star Trek: The Next Generation.")

Measure of a Man - YouTube

Like that show, "Buffy, The Vampire Slayer" is a work of pure fantasy, but since they ARE both fantasy, I see no difference in believing that demons and vampires, or Vulcans and Klingons exist than I do in believing that, within the parameters and limitations of those two universes, as well as others with that same theme, robots and androids do exist. Also, I have no problem in feeling a degree of sadness at their demise.

I also got kinda choked up when Arnie was lowered into that vat of molten steel at the end of "Terminator 2."

Ah, TNG... I am on Data's side in that case. But the Buffybot (and similarly, the Aprilbot) in BtVS is far less advanced than Star Trek. I say this is because of what we see when we see things from their POV: files and programme lists; open this when he says that etc. Like I said in my previous post, Buffybot is not a true AI like Cortana, so I don't feel sorry for her.
 
I wouldn't put it quite as harshly as [MENTION=11313]funsmiley[/MENTION] but essentially the bots as built in BtVS were created with specific perameters in mind, to perform certain tasks and 'functions'. Unlike Data in TNG they were not given the capacity to learn and try to become more human.

Her primary function was to pretend to be Buffy and that is what she did. Nothing more, nothig less.
 
F
funsmiley
yeah, that's a better way to put it. :)
D
dexeded
[No message]
[MENTION=11853]Jodast[/MENTION] yeah i was a bit harsh, but i really didn't see much point in the buffy bot, to me she was just a thing to scare off vamps.
 
Jodast
Jodast
I agree with you :)
I could pretty much agree with all of the "dumb bimbo sex toy machine" thing if it weren't for the scene where Willow is repairing the Buffybot and she asks, "Why doesn't Spike like me anymore?" I can't see any reason why anything like that would have been a part of any program that either Warren or Willow would have written. No mere machine would either register or wonder why it was being "liked" or not. April never asked why Warren left her. She never asked whether or not he liked her. She just asked where he was. That's programming, certainly, but for the Buffybot to both recognize and show genuine curiosity about why Spiked didn't like her anymore, not why he didn't want to shag her anymore, which would be more or less expected as a residual program for what is basically a very elaborate, animated sex toy, is something else entirely. That is the beginning of self awareness. She might not be a genius, she might not even be on an emotional level with the average imbecile, but the Buffybot was beginning to show awareness of her surroundings beyond any degree of programming. She might not be Data, or Cortana, whoever that is, but she is definitely beginning to become self aware.
 
I felt more sorry for the Scoobies than the robot. The robot was just that, a robot. No human qualities whatsoever. But how the Scoobies, particularly Dawn, reacted to it was pretty sad. Like how Dawn cuddled next to the Buffybot in bed. 🙁
 
brinkster130
brinkster130
[No message]
Im not saying she was completely pointless, i just watched a few episodes with her in and i still stand by my original comment BUT having just watched it i can see she played a bit more of a part.

the scene where she is torn apart and dawn sees her and she's like

Dawn. You're my sister Dawn.
Where did I go?
DAWN
What?
BUFFYBOT
Where did I go? I was here. Here.
But then I ran away.
DAWN
I don't ...
BUFFYBOT
(computing).
No. Not me. The other Buffy.

seems she was more then just a buffybot.
 
I don't know if I felt sad for "her" so much as I did for the rest of the Scoobies (after losing the real Buffy) through her. You could see pretty easily how heartbroken and shattered they all were, and seeing them have to use this robot that looks exactly like Buffy in order to keep the demon world of Sunnydale in check was pretty sad. In that respect, I thought she was great.

But reading some of the answers above mine, she did seem to be a bit more than just a robot. It was sad seeing her get ripped apart and just not able to understand what was happening.
 
brinkster130
brinkster130
[No message]
I didn't feel sad for her I did feel sorry for the scoobies they use the bot to help them with demons and make sure the town didn't go crazy, but you can tell when they looked at her they felt hurt, I remember when my friend die and I saw photos of them it killed me inside so did the scoobies when they saw the buffybot. I do feel sad when she is torned up in season 6 and says that speech to Dawn. I felt sorry for Warrens robot girlfriend though
 
I could pretty much agree with all of the "dumb bimbo sex toy machine" thing if it weren't for the scene where Willow is repairing the Buffybot and she asks, "Why doesn't Spike like me anymore?" I can't see any reason why anything like that would have been a part of any program that either Warren or Willow would have written. No mere machine would either register or wonder why it was being "liked" or not. April never asked why Warren left her. She never asked whether or not he liked her. She just asked where he was. That's programming, certainly, but for the Buffybot to both recognize and show genuine curiosity about why Spiked didn't like her anymore, not why he didn't want to shag her anymore, which would be more or less expected as a residual program for what is basically a very elaborate, animated sex toy, is something else entirely. That is the beginning of self awareness. She might not be a genius, she might not even be on an emotional level with the average imbecile, but the Buffybot was beginning to show awareness of her surroundings beyond any degree of programming. She might not be Data, or Cortana, whoever that is, but she is definitely beginning to become self aware.

She wasn't just a sexbot; she was a girlfriend. That's what Warren said. That's what he programmed both the Aprilbot and Buffybot to be. She wondered why Spike didn't like her anymore because her function is to please Spike. I don't think it was 'genuine curiosity'; she was programmed to think that Spike loved her and that she loved Spike, so she was confused because one of the variables didn't match up. Plus, knowing why Spike didn't like her anymore would allow her to fix that problem. So I do think that it was all part of the programming.
 
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