thinking of human-like dolls:

The 1982 film, Blade Runner [tm], explores the science fiction idea of-

Creating sentient humans, or sentient…”almost-human people”, or “replicants”, in a lab- and then treating these almost-humans like:

robots…without feelings, [or things that are worth less than humans], or objects, or pets, or toys- is a really, BAD thing to do!

This article describes this 1980s, scifi film. Please read the- [plot] and [themes] parts of this article:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner

[This idea…of human-like dolls, kind of brings up the moral question of- is it a good thing, to try to “create human-like brains or minds”, using- Artificial Intelligence…computer programs?

If I make a mechanical, A.I.-mind, + it breaks…or it doesn’t function well, morally- if I destroy it…aka if I “kill” it, have I done a morally bad thing? ]

In other words:

“DR. Frankenstein…You ain’t seen nothing, yet!”

🙂

https://youtu.be/zUnhfvGdmmw?si=m6qu_ukAY3DQ04cB

and just watch how he moves through space. Very impressive.

Dick Van Dyke tells a great story about him during filming. The wagon he drives once tipped over onto its side as he was rounding a corner – a very dangerous situation. He essentially walked up and over, and off, of the tumbling wagon and didn’t even stumble.

I’m a big fan of the movie and the character, but “Caractacus Potts” is one of Fleming’s most absurd puns for a title character.

If you want an abridged version of Wagner there’s always the Warner Brothers’, “What’s Opera, Doc.”

But at least it’s 4 hours of Offenbach and not Wagner

I did an Internet search to see if Wilder or Brooks may have referenced the opera, but nothing turned up. You’re probably right, it was a throwaway joke to a trope.

However, if you can get to London there is a new production of the opera at The Royal Opera House that got a great review: https://www.ft.com/content/ff59d372-a957-4b04-8e53-5769f1c83754

4 hours long! Hopefully there’s time to get a coffee (tea, more likely) during intermission.

Wilder and Brooks were cultured gents, I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew of “Tales of Hoffman.” Wilder wrote a screenplay about a scientist in eastern Europe re-animating human life, so maybe it was a nod to the opera’s similar theme? If so, very clever and very meta.