The Other as Game —and as Disaster(Life in plastic, it’s fantastic: we are just getting started)

Abstract

In our paper we have presented the myth of Pygmalion as background of a reflection, in which we approach the question of the Other, building on the possibility of that the virtual Other “embodied” (in this case in a silicone Doll/Sexdoll) could replace and even supplant, in desire, the Other by itself. We will try to show that the dichotomies between live-dead, real-unreal or true-false are very insufficient to understand the question of “the Other”, because the figuration of this “Other” is more powerful and relevant in the field of imaginary than the ontic features of its direct and factual presence. The possibility, at least experimental possibility, of playing the “Other” is an enormous undertaking, insofar as it can sink into the disaster of an unlimited narcissism and a desperate loneliness, but it can also offer a therapeutic option, when certain circumstances arise (it is the case raised in the film Lars and the Real Girl). On the other hand, make a detour through the virtual Other allows us to prepare the basis for a far-reaching philosophical question, as long as it allows us to propose phenomenologically and dialectically the question of the Other. Basic material for this paper is a ZDF documentary for Arte-Channel entitled Traumfrauen, which shows the basic features of coexistence between Dean Bevan and his sexdolls.