The Girl Who Was Plugged In
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'"The Girl Who Was Plugged In" is a science fiction short story by James Tiptree, Jr, a pen name for psychologist Alice Sheldon. It won a Hugo Award in 1974.
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[edit] Plot summary
The story takes place in a future world, where almost everything is controlled by corporate interests. Corporations control the consumers through celebrities that they set up. The protagonist is enlisted to become one of these celebrities. Her consciousness is transferred into a perfect body by a computer. The perfect body is controlled by her brain, which is still physically located in her original body. After this, she travels the world using products, promoting them to the masses.
The story is told by someone from the future, speaking to a modern person. The narrator addresses the reader as "zombie" and "dead daddy." The book ends with "better believe it zombie, it's a great future out there." This device is intended to make the reader think about the ways one is controlled by what one buys, and how one views celebrities as role models.
[edit] Significance
Commonly cited as an example of proto-cyberpunk.
[edit] Where Found
- Her Smoke Rose Up Forever.
- The James Tiptree Award Anthology 3 edited by Karen Joy Fowler, Pat Murphy, Debbie Notkin, and Jeffrey D. Smith.
- Tor Double #7: Screwtop (by Vonda N. McIntyre) and The Girl Who Was Plugged In (by James Tiptree, Jr.) - ISBN 0-812-54554-0
[edit] Other media
- The story was adapted as a television film in 1998, for the Sci Fi Channel series Welcome to Paradox.
- The story was adapted as a stage musical in 1992, as the first act of "Weird Romance: Two One-Act Musicals of Speculative Fiction". Music was by Alan Menken, Lyrics by David Spencer, Book by Alan Brennert and David Spencer. It starred Ellen Greene in its off-Broadway premiere and the cast recording.
