"It" Is Dehumanizing: Difference between revisions

|''[[Terminator 2]], Judgment Day''}}

 

 

This trope is when a character is referred to as 'it' in fiction. Perhaps the person who is referring to the character is a [[Fantastic Racism|fantastic racist.]] Otherwise it may refer to an [[Eldritch Abomination]], which indicates that the being is too inhuman to empathize with, despite its intelligence. The worst victims of this trope are probably [[Artificial Human]]s.

 

 

Compare [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]] and [[Pronoun Trouble]].

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In ''[[Kaze no Stigma]]'', there's a girl who was created as a [[Replacement Goldfish]] for a woman who was supposed to be sacrificed to an evil spirit (so basically, she's supposed to be sacrificed in her stead). She's generally mistreated and dehumanized, including referring to her as 'it'.

 

* [[New 52]]: [[Superman]] gets captured by the government and subjected to torture and experimentation. The scientists and [[Lex Luthor]] refer to him as "it".

** Later, Helspont tries to break Superman's spirit by giving him a nightmare where the government is hunting him down. The soldiers yell stuff like, "There it is! Shoot it!"

* In [[Marvel Comics]], robots and androids often refer to themselves as "this unit". If they are intelligent and become independent of their original programming, they may switch to "I".

 

 

== [[Film]] ==

* ''[[The Silence of the Lambs]]'': "It puts the lotion on its skin, or else it gets the hose again!"

** ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'': "''It'', John. Not ''him'', ''it''."

* ''[[Blade Runner]]''. "I don't get it, Tyrell. How can it not know what it is?"

* In the 2007 version of ''[[I Am Legend]]'', Anna watches Neville experiment on a captured zombie, and asks whether what he's doing will "cure her." Neville responds "Actually, it will probably kill it," with the second "it" slightly emphasized.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In ''[[Maximum Ride|The Angel Experiment]]'', Angel is very upset when the scientists experimenting on her continue to refer to her as "it".

* Inverted in ''[[Foundation]] and Earth'', where the genetically engineered hermaphroditic Solarians insist on being called "it" - since, after all, they are not half humans like us, but complete, perfect beings.

* The Laurie J. Marks' ''Children of Triad'' novels are an interesting case; in them, [[Fantastic Racism|certain members of the Walker community]] refer to the Aeyries as "it", due to their hermaphroditism. Most notable of these is the Walker Teksan, the [[Big Bad]] of the first book. However, it is mentioned somewhere in the books that the Aeyries wouldn't mind it if the Walkers weren't deliberately using the pronoun because they believe it is insulting. The H'ldat (the Aeyries' language) pronoun, 'id/idre', simply refers to something without gender - in essence, it means the ''exact same thing'' as the word "it"; the usage itself is what makes the word "it" dehumanizing.

* Averted by the Mrdini in the ''Talents'' series. They are a genderless species, and as such insist on being referred to as "it" in human language.

* Averted with [[Heidi]]. The title of the second book, literally translated, means "Heidi can put to use what ''it'' has learned". This may seem odd to you, but in some German dialects, "it" is generally used for girls. Not the dehumanizing "it" implying "thing", but rather as in "cute little thing".

 

* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' did this in "The Measure Of A Man", an episode discussing Data's legal status; Commander Maddox constantly refers to Data as a possession of Starfleet and therefore an "it", until he slips into "he" after a court hearing formally rules that Data has free will and the right to choose.

** When Dr. Pulaski first saw Data at the helm, she balked at the captain: "You're letting ''it'' pilot the ship?" upon which Picard [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|laid the smackdown on her in magnificent form]]. Given the fact that Data was so popular with the fans, having a one-off character treat him like a machine [[Kick the Dog|quickly became shorthand]] for telling the audience that a character was an asshole, this scene probably was enough to [[The Scrappy|doom Pulaski's character]] terminally.

* In ''Terminator: [[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' Sarah nearly always refers to Cameron as It, or Tin Man. Derek's the same.

* In ''[[Fringe]]'', when Peter gets thrown back into the timeline, Walter keeps referring to him as "it" and "the subject".

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

* In ''OGRE'' by Steve Jackson Games one of the bits of flavour text in the manual mentions that the eponymous giant AI tanks are never referred to by the traditional "she". Friendly OGREs are "he" and enemy OGREs are "it".

* The introduction of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Malakim]] angels in Steve Jackson Games ''[[In Nomine]]'' has an angel use this trope when referring to a demon.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', Joker consistently refers to [[Spaceship Girl|EDI]] as "It" seeing as not only is he wary of an illegal AI but he also doesn't like anyone/anything interfering with his piloting. {{spoiler|After the Collector attack where Joker risks his life to give EDI full control of the ship leading her to save the day, he starts referring to her as "she".}}

** In ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', in video logs, the Illusive Man gets to [[Kick the Dog]] by always referring to EDI as "it", even correcting technicians who call her "she".

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* An interesting variation is in ''[[Digger]]'', where Ed refers to himself as it because he was cast out of the tribe and his ""name was eaten". The main character calls him 'he' because she can't ''not'' think of him as a person.

* In ''[[Freefall]]'', the Mayor calls Florence 'it'.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* The bug Ktk in Christopher Wright's ''[[Pay Me, Bug!]]'' insists on [[Averted Trope|being called "it"]], because it's just the logical thing to call a hermaphrodite. Characters who don't know Ktk have a little trouble remembering to call it "it".

* The ''[[SCP Foundation]]'' does this intentionally, at least in official files. SCP's are referred to as "objects" and "it" is always used as a pronoun, even when the SCP is clearly sentient and has a clear gender. This is done to prevent agents and researchers from feeling sympathy or affection towards them, something that is rarely a good idea.

'''Kid Flash (out of the corner of his mouth):''' He doesn't like being called an "it."<ref>Batman wasn't actually talking about Superboy, just the Superman logo that he was wearing.</ref> }}

** Supervillain and world-class sociopath Harm narrates his battles, referring to his opponents as "it" all the while. The only person he breaks this habit with (other than [[Third Person Person|himself]]) is {{spoiler|his sister [[Morality Chain|Greta]], whom he murdered.}}

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* In [[Real Life]] most of English's [[Pronoun Trouble]] comes from this trope. It is the only gender-neutral singular pronoun, but it is offensive to use when referring to other people.

** To avoid this, it is becoming increasingly common to use "they" (normally a third-person plural pronoun with no gender affiliation) when referring to an individual whose gender is uncertain for whatever reason. English language purists tend not to like this, but it is functional and other pronouns such as "you", originally the plural of "thou" (and after that, the more formal second person pronoun when used singularly) , have undergone similar transformations.

* In an aversion, it is generally considered acceptable to refer to an unborn baby as "it" (as in "when is it due?"), probably due to the fact that not everyone knows the gender of the child before it is born. Even infants outside of the womb sometimes receive this treatment.

* Inverted with Charles Lindbergh Jr., the 'Lindbergh Baby'. He was affectionately referred to as 'Little It' by his parents.

 

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