Forbidden Planet, directed by Fred McLeod Wilcox was originally released in 1956 and described a future space exploration party who ventured out to explore the star Altair-IV in the year 2257. The party included Robby the Robot, one of the early androgynous futuristic androids of popular culture,complete with androgynous name (either Robert or Roberta) and genderless features. Robby specialized in keeping his head on straight in sticky situations that would cause the hero to sacrifice his life or the heroine to crumble into fits of panic, at least in the highly gender differentiated world of 1950's America when this film was made. This emotional detachment which prevented either foolish heroism or pathetic helplessness was Robby's biggest asset; thank goodness for androgyny in space.
Forbidden Planet
