Posthumanism examines phenomena with consideration to how humans and nonhumans are intertwined and how both shape and are shaped by each other. From the perspective of posthumanism, modern technologies, especially computer science, artificial intelligence and bionic technology, have transformed the human body into a cyborg which is mixed with organic and inorganic substances. What is obvious is that since the 2000s, a series of science-fiction films, like Ex Machina, Her and Blade Runner 2049, seem to reflect some posthuman tenets and make them palatable for the public and the posthuman era.
Over the past several years, articles and researches on post-human films mainly focus on their aesthetics and narration. However, the construction and problems of post-human body are seldom discussed. According to the combination degree of human body and inorganic machinery, post-human beings in the films can be roughly divided into three categories: cyborg, trans-human, and humanoid. Cyborg is an embodied post-human whose body has been taken over in part by electromechanical devices. Trans-human is a disembodied post-human whose consciousness can break free from the physical body. And humanoid is a post-human which is totally made by human beings but may think and act like a real person, and owns his subjectivity.
So, what will happen when we leave our bodies behind and enter cyberspace? Do we lose all the richness of an embodied social life? Based on the content analysis and the support of Posthumanism, this article intends to address the following questions: (1) Except for cyborgs, what other post-human bodies are there in science-fiction films? (2) What does it mean to be human and in terms of our more literal embodied relationship to technology? (3) Does post-human still have subjectivity like a natural human? Sci-fi films may provide us with an important way to have an insight into post-human body.