The movie stimulates conversation

"Subservience" felt like the perfect choice to try to get under Charissa's skin. It's naught-but-not-too-naughty and, of course, features a beautiful woman moving in with an older man! We both enjoyed the film, talking intermittently about the predictable plot developments. As I expected, we were dead silent during the steamy sex scene.

"What'd you think of it?" I asked her when the film had ended.

"I'm not sure," she said. "I mean, it was a good movie, but it's actually kind of terrifying. Like, the robot was predicting the guy's every need; but do you think he really just wanted to .... have sex .... with her like that?"

My heart fluttered as she whispered the scandalous phrase "have sex."

"Well, the movie is playing out a double-fantasy," I said, unable to turn off English Professor Mode. "The film is about the man's fantasies, which he might or might not be aware of. But more importantly, it's addressing our fantasies--the viewers. We're intrigued by the notion of basically a technological genie but we're also freaked out by it. The technology is scary and almost--" I paused for the briefest hesitation "--seductive."

"I think I get what you're saying," she said, clearly trying to follow along. "When we're watching the movie, it's not just about what's going on in the characters' heads. It's also about what's going on in our heads."

"Yeah, exactly," I said. "That's what the best sci-fi does."

"So," Charissa ventured. "What's going on in your head then?" She looked right at me, making eye contact.

"Oh," I said, taken aback by the direct question. "What do you mean?"

"Like, would you get a robot like that?"

"You mean a sexy live-in **** who wants to kill my wife?" She laughed. "Look, my ex and I are on pretty bad terms. But I wouldn't want her to be attacked by a robot!" Charissa laughed again. But she still waited for a real answer. "I don't know," I said. "I guess probably not? I guess the whole 'not-being-alive' thing doesn't work for me."

"OK, I get it," Charissa said with a grin. "You'd rather have a real live human being as your live-in ****!" We both laughed. "Just don't tell me to stick with housework."

"No, definitely not," I said. "You can do a lot more than that."

We chatted for a while more - she told me more about her evening and her friend Amy (who seemed much more adventurous than Charissa, I'll say), and we called it a night. I wished her good night and went upstairs.