- Warning: Spoilers ahead for "M3gan."
- A new movie about a murderous AI doll depicts a child's dependence to technology.
The new movie "M3gan", which has received praise from both critics and meme-makers since its January 6 release, depicts how 8-year-old Cady develops a deep attachment to a villainous artificial intelligence-powered doll. Their bond may not be so far from reality to some kids.
The horror flick is meant to be absurd and unrealistic, but child psychologists told Insider some of the movie's themes — like an over-reliance on technology, particularly during trauma — mirrors how today's children are missing out on developing key social cues.
In the movie, Cady (Violet McGraw) recently lost both of her parents in a car accident. Her aunt Gemma (Allison Williams), a workaholic and socially awkward engineer, built M3gan — a startlingly lifelike tween-sized robot — to give Cady company (and remind her to do things like flush the toilet).
But the young girl becomes obsessively dependent on the robot. In one scene, a squalling Cady begins violently tossing over furniture and throwing school supplies after Gemma takes M3gan away — a temper tantrum that culminated in the young girl hitting her aunt.
Like Cady, children who experienced trauma during the COVID-19 pandemic might have become tech-dependent, and the movie could work as a cautionary tale of how susceptible children are to forming unhealthy attachments to their screens, Dr. Melissa Robinson-Brown, a clinical psychologist with a background in treating adolescents, told Insider.
Children miss out on developing social skills when they spend too much time looking at screens
"M3gan" delves into a hot parenting topic: screen time.
At the start of the movie, Cady's parents tried to limit how much time she spent on her iPad. But when the child asked Gemma about her screen time rules, the tech-savvy engineer didn't see a need to limit Cady's time online.
Robinson-Brown said screentime isn't in itself harmful, but children who spend too much time online may miss out on learning social cues or developing conversational skills. When kids text, for instance, they often send disjointed messages and don't learn how to effectively communicate with another person.
"Communication skills, the ability to start a conversation and carry on a conversation, all of those things are what happens when you actually are out in the real world," Robinson-Brown said. "I find with kids, there is a real struggle to engage in that kind of behavior now more so than I've ever seen."
Robinson-Brown said the movie acts as a cautionary tale for when parents do not monitor or filter what young children see online. Helping kids navigate technology is a key part of parenting, the psychologist said, and parents need to supervise how their young children use tech.
Trauma and reliance on technology during COVID-19 might have made kids more anxious
The movie's depiction of Cady's trauma after losing her parents may have mirrored the reality many children faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, which claimed 1 million American lives and left 140,00 children without a caregiver, per federal data.
Media psychologist Joanne Broder told Insider children came out of the pandemic more socially anxious, partly because of the lack of physical interaction. Kids may have lost out on seeing friends in schools and the ability to physically touch their relatives, and turned to technology to fill the social void, Broder said.
Though kids may have had positive experiences with technology — like if they were inspired by crafts on Etsy or inspirational Instagram posts — many lost out practicing emotional intelligence and social etiquette for nearly two years, Broder said. Researchers are still studying the impact the pandemic had on kids' social development, Broder and Robinson-Brown said.
Though the pandemic hasn't yet pushed real-life children into befriending murderous AI dolls, Broder said the years of missed social development could impact today's kids into adulthood.
"I'm not anti-technology," Broder said, "But people need people. They need human interaction."