Mrs. Davis knows that it’s a comedy
A Tale of Two Friends: Mrs. Davis, Wiley, and the First- and Second-Grade Teacher for a Science Show with Artificial Intelligence
Mrs. Davis reminds people that it isn’t evil tech if it occasionally threatens to end marriages and become sentient. Machine learning can enhance or even save humanity, provided everyone’s on board with using it to its greatest and most kindhearted outputs.
Simone always goes to the most extreme measures to get Mrs. Davis’ attention. Finally, she agrees to meet with the AI, with a kindergarten teacher as proxy. The AI tells Simone that she alone can track down the Holy Grail and destroy it, and in return, it will grant her one wish. Simone’s wish? For Mrs. Davis to shut itself off. On her quest, she’s joined by her cowboy ex-boyfriend Wiley (Jake McDorman).
That’s something Mrs. Davis creators Tara Hernandez and Damon Lindelof leaned into while crafting the show, choosing for Davis to present herself through a series of human proxies rather than as an offscreen voice or texting bot. The technology names were named after female presenting identities in order to reflect society and be authentic. We wanted her to be like the first- and second-grade teacher we had, so we named her Mrs. Davis, which is also the name of my first- and second-grade teacher.
Mrs. Davis and the Coen Brothers: a road trip to discover and expose con artists and shady priests in an artificial intelligence dominated era
A lot of people right now are wringing their hands about the rapid emergence and popularization of AI. It threatens jobs but also creates a threat to the world, just as Elon Musk is wont to talk about. Since the birth of science fiction, alarm bells have been ringing about artificial intelligence. But too often, the upset about artificial intelligence seems to ignore the myriad of benefits it provides. A new technology isn’t something that can immediately villainize or praise, but to carefully examine.
Mrs. Davis is a show which can be so messy you will be baffled, it has been created and produced by the same people that created the hit show Masters of the Universe. But ultimately, it’s so enthusiastic and watchable that you’ll forgive it is flaws.
I am referring to the show to friends as if the Coen Brothers directed a good adaptation ofPreacher. There is something very early about the Coen Brothers and the series. It has a lush and vibrant feel with a song similar to Raising Arizona and a storyline that is more about the American way of life than about a nun destroying an artificial intelligence.
The nun bit makes it feel likePreacher. Both are focused on people with a profound sense of faith who come from backgrounds tailor-made to engender atheism. But also like Preacher, Mrs. Davis is a road trip where the locations are as big a character as the people on the quest.
It begins with a nun named Simone, played absolutely electrically by Betty Gilpin. Simone was raised by a magician (David Arquette) and was always a sharp kid who could spot a fake but also had no issue being a part of her dad’s act, even when it was a little shady. As an adult, she joins a nunnery where she spends her time growing fruit, communing with her fellow nuns, praying, and riding her horse out into the night to find and expose con artists who rely on magic for their grift. She is aided by Jay in her fight against crime and is played byANDY MICKEY.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/23688438/mrs-davis-review-peacock-damon-lindelof-betty-gilpin
Simone is not a technophobe, but rather a gentle reminder of why you care about an app or program that you don’t care about?
The show doesn’t hold your hand as it zips from locale to locale and sometimes concept to concept. It’s a fast show, but it’s anchored by Betty Gilpin, who has crafted a genuine character in this Looney Tunes universe she inhabits. She moves from parody to pathos as smoothly as slapstick heroines like Irene Dunne, and you’ll find yourself constantly rooting for her even as you occasionally question her sanity and the sanity of the world she inhabits.
And that world oftentimes feels less focused on the plot than on exploring what faith looks like in a world where artificial intelligence can anticipate your needs and organized religion merely asks for your trust and occasional monthly financial contribution. I will be surprised to find some Christians who are not offended by the show’s take on faith. There is something fascinating about the show trying to make praying into a movie.
And there’s something welcome about a show, right now, asking us why we put so much faith in machines. I like my TikTok FYP feed, and many of the people that are reading this have some sort of app or program that they trust. But sometimes it’s good to take a step back and take stock of our love affair with technology. The show that Simone is involved in is not a technophobe. Instead, it just asks you to pause for a minute and ask yourself: do you care about that app just a little too much?
