The digital human something; or, the case of Miquela

The major Hollywood casting agency CAA recently signed a new performer, Miquela, a young woman who identifies as queer and multi-ethnic. She is also digital. Miquela rose to fame as a ‘virtual influencer’, one of several such figures on social media who share their seeming-lives with millions of followers. She makes music, has a biologically human boyfriend, and even takes selfies in moisturizing face masks. Miquela is part of a growing population of virtual people that includes not just influencers but companions, therapists, hologram performers and individuals in deep fakes. In this essay I ask what happens when we encounter what I call a ‘digital human’ in screen fiction. What does it mean to label such a figure young, queer or multi-ethnic? What is the fate of identitarian political representation in the age of the digital character? We might initially suppose that there is not much at stake in such

Aesthetics · Agency (philosophy · Art · Art history · Face (sociological concept · Hollywood · Influencer marketing · Media studies · Performing arts · Political science · Politics · Population · Queer · Representation (politics · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · Digital Games and Media · Gender Studies · Law