Today's proof that we've entered a post-human dystopia is the rise of rent-a-family-member companies
Just when you thought you could escape the phoniness of social media by engaging in conversation with a real life human being, Japanese innovation comes along and snatches that away from you, too. As a new article from The Atlantic reports, there are a number of burgeoning companies in Japan that allow clients to rent human beings to fulfill roles that are otherwise lacking in their life. Whether you need a fake friend for your selfie, a fake husband for your parent-teacher conference, or even a fake baby, they’ve got you covered. It may sound like the premise of a creepy sci-fi movie set in a near-future dystopia, but it’s real—or at least, as real as fake people get. Ishii Yuichi, the CEO of one such company called Family Romance, sat down with The Atlantic to discuss the services his company offers and the roles he’s personally played for clients over the years, and some of the examples are astonishing:
Yuichi: I played a father for a 12-year-old with a single mother. The girl was bullied because she didn’t have a dad, so the mother rented me. I’ve acted as the girl’s father ever since. I am the only real father that she knows.
Morin: And this is ongoing?
Yuichi: Yes, I’ve been seeing her for eight years. She just graduated high school.
Morin: Does she understand that you’re not her real father?