A recent opinion piece highlights the proliferation of social media videos showing humanoid robots malfunctioning in absurd ways, which the author finds "life-affirming." The more these robots appear in consumer spaces—as servers in restaurants or dancers at technology expos—the more such videos surface, with a disproportionate number coming from China, where the technology is publicly tested earlier and at a wider scale. At a technology show in Shenzhen, a robot dances to Billie Jean, attempts to mount steps, falls headfirst, briefly recovers, then falls again and lies motionless until a handler removes it. At an event in Shanghai, a similar robot, wearing a cowboy hat and gold-buttoned waistcoat but no trousers, dances skillfully before tripping on a step and lying on its back with spasming limbs. The author notes these clips are funny in a slapstick sense but also have an uncanny edge, as the moment of malfunction disintegrates the illusion of humanness and lays bare the machinery.