The story of Pygmalion seems like a precursor to the robot girlfriend episode I've seen in a lot of TV shows. However, unlike those episodes, it doesn't go into the part where everything ends up going horribly wrong. And based on Pygmalion's personality, it would have definitely gone horribly wrong.
Pygmalion is one of the worst characters I've ever read about. In general I think most stories involving some guy making his ideal girlfriend are really creepy, whether they use robots or magic or the blessing of Venus herself. Like, there's nothing wrong with wanting love, or creating and feeling attached to something you find beautiful, but it's always handled in an incredibly misogynistic way that Pygmalion really exemplifies.
Pygmalion hates women. He thinks they're all wicked by nature and can't stand to be around them. And yet he also thinks he's somehow entitled to a girlfriend, just one that lives up to his weird sexist standards. There is nothing about dressing and having "conversations" with and sleeping beside a statue that isn't creepy. He only "loves" her because she's perpetually beautiful and can't speak or think on account of being a statue. there's no way he's going to be happy after she becomes a real woman. This video really sums up my problems with Pygmalion.
Image Information: Pygmalion priant Vénus d'animer sa statue by Jean-Baptiste Regnault.
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