In Westworld, murdering, torturing, or stealing from a robot is not considered illegal or even immoral. In fact, it’s kind of the point of going there. After all, is it really killing or torturing or stealing if the robot was never alive, cannot feel pain, and doesn’t actually own anything? Can you do something to someone against their will if they technically have no free will?Consider the rape of Dolores, and the probability that robot rape is commonplace in this amusement park. Can a robot actually consent to sex? Can a robot refuse sex? Is there such a thing as consensual robot sex if the robot is programmed to consent? Is there such a thing as raping a robot if the robot’s resistance is programmed?Exploring something as horrifyingly real as rape in such philosophical terms runs the risk of insensitivity, even sensationalism. Yet that is precisely what HBO and the producers of Westworld aim to do. Only one episode has aired, and already the cast and creators have been asked to answer to the show’s depiction of sexual violence. Encouragingly, co-creator and executive producer Lisa Joy has said , “Sexual violence is an issue we take seriously… It's about exploring the crime, establishing the crime and the torment of the characters within this story, and exploring their stories hopefully with dignity and depth.”The way I see it, science fiction allegory is one of the most potent ways to critique social problems. I have faith that a show this postmodern — which is both luring viewers with its exciting old-timey violence and nudity while also indicting them for that very interest — has something progressive to say about consent. The guests are proxies for us. We are the guests of Westworld the show just as the human characters are guests of Westworld the attraction.Ask yourself whether you would go to Westworld if you could. Would it be fun to cosplay in an immersive Wild West setting? Could you get out some of your pent-up aggression on a robot outlaw in the same way you shoot an opponent in a video game? Would this immersive fantasy be a great way to spend a vacation? And finally, if you could fuck someone attractive, skilled, game, and insatiable, would you do it — even if you knew that someone was technically a something?