Portal psychology
If you're into psychology or portal, or possibly both.. I recommend giving this a read. It contains massive spoilers, so be aware. One thing I liked especially was the example below (no real spoilers before the cut):
In one example, GLaDOS congratulates Chell by saying, "You, [subject name here], must be the pride of [subject hometown here]." These malfunctions call attention to the fact that GLaDOS was programmed to respond empathetically but doesn't actually feel emotions the way a human being does. As such, she comes to represent man's attempt to construct an idealized mother figure through the cold logic of science. The resulting entity is a jumbled mess of cross-purposes and psychic detritus who attaches more value to the Portal Gun than to human life. You must outsmart, rather than outgun, this enemy to escape with your life.
In one example, GLaDOS congratulates Chell by saying, "You, [subject name here], must be the pride of [subject hometown here]." These malfunctions call attention to the fact that GLaDOS was programmed to respond empathetically but doesn't actually feel emotions the way a human being does. As such, she comes to represent man's attempt to construct an idealized mother figure through the cold logic of science. The resulting entity is a jumbled mess of cross-purposes and psychic detritus who attaches more value to the Portal Gun than to human life. You must outsmart, rather than outgun, this enemy to escape with your life.