Do Science Fiction Films Shape our Future
Science, as we know it today, is the study and explanation of natural observable facts conducted by reasonable human beings. For this very reason, the Western culture, more than any other culture, predominantly makes use of science in order to explain our position at the present time and place. However, the science suffers from the inability to transcend the limitations of reality (and time), and because of that a form of expression was needed to articulate our uninhibited world of imagination. Science Fiction, is such a form and is mainly used to create an imaginative pretense, to go beyond our reality and explore ourselves and the world around us in a different reality. It is difficult to find a single definition about the science fiction, because there are as many definitions of science fiction as there are science fiction authors. Elias Wyber, in his essay “Science Fiction - Inventing the Future or Describing the Present,” argues that it is science fiction that offers us a vision of the future. He maintains that science fiction is “generally rooted in the present” 1 . Basically, this truism is evident in many science fiction films. Especially, when we take into account the “general” belief that science will change our way of living in the future. But since we do not know how science will have an effect on our life and to what extent that effect will be in the future, science fiction films have no restrictions in exploring different themes with different possible realities. And it is exactly by illustrating those realities of the future, that we are offered with a choice in the present. ... Obviously, Science Fiction films try their best to make those kinds of realities conceivable to the audience. ... Future visions of Science Fiction films fall in between the two broad streams of optimism and pessimism. ... The pessimists, on the contrary, believe that problems are intrinsic to humanity itself, and that science can only aggravate them, unleashing dark forces that may forever escape control. ... However, if we consider the society as a whole, we could suggest that a Science Fiction vision of it might have elements of Utopia just as those of Dystopia. According to John Campell, a future vision in Science Fiction (film) might just be a ”…speculation as to what changes may come, and which changes will be improvements, which destructive, which merely pointless. ... Mostly, those images of future can be divided in the realms of utopian futures and dystopian futures. Science, however, represent different things at different times, and the fears generated by it are best described as dystopic. Dystopia most usually in science fiction film is used to refer to a fictional (often near-future) society where current social trends are taken to nightmarish extremes. Those dystopian images as invariably part of future societies, point fearfully at the way the world is supposedly going. However, by doing so, those science fiction films with dystopian future plots, propagate an urgent need not to let those things happen, and a change in that direction. Blade Runner, is perhaps one of many films propagating those elements. In a not-that-far future, year 2019, the Earth is in physical and psychological decay- without a trace of nature. ... With such a future, we are once again offered the theme: this can happen if we play God. ... From the very beginning it becomes clear very quickly that science and technology in this reality are two of the most important factors of life in that society. By presenting Tyrell to us, the leader of science and also like a God, we are led to believe that science is the work of the Gods. ... ” In this science fiction film science has become something that has always been feared- the maker and destroyer of worlds, an all-powerful beast, a God, and in this case Tyrell is the head of it all. There are, on the other hand, many other Science Fiction films where societies are described as Utopian. In some of those films, especially those dealing with the moral questions of genetic engineering (or cloning) a reality is portrayed as dual. ... The film Gattaca (1997) is such an example, where we are introduced to both a utopian and a dystopian vision of the use of genetic engineering in the future. ... Indeed, in this vision of the future, genetic engineering on humans has become a ordinary science and can be used without risks to the future child. ... The ideal, intelligent, beautiful child can be designed down to the last detail, and for a while, the film seems to show that this society is perfect because of this new science. ... “Gattaca” shows this society as trapped by the science of genetic engineering, an individual is not considered as human if he was not part of the general scheme. The ‘mad science’ has created a society where love belongs only to the past. ... again not sure about the exact quote] Such themes in Science Fiction film, are mostly used as an example of the unclear lines that exists between science and our humanity, and how can that relationship have an effect on our future. Ultimately, by questioning this relationship, most science fiction films offer us glimpses of possible realities in the future, suggesting in one way or another that the tomorrow is born today. However, in order to design the future and pass our material and spiritual life experience at a next possible level, we should think about new ideas and alternate realities. Arthur Clark together with Stanly Kubrick, in their film “2001: A Space Odyssey”, making use of science and the rich arsenal of realistic fiction, created a reality in the space. Clark perhaps more than anyone else was convinced that we are always led into the future by our imagination, that we dream and then realize our dreams.