Exploring Sci-Fi Themes:
Will Cameron deliver a thought provoking message
of the future with Avatar?
By AMZ Guest Writer Askur
April 2009 - I like all kinds of movies that have no other intention than to entertain. But that doesn't mean they can't make good films containing some kind of message.
In the 50's, we had sci-fi movies about nuclear war, radiation, and such. Later, about pollution and post-apocalyptic worlds. . . with cyberspace, we got movies like Hackers and The Net. When Dolly the Sheep was cloned, films about cloning were made. . . or about giant asteroids and comets that threaten Earth.
There are at least two themes I wouldn't mind seeing explored in a movie. The first is about the advanced technology in our modern world. In a TV-series like 'Fringe,' one has the impression that we have lost control over technology. Unless we are talking about self-replicating machines and/or machine-based intelligence, technology will never live it's own life.
It depends completely on humans. Behind every invention and breakthrough, there is one or more individuals who have spent countless hours and many years of reading and educating themselves, making it possible for them to understand and experiment to create something new or improve something old.
If all these people disappeared, that would mean the end of the world as we know it. It all depends on people who are both clever enough and willing to study what is required. What if we got a future where such persons were a lot fewer than today, a resource with a very limited supply.
What could be done to make sure the modern civilization survived? If genetics and/or eugenics were the only solution, would the rest of the society (in a society much more complex and complicated than ours) accept it? Then we have the problem about a future with too few resources. No matter how wonderful the future inventions are, how promising are they? They are of no use if there are no minerals and other needful materials left on Earth. The Earth could end up like Easter Island, where the population cut down all the trees. When they understood what was going on, it was too late to do something. And because no trees were left, they couldn't build any boats, and they all became extinct.
How could humans in the future deal with the problem? Tap the molten mass beneath the surface? Building nano-technology that is able to dissolve all garbage and waste products into single atoms and molecules, and recycle it that way? Allowing some to move to Mars, while the rest of the world stays back on a world that reminds about Cuba, where they have to fix all the old cars and other objects instead of buying new ones, as long as possible, before finally returning to a lifestyle we haven't seen since the time before the industrial revolution? Yes, cultures have risen and fallen during history, but never has there been times like these.
Being able to go from an era before the industrial revolution to the one we are living in now, requires a lot of coal, oil and minerals. If we should fall back to the stone age again, humans could perhaps survive and evolve into a new species, but the risk would not be enough resources to start all over again. The world we live in during the industrial revolution was just temporarily, just as society today is just tempory; either we change, or the world as we know it, stops. A world with countless products in plastic, cars on every corner, and the consumer society in general is not here to stay.
If we improve, there will be another world waiting in the future. Hopefully a more peaceful one. Of course there are dangers with technology, yet the advantages outnumber the risks. Either way, we have come toO far to turn back. And why would we? For the moment, we are living in a loud and noisy place. In a few hundred years, it could be the technology is so complex that it reminds more about organic lifeforms than machines. Combined with smaller populations and a new way of thinking, people will look back and wonder what was going on inside the heads of the world's leaders of today. Personally, I think the possibilities of Mars are maybe even more interesting.
That way, we have a whole world in reserve just in case of worst case scenario. "I think the film focuses a bit on humanity as a whole, and its relationship with the environment, with the Earth. So it's very much 'of our time'." I hope Cameron tries to show humanity as a whole. I hope he tries to put a more global perspective on things. It would only do us good. I often wonder about the impact this film will have on 10 year olds.
I think James Cameron said something about cultural imperialism as one of the elements in the film. Important enough, even if there could be other ingredients as well. Remember what Tommy Lee Jones said in 'Man in Black' when Will Smith said that people would find out because they were smart? He said a person is smart, people were stupid. What kind of person is humanity as a whole? Is it smart enough to know what's best for it?
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