Though I am not a great movie buff, but when it comes to sci-fi flicks, I am a classic couch potato, who simply loves watching them with popcorn and cola – something which is almost a ritual every time my friends drop in at my place and stir my indolent spirit into action! <br><br>
Of late, it has been a long time since my friends have given me a visit. Nevertheless, whenever my buddies are on a schmaltzy high, they often come to pay respect to their broke friend and then begins our dry, yet friendly banter akin to that of a warring couple who takes immense pleasure in hurling choicest abuses at one another and yet cannot stay without each other! <br><br>
Hey, I think I was talking about my love for sci-fi movies rather than my friends! You see that’s a perpetual problem with my rambling thoughts that are blessed with a great propensity to wander. Do check me the next time I deviate! <br><br>
Okay, what was I saying, yes, sci-fi movies. Hmm… it has been a long time since my friends came to my pad and watched a movie or two. What I personally feel is that many a times we view sci-fi movies as just another mode of entertainment to kill ennui. However, truth is that under the thin veneer of this genre, there lies a core concern. <br><br>
Usually, every time I see a movie where artificial intelligence eyes world supremacy, aliens invading Earth or men at war with robots, I almost get a jittery feeling. Certainly, this is the dark side of futuristic technology which acts both as manna and curse to humanity. Just see the audacity of technology that is created by mankind and yet tries to rival the same by acting as a callous tyrant who loves spilling blood and draws exceptional pleasure in masochistic pursuits of power. <br><br>
At a deeper level, the new found technology often portrayed in numerous sci-fi movies is like a double-edged sword that cuts both ways. The technology showcased in such a genre gives birth to a certain technophobia, something analogous to Frankenstein – a devious fiend jeopardizing its maker’s very being. <br><br>
For that sake take any sci-fi movie and just see how technology is blatantly used or abused against mankind at large. Be it androids from Ridley Scott’s cult ‘Blade Runner’ or lethal robots from James Cameron’s mega opus ‘Terminator’ - technology has always been more of a nuisance to mankind in quest of forbidden knowledge. <br><br>
Of the copious films my chums and I have seen, my personal favourites include ‘Metropolis’, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Terminator’, ‘RoboCop’ and ‘The Matrix.’ However, one prominent undercurrent that I found at the nucleus of this genre is the endless debate of where technology is leading us! <br><br>
Here I am in no way amplifying the fancy of a director who is taken by the love of such movies but something far deeper and of greater consequence. While watching sci-fi films, I am constantly reminded of the fear of the unknown aroused by technology. Nevertheless, I have no aversion to technology, but my only concern is to make us understand its flip side too. <br><br>
Fundamentally, sci-fi flicks draw attention to the commodification of knowledge where one fine day human will become slave to technology. One often sees that the aliens and cyborgs of sci-fi flicks are kind of future mankind constantly envisages; unaware of the fact that one fine day the same technology will jeopardize its existence. For instance, in ‘Blade Runner’, runaway replicants are ruthlessly killed in order to exterminate their rebellion, in ‘Terminator’, T 800 is just another merciless killing machine and ‘The Matrix’ represents a bleak dystopian futuristic world where survival means killing machines. <br><br>
Reminiscing about Sci-fi flicks, how one can forget Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg’s classic ‘The Positronic Man’- a novel on which ‘The Bicentennial Man’ was made! If ‘Metropolis’, ‘Blade Runner’, ‘Terminator’ and ‘The Matrix’ portray technophobia, ‘The Bicentennial Man’ is a moving exposé of an android coming to terms with his humanity. <br><br>
I accept the fact that artificial intelligence alone cannot dominate the world; there are external forces such as Machiavellian capitalists who try to overpower technology for their own devious ways. Lex Luthor in ‘Superman’ is the perfect example of this where he is a scheming villain who tries every trick to stall the Superman from saving the world. <br><br>
Sci-fi flicks are not a bizarre genre, but a rare peek into our future – a world where technology rules human beings. It is a glimpse of the false materialistic world we often envision – a world full of possibilities where a simple click of the button simplifies your life; nonetheless, just imagine the day when the same button grows to be its own master and wrecks your life! Click Click Boom…