The Demonization of Science

So I finally got out to see the third Resident Evil movie. And I took the trouble to watch the first two, even though the plot is fairly straightforward, just because I like to get the big picture. Granted, these films are not high Art, but they are viscerally pleasurable: the special effects are exceptional, the plot is passing fair, and the hero, Milla Jovovich, kicks ass. (I've been a fan of hers ever since she released a CD in 1997, but I digress...).

However, this movie (or rather, series of movies) got me thinking. Thinking the kind of thinks only my brain can think. We know, don't we, that every era produces movies, especially science fiction movies, that reflect the fears of our age. For instance, The Day the Earth Stood Still wasn't really about our fears of alien invasion, it was about our fears of the Russians. I've read this somewhere-- don't ask me to quote my sources now. So.... what are the movies of today revealing about our fears now?

Whenever we look at a monster movie, the monster isn't really a monster, is it? The monster is us, it's that through-a-mirror-darkly image that reflects back at us in our darkest hour. The monsters in this movie, the mummies, are denied their humanity by a genetically engineered virus. Within hours of exposure to the virus, people are reduced to mindless, ravenous creatures with only one crude, overwhelming need: the need to feed. The mummies stagger through the streets, still wearing the clothing of their previous lives. I don't believe I am mistaken in suggesting there is some cultural criticism going on here. We have become a nation of mindless consumers. If we're not careful, we could become mummies; perhaps we already have.

That was the more obvious observation (along with the desert setting of the third movie--hmmm. Wonder why they did that?). But more disturbing to me is the underlying theme that science is dangerous and evil. The scientists in these films are amoral--even immoral--whose only concerns are with the success of their project. The corporations that back them are only interested in their bottom line. The computer program in charge of security will do what is most expedient, including killing humans, in order to protect the project. Although one could argue that science produces both the T-virus that creates the mummies and the anti-virus that reverses the process, showing that some good can come from experimentation, we are presented on the whole with an overwhelming number of images and characters representing science as a malevolent entity. This is the Mad Scientist motif at its very worst.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, science is struggling. It is under attack in our schools. People fear what they do not understand, and they do not understand science. So an uneducated populace dismisses it as worthless. Projects that could ultimately benefit humankind go unfunded by a government that is incapable of understanding it (and cherry picks only what it sees as useful to the war machine). Laws are passed limiting funding in research. These things are all connected. We are reaching forward technologically faster than our scientific understanding can keep up. The system seems headed for a breakdown.

That's why I find it disturbing that movies like these reinforce the idea that science is evil. The population at large is already confused, undereducated, and fearful about the subject.

On the other hand, Milla's character Alice is a paradox. She, too, is a product of science. She was infected with the T-virus, but her DNA has assimilated it and she has evolved into some advanced form of human. She is stronger, faster, and possesses psionic powers. There is a telling scene where she regains control of her body by mentally shutting down the satellite that sends orders to the chip in her brain (put there by the "evil" scientists in an effort to control her). A definite victory for the human spirit over technology. And yet that power was given to her by science.

I guess the connection that needs to be made is that science is just another extension of the human spirit. And that is something not to fear, but to celebrate.