Once the fear response wears off, human inquisition starts
about what exactly it is. Add to this our conflicting need for companionship,
and it results in posing the big question: What counts as human? Speculative
fiction owes about ¾ of its internal organs, and maybe 6 fingers, to this
notion because it has resulted in some of its greatest work based on it. Take
this notion about “what is human?” and give it to one Alex Garland, a man who
might be one of the optimistic in terms of humanity as a species. Best known
for his work with director Danny Boyle, and that kick-arse Dredd movie from a
couple of years back, he has a thing for including characters, even villains,
who are willing to help heal the world in the face of oblivion; It’s just that
they went about in very different and morally opposing ways. Putting these two
together has, apparently, lead to a highly acclaimed production that is being
compared to seminal sci-fi works like 2001 and Solaris. As you can probably
tell by my blog background, this sci-fi geek really hopes that its hype is justified.
