So, let's see.
The plot of the film, summarized in just a few words,
can read as follows:
They, the aliens, have made
us, the humans, but then they decided to destroy us. Anyway, they didn’t live
to get this done because other beings destroyed them.
In most general terms, science has two purposes:
- to explain the surrounding Universe and, if possible,
the reason of our presence within its framework;
- to provide us with equipment and technologies
designed to improve our lives.
Accordingly, a film related to science (even if it is
science conveyed through fiction) should present to the audience, insofar as
possible, new ideas focused on the two above mentioned directions.
So, let's see how Prometheus
serves these two purposes:
1.
Explanations
regarding the surrounding Universe & the reason of our presence within its
framework.
Regarding this topic, we identify two or three ideas illustrated
by the film:
The paleoastronautics
hypothesis: some of
the cave paintings made by several ancient human civilizations, which had no
contact with one other (Egyptians, Mayans, Babylonians, etc.), indicate the
presence of some visitors from space who presented the ancient humans with a
map of the stars.
The hypothesis that we have
been created by aliens:
sometime in the distant past the Earth was visited by an extra-terrestrial
humanoid civilization that spread its genes in the young terrestrial
environment and consequently the human species appeared at the end of the evolutionary
chain.
The hypothesis regarding the
diversity of life in the Universe: the Universe could host a wide diversity of life forms
and some of them may cause the destruction of the humanoid one. Those
destructive life forms could multiply by gestation inside the human body.
2.
Presentation
of some technologies meant to improve our lives:
Like any other respectable sci-fi movie, Prometheus gives us the image of some
advanced technologies:
- spaceships that undertake journeys into the far-off
space/ galaxies;
- cryogenics systems,
- robotic surgical
station that operates the human body by itself;
- android robots,
- terraforming,
- flying balls that map the overflown terrain,
- holographic communication;
- etc.
Conclusion:
In brief, this is the science included in the two-hour
movie, in a package that also contains a lot of action and many special
effects. Is this much, is this little, could it have been more than that?
Is there any objective truth in the above mentioned suppositions
or is everything just pure fantasy? Each of us can come up with their own
answer to this question. As far as I’m concerned, I would say that, regarding the
first category, we are dealing strictly with assumptions related rather to
fantasy, and clearly not based on strong arguments, but which are very popular
due to their unusual statements. Regarding the second category, things are slightly
better, as the presented technologies have, in my opinion, good chances to
become reality in the not too distant future.
Regarding the
novelty of these ideas, is there something that hasn’t been seen or heard
before? I think the answer to this question is "no", with 2 exceptions, both belonging in the category of technology, namely: the robotic surgical station that operates the
human body by itself and the flying balls mapping the overflown terrain.
As far as I'm concerned, this is the first time I see these technologies
illustrated in an artistic work.
And, finally, one last clarification:
What may seem a new idea to some, namely the hypothesis of human creation by the
alien through the dissemination of their genes within the terrestrial
environment (not through the "manufacturing" of humans in some
kind of an alien lab, but by stimulating the natural evolution to move in a
certain direction) is not at its first use in the sci-fi art.
I personally have come across this idea in at least
one other work, namely the two-volume novel "First
day" and "First Night"
by Marc Levy, which is to be discussed here
soon.
