SCIENCE AND MOVIES

By Kolly Kent Malsawmzuala (2016 Batch)

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…..

You must have come across this phrase if you are a science fiction fan, not just Sci-fi fans but fans of the Star-wars epic space franchise which is centered on the film series created by George Lucas. The series itself has created a world-wide following, a media franchise with books, television series, comics, video games, toys etc. The stories about Jedi knights, the fight between the light side and the dark side etc, this kind of movies prove the thriving, lively popularity of Science fiction in our mainstream culture. 

Science and movies have a mutual relationship, the roles played by scientist in development of technology as well as role played by film makers in the development of films is what that creates that connectivity, keeping in mind other factors as well. The quality of science fiction movies have improved tremendously whether it is fantasy oriented or movies which are more or less based on true scientific findings or hypothesis. These days, thanks to Hollywood, movies not just Sci-fi movies have become instrumental in shaping the social culture by transforming the viewers’ opinions or swaying their thoughts one way or another. Most of us tend to not realize that science fiction genre movies are much more influential to society than we take it to be at first glance. They impact our culture just as much as our culture has influence on it.  

  

As we know that movies are written works of different writers made into film, Science fiction movies such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne which was published in 1860(later made into movies) paved the way for the invention of the modern day electric submarine. Aside from its organ, formal dining room, and other luxuries, the Nautilus isn't all that different from some modern electric submarines, which is fully powered by electricity. Another such science tech that came into material existence from Jules Verne’ books is what we presently call the Lunar Module, the coned shape crew capsule used to carry astronauts. This was mentioned in his book From the Earth to the Moon he called it as ‘projectiles’ that could carry people to the moon. Even the idea of news cast which we see in our local TV cable networks like Zonet and LPS was described by Jules Verne as an alternative to printed newspaper. Even the device which we are so much familiar with in today’s world like the ipad, tablets draws its idea from Science fiction television series Star Trek. PADD a device in Star trek which is an acronym for Personal Access Display Device, a hand held device became a real world technology with the introduction of tablet computers. 

Science fiction whether it is movies or written works is a meeting of human endeavor of Science and Art. A movie is generally measured by its entertainment value, cinematography, acting, plot etc. Which are generally the basics. But science fiction movies provide another aspect of such measurements like creating a suspension of disbelief and a sense of imagination. While some science fiction movies may not hold to consistent logics but some also hold to the realistic ideas of science. Science fiction movies try to convince audience of the possibility of a scientific world view. Some science fiction movies are based on hard science, which means the emphasis is more directed towards accurate scientific and technical facts and details. The stories in these movies have more restrictions based on scientific facts and they are presented in a logical and realistic way. I think for a hard-core science fan, this kind of movies are more interesting and engaging as it provides a platform for fact checking and challenging the ideas presented by the people involved in the creation of the movie. This two-way process of engagement between the creators and audience as well as the engagement between fiction and true-technology makes it unique and worthwhile. Movies such as the 2014 British- American epic science fiction film Interstellar directed by Christopher Nolan has in depth relation to Einstein general theory of relativity. The movie is set in the future where humanity is struggling to survive; planet earth is slowly becoming uninhabitable and a group of astronauts travel through a wormhole, wormhole is a shortcut from one part of the universe to another, in search of a planet for humanity where it can sustain life. Even though the existence of wormholes is still a hypothesis, they believe that wormholes are tunnels connecting different regions in space.

Most of us know that movies not just science fiction movies, tend to provide a stage for escapism from the true realities in life. Escapism is like daydreaming in our classrooms or watching a whole Star Wars movie franchise in one go or playing a video game. Escapism is a way of describing media that is removed enough from reality, or at least engaging enough, to fully distract or entertain you away from your worries. And it is indeed good to take a time away from the realities of life to refresh ourselves. But too much of anything is always not good.

Movies are a medium of mass communication, which is the distribution of message to a large number of people. Science fiction movies fit perfectly into this; they have impact on people on about what kind of information is being disseminated and it may be negative or positive. Some science fiction movies can be educative as they can teach science lessons to its audience with its ability to show something which we cannot actually witness or take part in for a student or matter of fact for a common man in a state like Mizoram.  And with the coming of faster internet which can provide faster access as well as vast contents this can really be a tool for education on space, environment, the earth we live in, about different societies etc. But there are drawbacks to it as well as some sci-fi movies tend to provide misleading information. Other things to keep in mind are that movies tend to effect children especially when they start to imitate the message they received from movies such as violence. One good example of this imitation which I hope we can all relate to is the World Wrestling Federation, WWF (now WWE) although not a movie in any way but the wrestling moves which we use to imitate the with our friends and siblings on top of mattresses and cushions are prime examples of imitation.

Science fiction is an avenue for our wildest dreams for the future but can also be a negative driving force. So as to sum up Science fiction movies have the capacity to influence society at both the negative and positive level and since science fiction is much more mainstream these days, with its accessibility and popularity our job as a consumer is to always analyze our media.