Sci-fi & The Question of Humanity

Sunday, March 04, 2006

Great Sci-Fi, whether it be novels, tv or movies, pose the fundamental question of what it means to be human. The errors in our logical thinking are uncomfortably exposed by the masterful writers such as Isaac Asimov, Greg Egan, and Stephen King. The new series of Battlestar Galactica also does this. The acting might not be great, but the measure of excellent sci-fi is evident.

Cylons are the human-created robotic servants that eventually turned on their masters. In an attempt to destroy the humans in a hellish war, both sides were forced to an uncomfortable truce. The Cylons left to find their own world and peace returned. Years (decades? centuries?) later, the Cylons returned to exact revenge and retribution on their former masters. The twist, of course, is that the Cylons have 'evolved' themselves to look like humans.

Humans, of course, don't care that Cylons look human. Once a Cylon, always a Cylon, and each should be eliminated as quickly and efficiently as possible. The Cylons are twisted in their own private need to meet "God's vengence" on those who treated God's servants (the Cylons) so wretchedly. The God-game is another excellent human rational-fallacy that sci-fi attempts to plumb. Good sci-fi won't dismiss religion and the spiritual out of hand, but will look at how we, as humans, abuse the name of God for our own ends.

What is most enticing about Battlestar Galactica, is the continual moral conundrums brought to the screen, and I, the viewer is forced to ask, who is more human in this episode, the human or the Cylon? It is never a cut and dried answer. Sometimes it is the humans, sometimes the Cylons. Sometimes it is the Cylon-loving humans, sometimes it is the Human-loving Cylons. And just sometimes it is the military crew aboard the titular battlestar.

By using theoretical characters, such as robots, artificial intelligence or alien life-forms, we can ask the difficult questions. We remove race, religion and history that we know and believe in and replace it with a fictional experience and the fundamental questions are answered uneasily and without a neat closure. In BSG we could overlay many issues. Race. War in Iraq. Terrorism. Refugees and "Illegal" immigration. Animal rights and the Environment. Justice. Freedom. Compassion.

When we feel comfortable, and have little need to question the life we take for granted, a good sci-fi fix can move us to re-examine our opinions and wonder if our humanity has been lost amongst the spin, fear-mongering and ideaolatry that is part of public life. BSG helps us to ask if we are truly acting as a human, or we are acting below the lofty values we aspire to.