Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy, Johnny Depp, and Rebecca Hall in ‘Transcendence’/Image © Alcon Entertainment
Science, literature, and film give life to our dreams but never without consequence, it seems. Every invention, formula, or vision — even with benevolent intentions — has a countertale of tragedy from a lack of forethought or an unchecked ego. It’s as if we fear our achievements will take us where no one should go.
This struggle between ambition and anxiety comes alive this week in “Transcendence,” a sci-fi thriller starring Johnny Depp as Dr. Will Caster, an artificial intelligence researcher aiming to create a sentient but emotional computer. When anti-technology extremists place his life in jeopardy, his wife (Rebecca Hall) and his best friend (Paul Bettany) link his consciousness to the system to save him.
The peril of merging a person’s consciousness with a computer is a theme of films such as 1984’s “The Terminator” and 1992’s “Lawnmower Man,” which borrowed its title (if little else) from a Stephen King short story. “Transcendence” is an original script by Jack Paglen, but the cautionary sentiment dates back to the birth of science fiction and Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”
Learn more about the history of sci-fi cautionary tales in my article here. And check out a fellow writer’s related piece here about the specific twist of man versus machine.