In many ways, they’re space westerns, just as the original series of Star Trek was first pitched, and the battles between spaceships are airplane dog fights with laser beams instead of ammunition. The Star Wars franchise, the MCU, and Avatar are each in the top ten box office grossers of the past ten years, and the visual language and plotlines of these films are pastiches of other genres. Many try to replicate 2001: A Space Odyssey’s philosophical themes: Ex Machina is about a sentient AI that turns dangerous and manipulative Contact is about the search for meaning in a vast universe Arrival takes seriously the interactions between humans and extraterrestrial visitors and plays with the very nature of time, just as the conclusion of 2001: A Space Odyssey does.īut it’s the subgenre of fantasy science fiction that has seen the largest growth, dominating the film marketplace in some years. In most cases, realistic science fiction utilizes 2001: A Space Odyssey’s visual and auditory language: outer space has no sound, and ships move deliberately. After all, at its best, the fantasy science fiction franchise Star Trek, which takes great liberties with the laws of physics, aims for resonant philosophical themes just as high-minded as 2001: A Space Odyssey's, and realistic science fiction like Ad Astra was a slog that failed to connect its ambitious premise with a cohesive plot. One shouldn’t assume that there is more prestige in realistic science fiction than in fantasy. Broadly speaking, the genre has bifurcated into two general categories: realistic science fiction and fantasy science fiction. Since 19: A Space Odyssey’s release, there has been an explosion of science fiction on film. And considering that most Americans are walking around with a type of AI in their pockets - though not self-aware, of course - that 2001: A Space Odyssey predicted the ubiquity of artificial intelligence adds to the film’s prescient brilliance. Though films and television had depicted humanoid robots, including the one in Metropolis, consciousness in a disembodied computer was untrod territory in film. The first rudimentary AI was developed in 1955, so in 1968 the concept of AI was so new and cutting edge. It is impossible to understate how forward-thinking this is. HAL demonstrates feelings of self-righteousness when his functionality is questioned, personal agency when conspiring against the crew members, and pain and fear when Dave is shutting him down – or is that all just part of his programming? The singularity, or artificial intelligence’s self-awareness, has been a frequent subject of science fiction films, including Ex Machina, AI: Artificial Intelligence, and even The Terminator series, but it was first explored in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The second deeply philosophical question explored in the film is what makes humans human? Through HAL 9000’s self-awareness, the film wonders where the line of personhood is drawn.
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