Unexpectedly, the best recent science fiction work is Ridley Scott's "Alien Cataclysm".
Since the beginning of autumn, science fiction film and television seems to usher in a piece of fertile ground of its own. On the one hand, the film industry is gaining momentum. After the warm-up of the two re-screenings of "Interstellar" and "Inception", the science fiction film "Super Giant" Nolan's "Creed" should have made a "big noise".
On the other hand, domestic and foreign science fiction dramas such as "Can't Escape" and "Black Robe Entangled Team 2" have also been broadcast online.
Unexpectedly, under the encirclement of the inside and outside, Ridley Scott easily highlighted the encirclement. Despite all the expectations, before the broadcast, who would have thought that the winner would be "Alien Cataclysm"? You know, it was 50 years ago that he participated in the creation of a drama series last time. Not to mention, after 2015's "The Martian", Lao Lei's lower limit is indeed a bit lower.
Speaking of Ridley Scott, the domestic audience is no stranger. This British director who is over eighty years old has long established a banner in the field of science fiction with the help of "Alien", "Blade Runner" and "Prometheus". This time, the renewed effort of "Alien Cataclysm" highlights a fact: Ridley Scott, a well-deserved master of science fiction film and television.
"Alien Cataclysm" is produced by HBO. It is a regular web drama. Ridley Scott served as producer and director of the first two episodes. The English name of the play "Raised by Wolves" is very interesting and can be literally translated as "Raised by Wolves". The story of the play is based on the history of the founding of ancient Rome. The first king of ancient Rome, Romulus, was a "wolf boy."
If you know Ridley Scott, then watching "Alien Cataclysm", you will have a different sense of familiarity. The play is filled with the flavors of his previous works: brave independent women in "Alien", rebellious clones in "Blade Runner", religious and human arguments in "Prometheus", and "Gladiator" There is a tragic classical oil painting-like artistic conception...
Technological Refutation: The Sorrow of the Machine and "Father Killing"
"Alien Cataclysm" is a post-apocalyptic science fiction drama about mankind's exploration of a new home.
If "Creed" follows the "hard science fiction" route; then "Alien Cataclysm" is a typical "soft science fiction". Although Ridley Scott is also keen on large-scale visual effects, the story of "Roman Wolf Boy" undoubtedly pays more attention to the exploration of human nature and philosophical speculation-the existence of human beings in the future society and the pursuit of "human beings" In-depth thinking about uniqueness.
The background setting of "Alien Star Cataclysm" is that as the war between theists and atheists intensifies, the destruction of the home planet is inevitable. In order to pass on civilization, atheists sent artificial humans "father" and "mother" to take embryos to the habitable planet "Kebler-22." At the same time, the dignitaries of the theism camp also settled in the Ark and embarked on a journey of pursuit.
Even though it is a story of exploring a new homeland, Lao Lei did not simply make this drama "My World". The time for mountain excavation has passed, and technology has developed to a certain level, and a backpack can be turned into a living cabin.
However, despite the development of science and technology, the "entropy" is still constant. Technology cannot produce food. On the "Kebler-22" frozen soil, humans can only live by eating batter. The external conditions are very difficult, and the new human beings are very painful.
These newborns were nurtured by embryos brought on the spacecraft by the man-made couples. After 9 months of "October pregnancy" outside the body, the mother "birthed" six children. This setting is quite peculiar. During pregnancy, the artificial human and the embryo are connected through the umbilical cord of the machine to provide them with nutrients. But when you think about it, these nutrients don't need to be obtained from artificial humans.
Instead of calling this process pregnancy, it's better to call it a "dramatic ritual." Through this sense of ritual, the reproduction system of artificial humans and humans is confirmed, and the "kinship" relationship between parents and children is also passively established. In fact, it is Ridley Scott's skill to inject human emotions into artificial humans. For example, Dirk in "Blade Runner".
However, kinship often fails to break through the dilemma. Intergenerational issues are the most entangled existence in human society, and robots cannot understand the word emotion better than humans. Therefore, as the child grows up, conflicts continue to appear. The main generational contradictions in the play originate from the "out of control" of the mother's program in the play. When the child showed a dodge gesture, the mother was surprisingly angry.
Life and death, affection and reason, love and hate are blind spots that robots will never reach. As a robot mother, she will suffer for the death of her child, and will fight her life to protect her child, but are these actions really derived from emotions? Does the human nature of robots really share the same origin with humans? I am afraid that few viewers give positive answers. This is the sadness of being a machine.
In front of the child, the mother is fragile; but in front of the enemy, the mother bursts out with great power. With the arrival of the spaceships of the theism camp, the Mithras disciples also found Campion, the only child left in the hands of the cyborgs.
When the Mithras tried to take Campion away, the mother suddenly awakened the power of terror. Immediately afterwards, the most exciting scene of the first half appeared. With her "lion roar," almost all theists on the ark turned into blood foam.
Based on this, the mother's image is completely three-dimensional. Just like the perverted computer called "Mom" in "Alien", the mother here also shows her cruel and bloody side. The mother who turned on the power switch was like a war machine comparable to "Li Yuanba". Ironically, the mother was originally a "spiritual caller" created by Mithraism.
Under the layers, the antagonistic relationship between "son of man" and "father-killing" has emerged.
This is somewhat ironic, the creators created the war machine, but were completely destroyed. Of course, there is nothing incomprehensible betrayal, Adam and Eve also betrayed the Garden of Eden. In fact, the story of "father killing" is very common in Lao Lei's works. In "Prometheus", the "engineer" of the human conspiracy, the bionic person retains the alien shape, all fit this groove.
Generally speaking, the shaping of future technological products such as robots and aliens in science fiction movies and television shows not only the creator's artistic imagination, but also his philosophical "questions of heaven" concerning people and technology. "Alien Cataclysm" is also exploring this question: can technology really bring us the gospel? If there is the gospel, why are those who advocating science be driven away by religious believers?
Faith Refutation: Religion is an "original sin"
In Scott's works, religion has always been a product of considerable connotation. In "Prometheus", the "engineer" who created human beings assumes the responsibility of "God" to a certain extent, and the process of mankind's search for "engineers" can also be regarded as a kind of "pilgrimage". "Alien Cataclysm" changed the tone, where theists and atheists were fighting endlessly.
The "theistic" people in the play believe in "Mithraism". This is a religion that has really existed in history, and it is by no means made up by the screenwriter. The term "Mithra" comes from ancient Persia, meaning "contract", and is the deity of the Persian state religion Zoroastrianism. Later it spread to ancient Rome and became one of the gods of the Aryan tribe. This also further contrasts the "Ancient Roman descent" of the play.
Unlike reality, Mithraism in the play has not been replaced by Christianity. Judging from the known background of the story, "Alien Cataclysm" is probably in a parallel world where two religions compete with Christianity. I don't know if it is fortune transfer or "political correctness." In this world, Mithraism is no longer a "straight male group" that only absorbs men, but has become a "big family" of followers.
Although the Mithra believers who keep chanting "The light of Mithra armor protects me, and all evils cannot hurt me", the Mithra believers always give people a feeling of "righteousness and fist", but judging from the setting in the play, there are theists. The level of technology far exceeds that of atheists.
It is not difficult to understand that war is a big boost to the flourishing of science and technology; and religion is a natural greenhouse that breeds war.
As Lewis M. Hopfee said in "World Religions", even though most religions regard themselves as peaceful beings, religions are inherently violent. He wrote in the book, “Religious violence is divided into three types: violence as punishment for those considered evil, violence inherent in religion, and violent conflicts between religious communities.”
The war between theists and atheists obviously falls into the first two categories. If you jump out of the drama, Mithraism's exploration of the "Kebler-22" will project the shadow of the Catholic "Crusade" back then. Theists who control advanced technology and abundant resources build the ark to let the leaders go first; the atheists give the "seeds" to their fathers and mothers for the future.
In "Cataclysm", the essence of religion is blackened. "High-ranking elders" warned Captain Marcus to pay attention to the level of class. Mithra taught the nobles to sexually assault the hibernating girl. Spaceships that can travel through the interstellar space, and Martin Luther's reforms 700 years ago have not yet been realized. It's ironic.
However, even though Lao Lei severely "blacked" Mithraism in the play, he did not add glory to the atheism camp. Marcus's experience before changing his name to Yi fully demonstrated the brutality and ruthlessness of this faction.
To a certain extent, the atheists resemble Spartans. They admire strength and despise weakness. They can die in battle but cannot surrender. However, a strong will cannot be exchanged for victory, and a war is definitely not enough to frighten opponents off with a roar.
What's more interesting is that with the lack of food and the death of his companions, Campion, who was regarded by his mother as the heir to science, turned to the theist camp. To a certain extent, this fits with the essence of religion—a combination of psychological fear and demand.
In front of the kidnapped Mithra children, the mother denounced the uselessness of prayer. In her view, religious consolation is only fantasy, and children are only allowed to believe in science. But after the meal, she urged the children to close their eyes and imagine that they were single-celled organisms floating in the oceans of the earth in prehistoric times, so as to comprehend the "truth" of science. What is the difference between "worshiping in science" and "worshiping in God"?
Providing "crutches" for weak human beings is the meaning of the existence of religion, and it is also the "original sin" of religion. When Mithra's armor was "worn" on the believers, they seemed to have nothing to fear. For the artificial people who admire science, how can they embark on a broad road without seeking practical ways to rejuvenate the nation? Justice and evil merged into chaos.
In fact, in Ridley Scott's past works, "playing with flowers" through religion has long been quite common.
"The Pharaoh and the Gods" adapted from "Exodus" depicts the process of the destruction of slavery by primitive religions through the Moses Uprising; "The Kingdom of Heaven" reproduces the then "Siege of Jerusalem" in an artistic way ; As for the early "Blade Runner", it "risks the world" in the finale, portraying the replicator Roy Barty into the image of "Christ".
But regardless of praise or criticism, what Ridley Scott wants to say is not religion itself. In his view, whether it is a theist or an atheist, faith should be humanitarian. This may be the final issue that "Alien Cataclysm" wants to answer: the destruction of the home planet, how can human beings survive? In order to better continue, should human beings have faith? What do you believe?
Gender Refutation: Throw a fist at a heroine with "male manifestation"
Some people say that Ridley Scott is a feminist. Because in his movies, you can always see the image of a strong woman. This is true. From the 1991 road film "The End of the Road", Ridley Scott's works have been full of feminism and feminism. The rebellious value of the self-pursuing process of the two housewives is more than that of "Doll's House".
In fact, as early as 1979 in "Alien", Lao Lei portrayed a typical female image-Ripley. Among the seven people on the "Nostromo" commercial towing spacecraft, apart from the ghostly robot Ashe, only Ripley was the only one who could be considered wise and brave. Especially when compared with the female No. 2 Lambert, her decisiveness and courage are even more admirable.
"Alien" created the era of female heroes in science fiction movies, and subsequent series of imitations often set a heroine-like character. Of course, from the current perspective, these powerful women are more like replicas of men. After all, in the original script of "Alien" by Ronald Shusett and Dan Obannon, all the crew members did not indicate their gender.
The problem of re-engraving is more obvious in "The End of the Wild Flower". The original Selma was a "canary" that can't even be touched with a weapon; by the latter part of the film, she has become a powerful person who smokes, robs, and even kills. But this kind of power, the root force is still the invisible oppression of the patriarchal society. To a certain extent, this is a simplistic "feminism". What the two women did was to use male methods to resist the patriarchal society. They only became the perpetrators and "them".
In addition to powerful heroines, Ridley Scott's works have more common metaphors for sexual behavior.
This is also a kind of disguised oppression in the patriarchal society: when Ripley was stripped of only half of his underwear in "Alien", the hidden monster did not surprise in secret, but waited in front of her, with obvious intentions; In "The End of the Wild Flower", Selma responded to the guys in the bar, which made him think that "she would like to have sex with me"... It's ridiculous and funny.
However, in recent years, new changes have gradually appeared in the heroine roles in old Lei movies.
"The Martian" also designed a heroine character-Commander Louise. But compared to Ripley in "Alien", this role is obviously improved. Louise has the calmness, wisdom and perseverance that is not inferior to the protagonist of the Shuang drama, and also has the feminine characteristics that are different from traditional men: kindness, healing, and seemingly "all-for-all" love.
By the time of "Alien Cataclysm", Lao Lei's feminist thinking went further. In the mother's body, there is nowhere to show the secondary sexual characteristics. Even though she still has pregnancy behavior, she should be regarded as the "elder" of the primitive ethnic group. She is a mother, but her act of "killing" her father is by no means domestic violence, but a "leadership battle" for the development of the population.
One more digression must be inserted here. Historically, Mithraism has 7 levels, the highest being the "father", usually held by the senator of the Senate. In this play, the leader of the atheist camp becomes a mother—a title of detached gender. The author believes that it cannot be simply regarded as a product of "political correctness", it is even more of a blow to heroines with "male characteristics."
In fact, the three issues discussed by Ridley Scott also hit the blind spot of domestic science fiction films. Science fiction works tell good stories, but in addition to logically self-consistent stories, deep human thinking and philosophical arguments should be valued by creators.
When "Wandering Earth" was released, some people compared it with "Interstellar Crossing", thinking that the former was just a visual spectacle, while the latter carried the humanistic excitement. This is also the key reason why the word-of-mouth gap between "Creed" and "Alien Cataclysm" appears today.
Science fiction film and television should not only focus on unhappiness and happiness, but also have expectations of technology, imagination of others, and reflections on human civilization. A good science fiction film should make people think about the smallness of being a human being, and think about the vast existence and emptiness of the universe.
"What makes us humans? What makes a family? What if we can do it again and eliminate the chaos on our planet? Can we survive? Can we do better?" Please do Answer.
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