Escape to The Island

I am a fan of good science fiction. And science fiction is at its best when it is most like prophecy. Think Brave New World.

The Island (with Scottish hottie Ewan McGregor and dewey-eyed Scarlett Johansson) is good science fiction.

Cloning is coming. It is the natural extension of stem cell research and (painful as it may be to admit) abortion. So of course we are surprised when Hollywood makes a movie about the implications of advancing science at any cost. Jurassic Park is a surprising movie for the same reason, even though it's about prehistoric amphibians. Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.

But the movie isn't perfect for this reason: it shies away from admitting that it doesn't take a psycho with a God Complex to build a factory that grows human beings for their organs. It just takes a lot of well-meaning people, some carrying fresh pain from the death of a loved one, on a mission to cure this or that. Or a lot of rich people who don't want to pay the price for a life of carousing.

We have met the enemy and the enemy is us.