9. Conclusion

                After watching these eight movies I learned a lot of things about how posthumanism affects film and how society views posthuman concepts through film.

1.       Alternate Realities- There are plenty of ways to create an alternate reality, rather it be through dreams, machines, games, or medicine. Alternate realities are very dangerous. They are often used as an escape for people struggling to cope with life. This is a terrible reason to escape. We were put into this reality for a reason. Instead of giving in and running, fight back and improve your life. Alternate realities are also dangerous because of the thought of what is reality. People become different in different realities. Different realities have different sets of rules to abide by. The problem starts when people can’t separate those rules from different realities. Alternate reality separates you from being a human. Sometimes there are people who enjoy the alternate reality so much they will do anything to not have to leave it. There is a case to be made though for someone who is physically unable to enjoy this reality due to limitations. In that case it’s understandable to at least let them have some enjoyment of being able to do things they otherwise couldn’t. In the end though it’s this reality that makes us human and that’s what we have to remember.

2.       Technological increases for medicine- We’re living in a time of massive technological growth. If this continues who knows, we may be able to see some of these things. Some of these ideas could be very helpful medical advances. Artificial organs and robotic limbs can help people recover from sickness and injuries that normally people wouldn’t be able to. They can help prolong lives to lengths that before would be inconceivable. If someone has artificial parts though are they still human. How much of them has to be “real?” Who is going to control these inventions? If the private sector gets ahold of them they can set a very high priced market which would price out all but the elite. This would increase the divide between the haves and have nots. The second danger is the concept of immortality. How long should people live? It’s impossible for everyone to live forever. There simply aren’t enough resources to sustain an ever-growing population for eternity. How do you decide who lives and who dies? These technological advances can further medicines by leaps and bounds, but it also creates a struggle for power and resources. Humans aren’t meant to live forever, even if we have the means to.

3.       Other technological advances- We also see that there are other forms of technology that can be created. How far is too far in technology? We could end up creating things that we later regret. Everyone doesn’t need to be connected at all times. Too much technology keeps us plugged in. We need to get out and experience things. If we don’t we will lose our humanity. We’re already slowly becoming dependent on technology. If we had robots that could do our bidding we’d fall even more under technology’s spell. In a way we could create that which is our downfall.

4.       Humans not being on top of the food chain- Multiple times I saw instances where humans were no longer the dominant species. Usually it was because of a virus. It’s possible that the next step in being post human is to honestly not be a human anymore. Humans could evolve into something like a zombie, vampire, or machine.

5.       This could happen very soon- In the eight movies I watched they were set in, 2025, 2035, 2054, 2169, and four movies which were set in “present day.” It’s crazy to think about it, but these ideas were developed in futures that are, with the exception of 2169, very near. It shows that these ideas aren’t completely farfetched and could happen soon.

6.       People are intrigued by posthuman themes- People love seeing this kind of thing. Box office receipts clearly show that.

Movie	The Matrix	Inception	Repo Men	Daybreakers	Minority Report	28 Days Later	I, Robot	In Time	TOTAL
Budget	$63 Million	$160 Million	$32 Million	$20 Million	$102 Million	$8 Million	$120 Million	$40 Million	$545 Million
Total Gross	$463 Million	$825 Million	$18 Million	$51 Million	$358 Million	$83 Million	$347 Million	$174 Million	$2.319 Billion
Profit	$400 Million	$665 Million	$-14 Million	$31 Million	$256 Million	$75 Million	$227 Million	$134 Million	$1.774 Billion

People come out in droves to see most of these movies. All but one of them made a profit. All but two of them made a $100 Million profit. Half of them made a quarter billion dollars. For them to make that much money a lot of people have to see them. This means that people know the subject of posthumanism now. It’s showing that the idea is infiltrating mainstream society in a big way. Everyone watches movies. This is becoming such a large subject matter that it’s become very hard to find someone who hasn’t seen one of these eight movies. If anyone hasn’t it’s still a safe bet that they’ve seen a similar movie.

Works cited

"28 Days Later." Box Office Mojo. Ed. Ray Subers. IMDb, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=28dayslater.htm>.

"Daybreakers." Box Office Mojo. Ed. Ray Subers. IMDb, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=daybreakers.htm>.

"I, Robot." Box Office Mojo. Ed. Ray Subers. IMDb, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=irobot.htm>.

"In Time." Box Office Mojo. Ed. Ray Subers. IMDb, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=now.htm>.

"Inception." Box Office Mojo. Ed. Ray Subers. IMDb, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=inception.htm>.

"Minority Report." Box Office Mojo. Ed. Ray Subers. IMDb, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=minorityreport.htm>.

"Repo Men." Box Office Mojo. Ed. Ray Subers. IMDb, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=repossessionmambo.htm>.

"The Matrix." Box Office Mojo. Ed. Ray Subers. IMDb, n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2013. <http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=matrix.htm>.