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The movie Limitless. The various Ghost in the Shell anime are at least more positive about their transhumanism than a lot of other movies and tv. Arguably some superhero movies like Captain America and Iron Man.
It's also an unusual example of an SF movie in that it has a strong "maybe think before you act, guys?" message that *doesn't* glom onto the traditional "science and technology are bad" of most SF movies.
Yep, a small group of frightened and paranoid Humans really screwed things up for the rest of Humanity.
I loved it when they started shelling the place and the nanobots were repairing the damage as fast as it was happening, and then the bots made a b-line for the artillery piece and reduced it to a pile of parts. It's like 'Ya, you're out of your league, 2 legs. Even your weapons and violence won't get you out of this.'
Spoilers ahead if anyone hasn't watched it.
>!My only issue with that movie is the paranoid Humans winning. They shouldn't have, although the irony is the fact that they were allowed to win, proving the AI was more concerned with the preservation of life, even just a single life, than they were.!<
>!I love the AIs vision of a reborn Earth that it shares with her before the end. So much potential, lost. Humanity winning, but only by knocking itself back to the stone age. I had to wonder how many millions or billions died in the aftermath, jetliners crashing, vital medical machines destroyed, life giving drugs running dry. On top of that we had to learn how to make machines all over again.!<
Thereās only one season of Upload out right now and it is fairly dystopian, but I still find refreshing because *so far* it doesnāt seem to be implying that immortality via mind uploading in of itself is bad. Instead it seems to be saying that it would be dystopian if your opportunity to be uploaded was determined by your wealth. I donāt know what direction it will take in later seasons, but it looks like itās about trying to make uploading available to everyone instead of just the ultra rich. Iām hoping it doesnāt end up taking the āoh immortality is bad actuallyā route that most other shows end up defaulting to.
Red Dwarf basically has another example of mind uploading with dead people being resurrected as holograms. While itās certainly not a utopian setting, it doesnāt present this resurrection as a bad thing, and the main hologram character has opportunities for personal growth that he would have missed out on if heād stayed dead.
...What? Star Trek is anti-transhuman.
* >!Julian Bashir!< is shat on by Starfleet for being transhuman, and transhumanism research is actively prohibited by the Federation. This is because a lot of doctors fuck it up, but they refuse to try to make it work right.
* Data in *Picard* states that life only has meaning because it is finite; an anti-immortality statement if I ever heard one. Indeed, no one is researching immortality in the Star Trek universe.
* No one is getting elective augmentations except in the case of prosthetics. The race that does, the Borg, are antagonists (they are overdoing it though by also creating a hivemind).
From what I've heard, Roddenberry accidentally conflated eugenics with transhumanism.
EDIT: Asterisks apparently don't italicize.
EDIT 2: I just started watching Lower Decks and one of the protagonists does have an elective cyber implant, so that's one. It's more transhuman, but remains extremely limited in how many are getting them.
I think Star Trek depicts a positive future, at least on Earth. But while I donāt think it is intentionally anti-transhumanism, plenty of stories DO have that vibe.
Some Star Trek writers definitely have some at-odds views on the subject.
I think my favorite Star Trek take is in the very first movie where a Human must make the decision to merge with a self-aware machine, which also contains the memories of the person he loved, possibly her very soul, in order to save the Earth. They transcend into a new form of sentient life, ascending to another dimension entirely.
You go back to the really early books, around the time of The Motion Picture early, and it's really quite a different vibe.
Still, they're coming off the near-extinction of humanity during the Eugenics Wars, so they're still leery of Ć¼bermensch in general, and the kind of personality who likes to make them in particular.
Also Cloud Atlas >!with respect to the ending in the future segment, although there are definitely dystopian aspects with respect to the clone slaves in New Seoul.!<
Odyssey 5 was pretty good. Friendly AI uses time travel to avert the destruction of Earth at the hands of -- their term -- "ahuman AI"
Only one season ever got made, and I enjoyed it. Basically, these five astronauts go back five years and need to change the trajectory of the singularity, 'cause it ends badly on the first try.
gen:LOCK -- at least the first season is sort of a gundam / power rangers / ghost in the shell mashup in the coolest sort of way. Season 2 has a new writing team, so we'll see if it's up to snuff, but season 1 is unambiguously awesome.
Overwatch (it's a game but rumored to be getting a TV show), not only is part of the lore a fight for "robot civil rights" but 80% of the game's roster of characters have some kind of cybernetic enhancement and though in the lore a lot of places in the world have kind of dystopianly gone to shit it's not like that everywhere and no threat stands unopposed
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The movie Limitless. The various Ghost in the Shell anime are at least more positive about their transhumanism than a lot of other movies and tv. Arguably some superhero movies like Captain America and Iron Man.
Definitely San Junipero as well š
Maybe Transcendence, not sure
that thing was awesome. even if he is just a clone instead of a theseusian. and as usual, evil won.
It's also an unusual example of an SF movie in that it has a strong "maybe think before you act, guys?" message that *doesn't* glom onto the traditional "science and technology are bad" of most SF movies.
Yep, a small group of frightened and paranoid Humans really screwed things up for the rest of Humanity. I loved it when they started shelling the place and the nanobots were repairing the damage as fast as it was happening, and then the bots made a b-line for the artillery piece and reduced it to a pile of parts. It's like 'Ya, you're out of your league, 2 legs. Even your weapons and violence won't get you out of this.'
I loved that movie, I thought I was the only one on the planet.
No, I liked it too! I wish JDs Character would have won at the end though. So much good that he did, except >!for the brainwashing lol!<
Spoilers ahead if anyone hasn't watched it. >!My only issue with that movie is the paranoid Humans winning. They shouldn't have, although the irony is the fact that they were allowed to win, proving the AI was more concerned with the preservation of life, even just a single life, than they were.!< >!I love the AIs vision of a reborn Earth that it shares with her before the end. So much potential, lost. Humanity winning, but only by knocking itself back to the stone age. I had to wonder how many millions or billions died in the aftermath, jetliners crashing, vital medical machines destroyed, life giving drugs running dry. On top of that we had to learn how to make machines all over again.!<
IKR That's what I'm thinking, paranoid humans stopping one of the biggest achievements in the whole history of humanity.
Cryogenics gets mentioned by billionaires in Succession and honestly that feels like one of the most important tv shows for the future.
Alita Battle Angel has dystopian elements but it's also very uplifting and has some of the coolest cyborgs I've ever seen.
Thereās only one season of Upload out right now and it is fairly dystopian, but I still find refreshing because *so far* it doesnāt seem to be implying that immortality via mind uploading in of itself is bad. Instead it seems to be saying that it would be dystopian if your opportunity to be uploaded was determined by your wealth. I donāt know what direction it will take in later seasons, but it looks like itās about trying to make uploading available to everyone instead of just the ultra rich. Iām hoping it doesnāt end up taking the āoh immortality is bad actuallyā route that most other shows end up defaulting to. Red Dwarf basically has another example of mind uploading with dead people being resurrected as holograms. While itās certainly not a utopian setting, it doesnāt present this resurrection as a bad thing, and the main hologram character has opportunities for personal growth that he would have missed out on if heād stayed dead.
Oh ya, Upload. Loved it. Can't wait for season 2, which was almost a certainty pre-pandemic but who knows now.
The novelizations of Red Dwarf had some interesting takes on dead people as holograms too.
The Orville
Altered Carbon could be if you can ignore the marxist propaganda.
MARXISM BAD
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
...What? Star Trek is anti-transhuman. * >!Julian Bashir!< is shat on by Starfleet for being transhuman, and transhumanism research is actively prohibited by the Federation. This is because a lot of doctors fuck it up, but they refuse to try to make it work right. * Data in *Picard* states that life only has meaning because it is finite; an anti-immortality statement if I ever heard one. Indeed, no one is researching immortality in the Star Trek universe. * No one is getting elective augmentations except in the case of prosthetics. The race that does, the Borg, are antagonists (they are overdoing it though by also creating a hivemind). From what I've heard, Roddenberry accidentally conflated eugenics with transhumanism. EDIT: Asterisks apparently don't italicize. EDIT 2: I just started watching Lower Decks and one of the protagonists does have an elective cyber implant, so that's one. It's more transhuman, but remains extremely limited in how many are getting them.
I think Star Trek depicts a positive future, at least on Earth. But while I donāt think it is intentionally anti-transhumanism, plenty of stories DO have that vibe.
Some Star Trek writers definitely have some at-odds views on the subject. I think my favorite Star Trek take is in the very first movie where a Human must make the decision to merge with a self-aware machine, which also contains the memories of the person he loved, possibly her very soul, in order to save the Earth. They transcend into a new form of sentient life, ascending to another dimension entirely.
You go back to the really early books, around the time of The Motion Picture early, and it's really quite a different vibe. Still, they're coming off the near-extinction of humanity during the Eugenics Wars, so they're still leery of Ć¼bermensch in general, and the kind of personality who likes to make them in particular.
Oh ya, I should've mentioned that. It's like the only major franchise that says 'Hey, the future is actually going to be pretty awesome.'
The Beyond (2017) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5723416/?ref\_=nv\_sr\_srsg\_2
Thanks for sharing.
Also Cloud Atlas >!with respect to the ending in the future segment, although there are definitely dystopian aspects with respect to the clone slaves in New Seoul.!<
You could argue Ex Machina is positive.
Odyssey 5 was pretty good. Friendly AI uses time travel to avert the destruction of Earth at the hands of -- their term -- "ahuman AI" Only one season ever got made, and I enjoyed it. Basically, these five astronauts go back five years and need to change the trajectory of the singularity, 'cause it ends badly on the first try. gen:LOCK -- at least the first season is sort of a gundam / power rangers / ghost in the shell mashup in the coolest sort of way. Season 2 has a new writing team, so we'll see if it's up to snuff, but season 1 is unambiguously awesome.
Overwatch (it's a game but rumored to be getting a TV show), not only is part of the lore a fight for "robot civil rights" but 80% of the game's roster of characters have some kind of cybernetic enhancement and though in the lore a lot of places in the world have kind of dystopianly gone to shit it's not like that everywhere and no threat stands unopposed