With “Prometheus,” Ridley Scott set out to do a
prequel to “Alien.” But as Jon Spaihts
and Damon Lindelof helped him craft the story, he used the movie to
explore beliefs on the origin of the human species. While many of the actors were drawn to work
with Scott because of his reputation, or because they loved “Alien,” some grew
excited by the “Science versus Religion” aspects of the story. This proved the case for Noomi Rapace and
Logan Marshall-Green, who played the researchers Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie
Holloway, and Michael Fassbender, who played the android David.
For those who have not seen the movie, Shaw and Holloway are
archeologists who have observed the same star configuration in cave paintings
from different cultures all over the Earth.
When Peter Weyland agrees to fund their expedition to an Earthlike
planet circling one of the stars, he sends along David, an expert in ancient
languages, to make contact with any sentient beings they may encounter. As an android, David holds no religious
beliefs, and feels no excitement over a potential meeting with a race that
might have initiated or influenced mankind’s development. The only discovery that matters to Charlie
Holloway is that he can communicate with the aliens he believes created humanity. Elizabeth Shaw, who refuses to abandon her
Christian upbringing, confounds Holloway and David. “How can you cling to your religion when your
research leads you to believe that aliens created you?” they ask. “Yes, but who created them?” she replies.
People of all religious persuasions can be stern with those
who attempt to reinterpret their beliefs.
Yet all too often, when I mention to a Christian that I’m writing Science Fiction and
Fantasy, I’m told “I’ve got a great idea for a story.” Invariably, their great story involves a
spaceship crashing on a planet, and the survivors, a man and a woman, end up
populating this world, which usually turns out to be Earth. (On such occasions, I’ve learned to nod, and
say “Wow, what a powerful idea!”)
While people outside the genre may not be aware of this,
Science Fiction has reinterpreted the Adam and Eve story many times. My 2011 series on “The Cage,” in which the
Talosians kidnap Captain Christopher Pike, and attempt to repopulate their dead
planet through him and Vena, reminded me how fascinated Gene Roddenberry was by
the origin of man. When the studio
rejected “The Cage,” he wrote a second Star Trek pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone
Before,” in which Lieutenant Gary Mitchell and Dr. Elizabeth Dehner are granted
psionic powers, and plan on breeding a race with such godlike abilities. Occasionally, someone like Roddenberry will
reinterpret the Origin of Man stories in a new way that resonates with society,
but such occasions are rare. As we
appear to be endlessly fascinated by this topic, most magazine and book
publishers list “Adam & Eve” among those types of stories that they
definitely do not want.
I find it interesting that so many people of sincere
religious belief are drawn to Science Fictional variants of the Adam and Eve
story. I find it equally interesting
that every human culture and society has developed its own myths about the
origins of humanity. On the other hand,
I find it boring and tiresome when we frame such discussions in terms of This versus That, as if a single person, group, or system could fully define Ultimate
Truth. Science, Mythology, Religion,
Art, Music: none can fully capture, envision, or explain It. All have their place in helping us understand
and perceive the Truth about our origins, our planet, and ourselves.
As Jon Spaihts, Damon Lindelof, and Ridley Scott
demonstrated with “Prometheus,” Fiction can also serve as an aid to
enlightenment. At least, to quote
Elizabeth Shaw, “that’s what I choose to believe.”
