The Island

Director: Michael Bay

Year: 2005

Cast

Ewan McGregor – Lincoln Six Echo / Tom Lincoln

Scarlett Johansson – Jordan Two Delta / Sarah Jordan

Djimon Hounsou – Albert Laurent

Sean Bean – Dr. Merrick

Steve Buscemi – James McCord

MY SUMMARY

The Island is a science fiction film about the evils of science used in the commercialization of human life. The protagonist, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) is a clone living in a self-contained utopia, a bastion of humans in a world contaminated by a disease that wipes out almost all life. Lincoln is very different from other inhabitants of the facility in that he is skeptical. Because of his skepticism he learns that the facility is a lie – that the inhabitants of the facility were subjected to inhuman medical procedures that will take their organs or babies, killing them. To sugarcoat this harsh reality, the facility’s administrators, Merrick Biotech, claims that they send lucky people (those who will actually be killed) to the last paradise, the Island in the film.

Lincoln Six Echo’s friend, Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson), is one the “lucky” individuals to be sent to the Island. Knowing the fact that it might be the end of her, Lincoln Six Echo takes her to escape from the facility. Another friend, James McCord (Steve Buscemi) uncovers the reality of Merrick and the clones’ reasons for being. He helps the two escape. Meanwhile, the head of the Merrick facility, Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean), commissions Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou) to bring back the escapees, and orders the destruction of “defective product lines.” Upon arriving on Los Angeles, Lincoln and JordanLincoln finds his (Tom Lincoln) and asks him to help in the emancipation of other clones trapped in the facility. Lincoln’s sponsor turns against the clone but this does not fail the cloned Lincoln and Jordan in their goal to save the other clones. search for their sponsors;

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY & SOCIETY IN THE FILM

There were many technologies presented in the film. In almost every setting was ubiquitous computing, making transactions easier, but lending them subject to greater surveillance and control. Transportation has become faster and, to a certain degree, more efficient; maglev and overhead cable trains run alongside SUVS, trucks and rocket-propelled air gliders. Communication has become easier, cheaper and more visual.

In the Merrick facility, most of the technologies employed were towards one goal: to control the clones. Clones were regarded as products or commodities and not as human beings; everything was done to ensure their commercial value. Grown in vitro, the clones were brainwashed and then managed through thought control. Their health was vigorously monitored, results of tests becoming available to them and their “controllers” in real-time. Robot-assisted surgery minimized human error and maximized precision. Living in a controlled environment, the clones were sealed from the outside world physically and psychologically, living in a sort of utopia, provided with everything in return for unquestioning obedience and a chance to go to paradise, The Island.

The clones were created for their “sponsors” who, anticipating later medical conditions, would require parts of the clones’ bodies for their own, killing the clones. As it is illegal and immoral to kill human beings just to make another live (and at a cost that will go to a third party’s pocket), Merrick, a private company, has to make lots of lies to distance their clients from the distasteful reality of what they’re actually buying. Potential buyers were informed that what they were buying were not human beings as they don’t have consciousness. The structure of the facility ensured that no customer will know the truth for themselves. Neither did the clones knew what their fates were, until one of them found out, escaped and attempted to free all of the clones under Merrick’s control. Despite Merrick’s seeming success in controlling thought, at least one was able to break from the imposed way of thinking.

The film presented what might be the ugly consequences of too much greed and tampering of human life. Similar to the atrocities committed by the Nazis during the Second World War, scientific and technological achievements can be used to enslave people (which aren’t “humans” in their discourse) and bring social inequality to a more ruthless level. Changes always bring with them dangers; it is up to the more vigilant among us to expose these dangers and make sure that science does make life better for all, not just for a privileged some.