unnatural selection
Gattaca: Ethan Hawke
200 years after the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of the Species, we celebrate with four films exploring the trickiest (and ickiest) question of all - are humans, after all, the fittest?
". it was unprecedented because he came up with a mechanism which is convincing. It's still the core of our understanding of how the evolutionary process works, by natural selection. And he wrote a book that was so detailed, so insidious and careful with its presentation of the evidence, that no thinking person could possibly refute its thesis..." So says Niles Eldridge, an evolutionary biologist and palaeontologist at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, and curator of an exhibition of Darwin memorabilia which is now showing at the National Museum of Australia.
This is just one of the many worldwide events scheduled in 2009 to mark the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, and the 150th anniversary of the publication that took his (r)evolutionary ideas out of scientific circles to the wider public. As a part of the University of Melbourne's Evolution: The Festival ACMI is presenting four films this month that explore the wider themes of genetics and natural (or unnatural) selection.
Austrian filmmaker Hubert Sauper's harrowing documentary Darwin's Nightmare looks at the human and environmental costs of the relentless exploitation of Africa's resources by the developed world. In the 1960s in the heart of Africa, the Nile Perch was deliberately introduced into Lake Victoria. A voracious predator, it promptly extinguished almost the entire stock of native fish species, turning the lake into an ecological wasteland. "But economically, it's good!" This harrowing documentary challenges us to ask ourselves - when "survival of the fittest" becomes the primary rule of our economy and social systems, what is the cost to humanity?
This screening will be followed by a panel discussion with Margaret Davis Collegiate Professor John H Vandermeer and Arthur F. Thurnau, Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan. The discussion will cover the broader impact of an ecological nightmare, taking Sauper's film as a starting point.
Then, to enter the world of science fiction (or future fact?) journey to a sterile, genetically-enhanced, not-too-distant future, in Andrew Niccol's Gattaca. This '97 sci-fi taps into vital themes concerning the ethics of genetics, telling the story of Vincent, a man with genetically inferior makeup who assumes the identity of someone with superior DNA in order to fulfil his dream of space travel. The film creates a dystopic world ruled by bio-engineered superhumans - an outcome that no longer seems far-fetched.
Following Gattaca, stick around for a brief Q&A session with Professor Jenny Graves, leading expert in Comparative Genomics, Australian National University, Canberra. Graves will discuss the potential for the Gattaca scenario to become a reality, based on our current knowledge of DNA.
And if you're the brave, un-squeamish sort, and you're up for following Darwin's nightmares to their (il)logical conclusion, get along to Freaky Fridays on Friday 6 February and Friday 13 February for some creepy treats. On Friday 6th, we bring you Shivers - a sexual apocalypse that only David Cronenberg could imagine, that brings genetic mistakes and zombies together in the one schlock, horror fright-fest. On Friday 13th, the long-standing belief that extraterrestrials just want to eat us is confirmed in Roger Donaldson's Species, as research scientist Ben Kingsley meddles with alien and human DNA to freaky effect. What would Charles think?
For all Evolution: The Festival screening details click here
Published Monday, 2 February 2009
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