Humans: Their Own Worst Enemy

Although much changed in the adaptation of “I Am Legend” from print to film, many thematic aspects remained similar. Particularly interesting is the changed cause of the disease; in both the film and book, humans are the original cause of their own demise, albeit in different ways. In the film, I found the cause of the disease, a mutated cure for cancer, to be a kind of cop-out, relying on a fear mongering, progress-will-be-our-downfall cliché. I preferred the book’s cause of the disease – that humans were the cause of the disease is not unreasonable, and that it would be caused by humans at war (again) seemed much more poetic as well. That war would end our society and be the beginning of the next society (once the last human finally stopped fighting) was a good transition between the human and vampire societies. The cancer cure causing our demise seemed like too much – of course, it has to be the cure for cancer that kills us all, what’s next, our vaccines?   

The End

I feel that although the film altered the intended meaning of I am Legend, it was a fitting adaptation of the book for a Hollywood blockbuster. First of all, Will Smith literally goes out with a bang, which is classic Hollywood. We return to a more human-centric view of the meaning of survival. I find it interesting that in the film, the vampires are simply reduced to snarling, roaring beasts – they have lost the ability for speech, which furthers the viewer’s disconnect with the vampires. Also, in the film, Neville only researches for a cure.

However, in the novel, Neville simultaneously tries to find a cure and researches more about the virus itself, which describes the psychological effects. The vampires in the novel, specifically Ben Cortman, shout personalized threats to Neville once dusk approaches. I believe that this also reaffirms the assumption that Neville truly is the last man on Earth. By giving psychological reasons for the vampirism and by giving the vampires a voice, Matheson re-humanizes them, and thus gives us comfort in stepping aside for the new race.

I like the irony of the incongruities of the film with the novel. Viewers root for Will Smith, a decorated African-American actor, which nullifies the “master race”/”Aryan” character that perhaps Matheson originally intended. (To add on to Cynthia’s idea that this was supposed to be a racist analogy, on page 160, Neville refers to the vampires as “dark men”). The film audience also roots for Neville, viewing him as a martyr for the human race. As a whole, the film with our reactions is an interesting piece of performance art because our human-centric egos are put into play.

The Endings

The book and movie left the viewer/reader with a completely different, and almost opposite, sentiment after completion. As has been previously mentioned about both I, Robot and I Am Legend, the demand for a certain type of story, and a certain kind of ending drives Hollywood to craft a message that is usually more heroic or gripping than that of the novel.

The novel’s ending seemed to be a more honest and realistic view and comment on the direction of humanity and what would actually happen in the event of a rise of infected zombies (it could happen). The ending of the movie struck more more as a scene from 24, where Will Smith finds the cure just in time, and then sacrifices himself just as the attackers are closing in, with seconds to spare. Although I appreciate the more somber ending of the book, I sure did enjoy the ending of the movie more.

I also realized that I didn’t need a completely optimistic and happy ending. Had Will Smith not found the cure, but still gone out ‘guns blazing’ or by doing something cool, I still would have viewed him as a “legend”. I am still struggling which ending I actually like better; the one that I enjoyed or the one that I found to be more truthful and revealing.

I Guess I Can Cross LSD Off My Bucket List?

The Futurological Congress is best described as a surreal journey and probably most akin to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. It is one of the strangest novels I have ever read and raises a myriad of questions that I can't even begin to answer. First of all, why is that nobody seems to care for human life? The eighth annual futurological congress at the Hilton Nounas held their proceedings amid a violent protests and thought nothing of it. Moreover, in several scenes men are murdered in front of Ijon Tichy and the rest of the presenters and the corpses are treated like a spill that needs cleaning. It seems like everyone has a weapon and isn't afraid to use it. Second, when does Ijon Tichy stop/start/ever hallucinate? It appears relatively straightforward at first, as the LTN (Love Thy Neighbor) bombs drop he and a few others escape to the sewer. Tichy starts hallucinating as I follow him into the sky, across the gravel road, into the party, into two other persons' bodies, and then back to the sewer. But when the sewer survivors are rescued a second time is it real or a hallucination. Before the violence and the psychochem benevolence Ijon Tichy appears to be a very important person. Why then would the Americans and other futurological congress attendees leave him in the sewer? Thus far Stanislaw Lem has left me profoundly confused and I hope that much is resolved in the second half or that at least a few of my questions are answered.

He was Legend

The book I am Legend is told in the third person. However, it involves such a close, and at times intimate, narrative that it almost seems like first person. Neville is the only character, and so we may forget that the narrative is not actually told through him, but from an omniscient narrator.

The film I am Legend contains a small narration at the end:

"In 2009, a deadly virus burned through our civilization pushing humankind
to the edge of extinction.Dr. Robert Neville dedicated his life to the discovery of a cure and the restoration of humanity. On September 9th, 2012 at approximately 8:49pm he discovered that cure. And at 8:52, he gave his life to defend it. We are his legacy.
This is his legend."

This small portion of the film is the only part told through a narrator. In this case, the narrator is Anna. I find it interesting that Neville is still the legend in this case, however the term legend takes on a different meaning. Because Anna is still alive, and is a human narrator in this case, the legend of Robert Neville is quite different than it is in the novel. In this case, Neville is a hero among mankind. He will be remembered perhaps like Alexander the Great, George Washington, or another legendary human. The novel paints a much more chilling picture. Neville is a legend, not like like George Washington, but rather like the Loch Ness Monster or bigfoot. He is a villified monster, the only one of his kind and a feared creature to the whole human race.

I find that this is the greatest difference between the film and the book, and for this reason greatly preferred the telling of the story in print, as it has really stimulated my thinking on what it means to be human and a member of humanity, while the film resembles just another Hollywood story of an improbable heroic individual.

Do we already live in a virtual reality?

I just finished reading The Futurological Congress, and I can confidently say it was the most bizarre novel I have ever experienced. Lem’s style takes the reader through an intense stream of consciousness first-person narrative by the protagonist, Ijon Tichy. The nonsensical arrangements of images and events make the distinctions between reality and illusion impossible to identify. This struggle to identify reality, however, is shared by both the reader and the protagonist. Neither is ever completely sure where reality ends and illusion begins. This sets up a reliability complex where neither the narrator nor his counterparts can be trusted.

Lem offers a terrifying alternative to a utopian future that is strikingly similar to the movie The Matrix. Both works reveal a world only lived through simulation—where concrete reality barely exists, and we only perceive life through our imaginations. While both works are extreme examples of what may come of our world, we are beginning to see hints at this future through our consumption of technology today.

Today, children might be tempted to play Wii tennis instead of going outside. Lonely bachelors might log on to a virtual life online to connect with other “people.” I recently saw a special about technological therapy, where people in rehabilitation centers were encouraged to walk slowly on a treadmill while a virtual reality of beautiful forests was presented around them. Currently, these virtual realities can do a lot of harm and good. Lem, however, might argue that virtual realities are only dangerous and can lead to the disastrous circumstances he described in The Futurological Congress.

Shifting the Focus

I think the ending of the movie completely changes the meaning of the last line of the book. In the book, it is clear that Robert’s death makes him the legend. Yet in the movie, Anna states that Robert’s legend is the cure, and the survivor colony is his legacy, taking a lot of focus off of Robert. The movie leaves us asking questions whereas the novel promises a brighter future (at least in my opinion). I think the book’s transition after Robert’s death to a hybrid community that is very well organized is more hopeful than the survivor colony depicted by the movie. The story does not end with the protagonist’s death but instead continues, completely shifting Matheson’s focus. I wrote in my last post how I really appreciated the role of Ruth and the dynamic she added to the novel so I was very disappointed when Ethan and Anna replaced Ruth. Not only did they take a lot of focus away from Robert but I also think Ruth added a lot more depth to the novel than Anna and Ethan did. Ruth’s character had complexities to her, both in her physical make-up as well as her feelings towards Robert. Anna, on the other hand, appears out of nowhere and leads the vampires straight to Robert’s door, essentially disrupting his routine and leading to his death.