I just finished watching the pilot for Caprica. If you're a fan of BSG, I don't have to explain what Caprica is. For the rest of you...Google it. Anywho, back to the pilot. One of the problems with humans being around for as long as we have is, the simple fact, there is rarely anything new in the world. Something is a rehash or a sequel or a re-imagining of an original product. Now don't go assuming Caprica is a copy of something previously done. It isn't, but there are hints of plagiarism...yet very subtle.
I remember when The Matrix first came out. It blew me away. A buddy of mine, Mark Payonk, and I skipped out of work to watch it at the movie theater in Peterborough, England. When it ended, we wanted nothing more than to watch it again. The sense of a world that was real, yet based on something intangible was mesmerising for us. I remember thinking to myself I had seen the story someplace else though.
It wasn't until, a while later, while watching the bonus footage for The Matrix, I heard the Wachowski Brothers say they "borrowed" some of their ideas from Japanese anime films, specifically Ghost in the Shell. [cue: bright light bulb glowing brightly overhead ]. Those of you who know me, know I am a real fan of anime. I lived in Japan for my entire adolescence. Graduated from Kadena High School (without honors). I have a unique kinship for anime. There is an Akira movie poster hanging in my office. Before I watched Matrix, I must have seen Ghost in the Shell half a dozen times. I fault myself for not seeing the connection between the two sooner.
Caprica delves into a world that seems to make more sense as each day of human evolution progresses. With the overwhelming power of the Internet and the vast amounts of storage available in the world, it is only a matter of time when the very essence of humanity, itself, has been broken down to simple bits of data. Even the human genome is stored on someones hard drive. It isn't too much of a leap before every sense of our being can be manipulated down to 1's and 0's. Inconceivable? Think about it. How much of your life exists right now on the web? I don't have to go into specifics, but if you really think about it you might scare yourself at how personally involved you are in that virtual space called the World Wide Web...a.k.a. the Internet...a.k.a. The Matrix.
I don't have any answers. If you're interested in furthering your quest, I recommend the prophetic visuals of Ghost in the Shell, Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 1st and 2nd Gig, The Matrix, and now...Caprica.
I leave you all with a quote that airs at the beginning of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence...
"If our gods and our hopes are nothing but scientific phenomena, then it must be said that our love is scientific as well" - L 'Eve Future.
