Why the Dark-seekers from Will Smith's I am Legend Were Not Merely Blood-Sucking Mutants - An Analysis into the Impacts of Misinterpreted Scientific Methods
By: Sara Illahi Panhwer
Impacts of Misinterpreted Scientific Methods
It is not untrue that Hollywood has blessed us with some fantastic movies based on the ideas of dystopia, anarchy, and full-blooded, full-scale, complete destruction of mother Earth followed by an eventual but definite process of healing (in most of the endings). These movies include the highest block-busters like Contagion, World War Z, Will Smith starring viral epic I am Legend - a film that dreaded us all as children - etc. This blog, unlike typical sci-fi reviews, will highlight the science in Smith's I am Legend.
Disclaimer: This blog contains spoilers. If you have not watched I am Legend, we recommend you stop reading right away and start doing the house chores that your mom has assigned to you.
Before
getting started on the misinterpreted scientific methods in I am Legend by the
super severe and solus character of Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville, here is a quick synopsis to
recapture the movie and the horrible, grim, and frightful childhood memories attached to it.
The 'Dark' Story:
I'm Legend is a movie adapted from a 1954 post-apocalyptic horror novel by Richard Matheson - an American novelist. While both the stories are different from each other, the gist of the novel and the movie remains the same. A team of scientists led by Dr. Alice Krippin genetically engineers the Measles virus and uses it to cure the deadly disease of cancer. Named after Dr. Alice Krippin, the Krippin Virus (KV), turns out to be lethal with a mortality rate of 90%. The KV soon becomes airborne after the scientists inject some 10,009 cancer patients with it.
After the KV becomes airborne, it ends up killing most of the world population but mutates less than 9% of the population into blood-sucking, hairless, high on adrenaline, and thirsty vampire-like creatures. God knows what those creatures did in the dark - host glow-in-the-dark parties, perhaps? - but they are clearly bothered by the sunlight as it damages their bare skin. This trait of the creatures allows military virologist Dr. Robert Neville (Will Smith) - immune from the virus - to hunt for people and animals and do all sorts of chores during the day-time. Therefore, virologist and protagonist Dr. Neville name the creatures the dark-seekers.
Trying to find a cure, Dr. Neville starts collecting data. Three years into loneliness and isolation - accompanied by a dog who gets infected by a dark-seeker – Dr. Neville eventually tries to launch a cytokine attack by running over dark-seekers on his jeep, but of course, his Indiana Jones move does not work and he ends up hurting himself. Rescued by a woman – Anna – and a kid – Ethan – and suffering from chronic loneliness, Dr. Neville realizes what is wrong with the cure and eventually dies fighting the dark-seekers leaving the cure with Anna and Ethan. In the alternate ending of the movie - considered by the audience a suitable ending - Dr. Neville realizes something important about the dark-seekers, which we will discuss when we break down the misinterpreted scientific methods in the movie.
Scientific Methods usually involve six basic steps: Observation, questioning, forming ahypothesis, making a prediction based on hypothesis, testing the prediction,and iterating.
Of these six steps, the most crucial one is always the first one - the observation. If your observation is wrong, you will never be able to seek the correct results in an experiment.
Now,
the movie has two instances where Dr. Neville does not keenly observe and
misinterprets the behavioral psychology and bodily functions of the dark-seekers, and they are as follows:
1. The One With Trapping the Darkseeker's Girlfriend (F.R.I.E.N.D.S pun intended):
Remember the scene where Dr. Neville gets to know about a bunch of dark-seekers inside a building? In that same scene, when Dr. Neville tries to capture one of the dark-seekers by using his own blood in a vessel, he notices that another dark-seeker came out of the entrance but went back due to sunlight.
Later on, when Dr. Neville tries to use the vaccine prepared from his blood, he notices nothing encouraging in the body of the female dark-seeker. However, it is crucial to notice that in the following scenes, while recording himself and his observations about the female dark-seeker, Dr. Neville says, "Mm, uh...behavior note. Um...an infected male exposed himself to sunlight today. Now, it's possible to decreased brain function, or growing scarcity of food is causing them to...ignore their basic survival instincts. Social de-evolution appears complete. Typical human behavior is now entirely absent."
So, if you have watched the movie, what do you think is the gist of Dr. Neville's scientific misinterpretation? That's right. It indeed is his observation about the missing human behavior in the dark-seekers, which Dr. Neville thinks is caused by the scarcity of food. Dr. Neville completely fails to realize that the male dark-seeker who exposes himself to sunlight did not ignore his basic survival instinct. He exposed himself because he was closely related to the female dark-seeker that Dr. Neville captured. However, he could not save her because if he had exposed himself to the UV rays, he would have died.
Moreover, when you closely see the scene where the male dark-seeker comes out in the light, not only does he seem angry and aggressive, but he also screams No. Later, when Dr. Neville is saved by Anna and Ethan, the army of dark-seekers led by the alpha male dark-seeker tracks Dr. Neville's residence and attacks him for capturing the female dark-seeker.
2. The One With Extremely High Temperature:
If you have seen Legend's alternate ending version, you must have noticed that Dr. Neville's lab had many a Polaroid of different dark-seekers that he had tested the vaccine on over the last three years. However, none of the dark-seekers truly responded to the vaccine. When Ethan and Anna bump into Dr. Neville, and in the following scenes, Ethan is seen in the cold pool water, Dr. Neville realizes that he had failed to observe the temperature of the dark-seekers, which is always extremely high. This is yet again, an excellent example of misinterpreted scientific methods.
As soon as Dr. Neville gets a reality check, he immediately collects some ice and puts the female dark-seeker on it for her body temperature to decrease and the vaccine to work. For a normal human, 104 degrees is an extremely high temperature, and it is also when cell death starts occurring. The dark-seekers who are infected with the Krippin Virus have their body temperature above 300 degrees. Therefore, the only and the prime reason the drug or the vaccine does not show any improvement is that when the antibodies are injected inside the body, they are exposed to extreme heat, which eventually destroys the vaccine/drug. Dr. Neville realizes this quite late; however, with that, his misconception about the dark-seekers losing their typical human behavior is also proven wrong in the alternate ending.
An Example of Misinterpretation of Scientific Methods in Real Life:
If you have read this far, let us tell you an interesting real-life story based on seemingly correct observation until it was proven wrong years later.
Maanen, Hubble, and Spiral Nebulae:
In the late 20th century, a prolonged debate between astronomers took birth over then referred to as spiral nebulae - diffuse pinwheels of light that powerfultelescopes revealed to be common in the night sky. Various theories came forward concerning the nebulae. Some believed them to be spiral galaxies at such a great distance that it became difficult to distinguish between them and the stars. Others believed that there were clouds of gases existing within our galaxy.
One of the astronomers - Adriaan Van Maanen - who thought that the spiral nebulae were within the Milky Way decided to put an end to the discussion by comparing the photos were taken of the nebulae years apart. Maanen believed that he had detected the same motions in the nebulae, which indicated that the spirals had to be within the Milky Way since motions would be impossible to detect in distant objects.
A few years later, Maanen's colleague, Edwin Hubble (the Telescope guy, yes), used a new 100-inch telescope at Mount Wilson - where the spiral nebulae are found - and concluded that the nebulae were distant galaxies and not a part of the Milky Way.
Maanen,
later on, admitted that he had some expectations of his own, and to ensure
accuracy, he compromised on the truth in the alternate theory regarding the
spiral nebulae. Dr. Neville's case is also similar to that of Maanen. Three
years into the deserted New York City and has tested tens of dark seekers, he
had some preconceived notions which did not allow him to uncover the other
possible and potential theories. However, in the case of spiral nebulae, a lack
of professional equipment can also be considered a factor.
Final Verdict:
As
the movie I am Legend, and the spiral nebulae example represented, scientific
methods can be misinterpreted. The scientists are all humans at the end of the
day, and they can be wrong. However, personal expectations can also do a
classic role-playing in determining the results and, in many a case, impede the
big breakthroughs like it was shown in the movie. Another factor to note here is
the chronic loneliness of Dr. Neville in the film. The instability of his mind
must have also added to the stress, leading him to not focus on significant details like the dark-seekers' attachment with each other and the temperature. Anyway, we all enjoyed
the movie, and December 5th marks the 13th birthday of this sci-fi/horror epic if
you did not know already. Happy Legend-ing, everyone!
References Used:
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK214565/
- https://www.looper.com/84880/ending-explained/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWEvLBzMpYE
- https://www.khanacademy.org/science/high-school-biology/hs-biology-foundations/hs-biology-and-the-scientific-method/a/the-science-of-biology
Amazing article! So well written!
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