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The search for immortality and effective methods of extending life has been with people almost always. Most often, however, it was considered something unnatural. For example, it was believed that in order to gain eternal life, one had to surrender one's soul to the devil, and most often - by the way - to do something terrible as part of a magical ritual. The field of science fiction approaches the subject completely differently, as it tries, according to its specificity, to look for scientific methods for long life or immortality. And since it is still "fiction", the visions are extremely intriguing - sometimes even … scary.

Digitization of consciousness - "Altered Carbon"

The hit series by Netflix, which was spent on a large budget, was based on the SF novel of the same title by British Richard Morgan (in Polish: "Modified Coal"). In this story, you basically managed to outsmart death.

Thanks to advanced computer technologies, human consciousness, or rather the essence of being and everything that creates a human in the mental sphere, is encoded on disks implanted in the body.

And since it has a limited expiration date, after the death of the physical shell, you can move the data disk to another. Only that there are many abuses at the same time.

The richest get "better" bodies, enjoying eternal youth, while the poorer are not so lucky - "young" consciousness receive, for example, the bodies of the elderly. And going even further, you can backup your consciousness. After all, it's just data! Destroying the disk with them means permanent death, which we see on the screen many times.

There are also discussions of a religious nature - what happens to the soul when consciousness is transferred to the digital realm? Many people decide not to use the invention and lock the data on the disk. So when the body dies, the life of consciousness also ends. Let's add: in the series all people have implanted disks.

Genetics and cloning - "Orphan Black"

The main character of the series Sarah Manning witnesses the suicide of a woman who is confusingly similar to her. And because she's been a bit wrong in her life, she decides to take over her identity and work (a police detective). Along the way, he discovers that he is one of the numerous clones.

The series is an interesting production because all of themcloned characters are played by one actress - Tatiana Maslany. The motives, when one clone pretends to be another, can mess up the minds of viewers, but over the course of several seasons of the series (spoiler alert!) We learn more and more about the experiment, the people responsible for it and the purpose that is associated - and how - with immortality or although a significant extension of life.

Genetic experiments are aimed at finding just such genes that will allow it all. Behind everything is the main villain - a charlatan pretending to be over 150 years old, i.e. P.T. Westmorland, head of the Neolution organization. Eventually, however, his deception comes to light, and ethically questionable and often fatal practices find their final conclusion.

Cell renewal - "Mr. Nobody "

In the year 2092, mankind overcame death, and in fact in a very simple way. The progress of medicine has resulted in the fact that aging cells can be renewed indefinitely. Seemingly a dream come true, but one of the heroes does not take advantage of what is probably the greatest achievement of mankind.

118-year-old Nemo Nobody is the oldest living human being and the last mortal at the same time. On his deathbed, he remembers his long life analyzing various scenarios. He claims that a man, before coming into the world, knows perfectly well what awaits him, but the angel erases this memory. However, he is omitted from this, so he could experiment a bit.

The film is very complex and touches upon many philosophical problems, therefore the final interpretation and explanation of the mysterious phenomenon of various scenarios in one life should be left to the viewers. The main character is played by Jared Leto.

Cosmic water - "Cocoon"

The 1985 film won two Oscars: Best Supporting Actor (Don Ameche) and Special Effects. Briefly, the plot is as follows: 10,000 years ago, space aliens from the planet Antarea settled on an island in the Atlantic that was later called Atlantis.

And as you know, it sank as a result of the catastrophe. 20 alien visitors were left under water in sealed cocoons. Nowadays, their kinsmen return to Earth, extract cocoons and place them in the pool of one of the Florida villas.

The nourishing water in which the cocoons are placed is to bring them back to life from hibernation. And it is this energetic water that is responsible for the renewal of vitality in the residents of the retirement home, which is located next to the said villa.

Changing the functioning of seniors after swimming in the pool raises a lot of interest and leads to many funny situations - the film has a lot of comedy elements. Unfortunately notwe know exactly what was in the magic water - except that it's technology (or magic?) from another planet.

Immortality after the apocalypse - "Zardoz"

One of the strangest films ever premiered in 1974, starring none other than Sean Connery. The vision of the future is not optimistic, at least not for everyone.

After an undefined catastrophe, the survivors, known as brutals, lead a primitive life in sterile, devastated areas. They are hunted by a special caste of exterminator brutes, and the great head of Zardoz flies above the ground, treated as a deity.

One of the exterminators Zed (Sean Connery) rebels, attacks the head and gets into it, kills the passenger (or at least thinks he annihilated it) and goes to another, special land - Vortex. It is in this oasis that enlightened scientists kept a substitute of civilization before the catastrophe.

Now they have developed technology to such an extent that they won with death - they manage to reconstruct bodies after death (in not very aesthetic plastic bags, by the way). And because they are immortal, they are deprived of feelings and morally decayed, because they are bored with the monotonous, heavenly life … They are also responsible for a peculiar experiment, i.e. an action carried out by exterminators on brutes.

The appearance of Zed does shake their world a bit though. The plot is atypical, the film itself - also. The aesthetics of the 1970s, which are nowadays considered to be advanced kitsch, add to everything. It's no wonder then that the film has gained cult status.

Potions for immortality - magic or science

Finally, it is worth mentioning the elixirs for immortality, the composition of which is either justified by science or by magic. The latter case appears in the famous black comedy from the 90s, "Death Meets Her". It is also a kind of satire and funny criticism of aesthetic medicine, plastic surgery and the mania of eternal youth, which at that time began to embrace especially the Hollywood community.

Extremely expensive elixir offered by the mysterious Lisle von Rhoman (Isabella Rossellini) fully rejuvenates, smoothes wrinkles and ensures eternal youth. These benefits are used by two heroines - die-hard antagonists played by Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn.

Unfortunately, their conflict intensifies and they both end their lives, or so it seems. The elixir provides them with life after death, but in a worse form - because their bodies begin to decompose.

The theme of the elixir for immortality appears even in the Polish sitcom "The world according toKiepskich ". In one of the episodes, the entire Kiepski family and their neighbors (as well as the postman) take a specimen based on formalin, which leads to their preservation - they begin to live without problems and become living museum exhibits for eternity.

Unfortunately, on the way there is an atomic apocalypse - civilization ends, and the museum with heroes surrounded by tight walls remains its last trace. And it is Kiepski who plays the role of cultural restorers. As you can guess, the first gift for new cavemen is the "brewery".

About the authorDaniel Works A Polish and American philologist by education, by profession - more like the former. For over a decade, he has been working on texts: writing, editing, and occasional proofreading. He specializes primarily in home & living, but also writes about culture, art, fashion, he alth, tourism and everything that will attract attention and interest. Privately, a fan of series with a plot detached from reality and - possibly in terms of time and other possibilities - a traveler.

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Geriatrics