insect as metaphor

“One morning, as Gregor Samsa was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that in his bed he had been changed into a monstrous bug…” ― Franz Kafka, The Metamorphosis\

i just came across this review of the 1986 remake of “the fly” and found it quite curious. what thinks ye?

DAVID CRONENBERG’S “THE FLY”

by Gerardo Valero

David Cronenberg’s “The Fly” (1986) is among a very few movies that give me a sense of hesitation as soon as the credits appear. I’ve owned a couple of home video versions since its release twenty some years ago, according to the technology in favor, but I doubt I’ve played them more than a handful of times (including that for the purpose of this review). For such a well made and entertaining movie this is particularly odd but among the great horror flicks (it certainly fits the bill) this one hits you a little bit below the belt for enjoyment’s sake.

“The Fly” deals with Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), an eccentric inventor who meets reporter Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) at a science convention and (somewhat unwillingly) spills the beans about his latest creation, one that will “change the world as we know it”. The contraption in question is a teleportation system for inanimate objects, which is basically the same concept used for getting characters on and off the Starship Enterprise in “Star Trek“. With Veronica alongside him to document his progress Seth is able to take the next step, giving his invention the ability to transport live beings. After a failed attempt (that’s putting it mildly!) with a baboon that should have given him some pause, Seth unwisely decides to rush testing the system with himself as passenger, unaware that a seemingly innocent house fly has hitched a ride alongside him (at least they weren’t joined by that other baboon!). After the initial apparent success, an oblivious Seth will find himself gaining incredible agility and strength but will progressively become a mean, selfish, stench-filled and tragic individual, illustrating in the process the nature of those insects in much higher detail than we would ever want to learn. By film’s end we’ll end up seeing these creatures in a very different light and Seth will not be able to regret enough the fact that he did not provide his device with an UNDO command.

read the rest of the review here

#aids #coil #taintedlove