Fixed: The Science/Fiction of Transhumanism
From its stunningly clever title to the fact that its director/editor/producer (Regan Brashear) and almost every single member of the cast has genuine, first-hand experience of profound disability, Fixed: The Science/Fiction of Transhumanism is probably the most important entry on this list. It might seem strange then that it has been left until last, but there were two good reasons for this.
The first is that Fixed never went on general theatrical release, and even with the limited release that it did have it remained mainly in the educational/documentary genre. This has made actually finding the full-length film very difficult, and I will admit here and now that I have not seen all of it and therefore am not in a position to comment on the quality of the filmmaking itself – at least not in the way that I have done with the rest of the entries. But this would hardly have been the point of this entry anyway, and this is because of the second reason: Fixed is in a league of its own in terms of its nature, and in terms of its goals, clarifications, observations and achievements within the realm of transhumanism movie-making and for the understandings of disabilities in general. For this, it deserved to have the final word.
Fixed follows five people with disabilities, all of whom work in some area of transhumanism – from reproductive technologies and disability educators, to bionic engineering and exoskeleton test piloting. All five characters, however, have various interests in these technologies and their different voices are each used to contribute something different to the debate about the usage and implications of transhumanist practices.
The film examines what it means to be able-bodied and disabled, and with the term ‘normal’ being subtly treated with great scepticism it is ultimately yet simply exploring what it really means to be a human being. In this way, the very deepest and most detailed aspects of the social tensions underlying transhumanism are drawn out. Among them are some of the very points discussed above, only they are presented with far more gravity than either this article or the movies in the other entries have given them.
This is why the article ends with Fixed. Despite its limited release, it won awards in almost every area available to it, and it comments on the issues of transhumanism, both possible and impossible, futuristic and current, in a way that few other directors – and certainly a lowly article writer- could ever hope to. Fixed changes everything about how we could see the future, and certainly about how movies could present it.
If you’re interested in the themes of transhumanism, and especially in its potential for changing human identity – for better or worse – seek out this wonderfully conceived film. In fact, even if you’re not interested, still seek it out. It’s that important.
