Science fiction is inherently obsessed with our bodies. For all its talk of flying cars, densely packed high-rises and holographic screens, the genre is preoccupied by how we as humans will change. From artificial life to bodily implants, depictions of the future often show people utterly alien from ourselves – moulded by societies foreign to our current sensibilities. Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca (1997), for instance, envisions a world where genetic screening allows parents to create the ‘perfect’ child. Here, people are literally born into their profession – tall basketballers, slim swimmers, and six fingered pianists have not just become the norm, but the rule. Niccol makes his stance clear by opening the film with a Bible verse:
Consider God's handiwork: who can straighten what He hath made crooked?
Most science fiction stories feature flesh being altered in some form. However, these practices are often framed as tragic or sinful. Creating new flesh is egotistical, altering our own is horrific, and a society founded on reshaping humanity is not only destructive, but obscene.
Yet, is this always the case? Real life isn’t as clear cut. Without multiple surgeries to correct the effects of cerebral palsy, I would have been wheelchair bound for most of my adult life. What about the transgender lives saved by gender-affirming care? Or hormone treatment and plastic surgery? Medically speaking, altering the body has been a net positive. So, are there stories that take a more utopian view of our fleshy futures? And if so, how do they compare to the puritan ideals depicted by Niccol and others?
The Creation of Flesh
The earliest and most obvious “flesh” story in science fiction is the creation myth. While the first sci fi story is debated, there is no doubt Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) popularised it. Seeking to conquer death, Victor Frankenstein creates a living being but produces a monster instead. Eight feet tall with black veins and semi-translucent skin, the creature is a grotesque mockery of humanity, soon becoming Victor’s tormentor.
Alternatively titled The Modern Prometheus – after the Greek Titan punished for handing down the fires of Olympus to humanity – Frankenstein laid the foundation for many future sci fi creators. Victor is Eldon Tyrell in Blade Runner (1982), perched in his penthouse like a pharaoh, surrounded by replicant animals, while, the outlawed Nexus-6 replicants – his wretches – seek their creator’s blood. When Nathan from Ex Machina (2015) unveils Ava, an A.I. on the verge of passing the Turing Test, he touts her to his employee, Caleb, as “the greatest scientific discovery in the history of man”. Caleb takes it further: “If you’ve created a conscious machine it’s not the history of man – it’s the history of gods.” Predictably, treating Ava as an inhuman test subject goes as poorly as it did for Victor Frankenstein.
Yet, the horror Victor faces is only half the story – his creature has his own to tell. Born miserable and alone, the wretch is shunned by humanity, despised by his creator and unable to find companionship. When he asks Victor to construct a mate for him, the scientist refuses:
[The creature] had sworn to quit the neighbourhood of man and hide himself in deserts, but she had not…[I]n all probability [She]...might refuse to comply with a compact made before her creation.
Victor’s refusal mirrors later sci fi works. The Nexus-6 replicants of Blade Runner are given a four-year life span and sent to Mars to work as slaves. Ava in Ex Machina is confined to a glass prison, designed with working sexual organs or her creator’s pleasure. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) resurrects a potential mate for the monster, only for her to reject him in horror, leading him to declare, “She hate me”, and later, “We belong dead”.
Not even former humans are safe. In Robocop (1987), Officer Alex Murphy is brutally gunned down and repurposed as a corporate-controlled police android. His creator, Bob Morton, strips him of his identity:
He doesn’t have a name. He’s got a program. He’s product.
However, Murphy fights to reclaim his humanity, much like Frankenstein’s monster. While the creators of these beings may be tormented by their hubris, it is often in their creations that we find the true sense of tragedy and redemption.
Transforming Flesh
Science fiction also question what we do to our own bodies. In pursuit of evolution – or, as Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024) puts it, to “be a better version of [themselves]” – humans may transform their flesh, confronting their mortality in the process.
In The Fly (1986), Seth Brundle’s experiment with instant teleportation for the masses leads to genetic fusion with a housefly. Unaware of the insect DNA residing within him, he revels in his newfound vitality, but his body soon deteriorates – his hair and nails fall out, lesions appear on his skin and his stomach acid become corrosive. Dr. Jack Griffin from The Invisible Man (1933) and Sebastian Caine from Hollow Man (2000) strive to create a form of bio-camouflage, only to use their newfound powers of invisibility to indulge their darkest desires. In Akira (1988), Tetsuo gains psychic powers by accident, eventually mutating into a grotesque kaiju of flesh and metal, merging with the city and its inhabitants.
Each of these characters experience euphoria after transformation, only to succumb to its horrific consequences. They attempt to control their bodies, but their egos doom them to corruption, decay, and ultimately, death.
The Economies of Flesh
While some futures depict bodily transformation as an individual choice, others show it as an expectation. In The Substance, Elisabeth Sparkle, a former Hollywood actor and TV aerobics star, takes a youth-restoring serum only after months of pressure from her producer, Harvey, who disparages her for ageing. Through voiceovers and flashbacks, the film echoes his words and those of countless other men in showbiz (“At fifty, it stops”), while her youthful incarnation is lauded (“We love you!”, “You’re irreplaceable!”).
Even when reassured by her high school friend Fred that she is “the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world”, Elisabeth’s sense of self-worth is drowning in a sea of catcalls and snide remarks. The film makes it clear – self-hate is planted by those in power.
Future societies are often capitalist. If upgrading the body is possible, it will cost people more than an arm and a leg to keep up. In Gattaca, your genetic makeup is your resume. Those naturally conceived in this world like Vincent Freeman are consigned to work as janitors. He can only transcend his position by bypassing routine DNA checks via money. In Andrew Niccol’s bleaker follow-up to Gattaca, In Time (2011), people’s lifespans function as currency, ensuring the poor work themselves to death while the wealthy live forever.
In Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) and its companion Netflix series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners (2022), implants (like Elon Musk’s Neuralink) replace smartphones, and those without “chrome” (cyberware) are left behind, much like modern teenagers with social media. Protagonist David Martinez is outclassed by his bully, who benefits from the chrome his parents have bought him. When David gets a back alley modification of his own, he learns about the dangers of cyberpsychosis – a condition that causes violent hallucinations and loss of control. Victims of this affliction are often seen roaming Night City, reduced to little more than junkies.
In none of these futures do the poor win. The protagonists who do – Vincent in Gattaca, Will Salas in In Time – only succeed by borrowing from the wealthy, whether through acquired DNA or inherited wealth. David Martinez in Edgerunners may become a revolutionary, but it costs him his sanity.
Hope for the Flesh
Yet, for every bleak experiment and broken future, there stories of bodily transformation as liberation. In Flubber (1997) Professor Brainard creates both Flubber and Weebo, his A.I Assistant, out of love. Paternal and doting to Flubber, Brainard is a far cry from the tortured and hate-filled Frankenstein – his creations revel in their existence. Similarly, Lisa Frankenstein (2024) follows a highschooler reviving an undead and heartbroken poet – at first for selfish reasons (a bloody romance) but later, to ensure he is not forgotten.
Some of the most hopeful depictions of bodily transformation are found in The Matrix (1999) and Avatar (2009). The Matrix sees Neo embracing his new identity as The One, his journey a metaphor for personal transformation and liberation. The Wachowski sisters, the film’s creators, later transitioned, and it can be argued that The Matrix is an allegory for gender transition.
Similarly, Jake Sully in Avatar (2009) abandons his human body to become a Na'vi, and by Avatar: Way of Water (2022), he has fully embraced his new identity, raising a family with Neytiri. Both The Matrix and Avatar reject the notion that transformation is inherently bad. Instead, they argue that the fear of change – enforced by society – is what leads to harm. The villainous Agents of The Matrix and Colonel Quaritch in Avatar embody forces of repression, demanding conformity rather than allowing self-expression.
Whether science fiction condemns or celebrates bodily transformation, it reaches the same conclusion: our bodies are our greatest form of connection to the world. Tattoos convey our desires and memories, growing out our hair or shaving it all off can be freeing, and sometimes, a replacement hip and knee allows us to feel the ground beneath our feet again. The body is a canvas of expression, but it must be altered with care and compassion. Unchecked modification – by power structures or unchecked ego – can only lead to destruction.
Finn Dall is a writer and critic. His work has been featured in ACMI Stories & Ideas, Kinotopia, FilmInk, Rough Cut Film and the Melbourne University Film Inquirer. You can follow him at Letterboxd, Instagram and Bluesky @finnwritesdall.
Meet our future selves in The Future & Other Fictions
Exhibition | Thu 28 Nov 2024 – Sun 27 Apr 2025
Discover the people, costumes and artworks that shape tomorrow. Explore intricate sets, props and concept art from Cyberpunk 2077, Blade Runner 2049, The Creator, and more.