“Reproductive Technohorror” Is A Burgeoning Genre On Screen
Editor's note: This article contains spoilers.
S- The components of reproductive technology can be divided into two categories. One of them is comedy. In films like Delivery Man, artificial insemination is the basis of the farce; Breeding takes place in sterile petri dishes, not in sheets, and there is room for multiple offspring and identification accidents. Most such stories have a happy ending, with the sperm donors kissing the strangers who produced them.
Another type of terrorism. That's partly because there's always been a scary line in the world of fertility treatment. These are instruments - bats, needles - like torture instruments and are used in a penetrating and intimate way. In these stories, the characters take drugs that make their bodies strange, alter their judgment, or cause strange visions. If the treatment is successful, pregnancy and delivery occur, which are associated with great pain and suffering.
Irene Harrington calls the stories "techno-reproductive horror" in her book Women, Monsters, and Horror Films. These stories are "about the intersection of technology, women's bodies, and fear of reproductive conflict and bloodshed." It's a little swollen. False Positive (2021) follows a woman (played by Ilana Glazer) who, after becoming pregnant, begins to suspect her fertility doctor of foul play. Dead Ringers, a remake of the 1988 David Cronenberg film, is released on Prime Video on April 21 (pictured above and below). The miniseries revolves around twin sisters and gynecologists Elliott and Beverly Mantle (both played by Rachel Weisz) who open their own birth center and research lab. Ella (Diana Agron), star of The Clock, out April 28 on Hulu and Disney+, joins a clinical trial hoping to overcome her lack of interest in parenthood.
The filmmakers addressed the idea that life could develop outside the human body even before fertility treatments became widely available. (The market for assisted reproductive technology is expected to reach more than $50 billion worldwide by 2030.) In 1976, two years before the first IVF baby was born, concerns about fetal artificial wombs arose.
In 2017, US researchers introduced 'BioBark', a method of transporting sheep embryos outside the womb, and described the technology's ability to help extremely premature babies. In Dead Ringers, Eliot also uses lambs to perfect his design for an artificial womb. He hopes to be able to help premature babies, but soon they will be transplanted with human embryos. Eliot's research is supposed to be a boon for women, and it is. The problem is that they are apostates who make a living without much thought of moral or legal consequences. (A child in your care was born without parental consent.)
"False positives" and "clocks" (pictured below) also concern non-compliance with rules and the scientific method. Part of the problem with both films is that the treatment is experimental (ie, untested). Dr. Handel (Pierce Brosnan) describes his "own technique" for fertilization in his book False Positives. In The Clock, a combination of newly developed synthetic hormones, cognitive behavioral therapy, and an alien IUD are designed to "fix" Ella's "broken" maternal instincts and get her pregnant. When she confronts her doctor about the terrible side effects of the treatment, she is told that what she is experiencing is "the most normal thing in the world."
These stories deal with reproduction as a theme and explore various concepts. First, access to health care depends on race and social class. Part of Beverly's motivation for opening the birthing center was her outrage at the treatment of women, especially African-American mothers. She wants the facility to be accessible, not just to "incredibly rich and privileged women." Another aspect is heredity, which is why people pass on their DNA. To be fair, Mantles Center and Ella Medical Facility use the infinity symbol as their logo. Ella's father (Saul Rubinek) begs her to reproduce so his children don't end up with him.
Conceiving and giving birth is a broad topic, but the issue has become even more relevant with the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortion in America. In these three stories, the characters lose control over their bodies. In False Positive and The Hour, women's needs are directly related to their ability and desire to have children. Dead Ringers explores the politics of childbearing. A reporter asked The Mantles if their work could actually lead to restrictions on women's liberties because "the sooner life outside the womb is possible, the stronger the argument for the anti-abortion movement." , the horrors of reproductive technology could be the perfect vessel. ■:
Dead Ringers is available on Prime Video. The Hour streams on Hulu and Disney+; False Positive is streaming on Hulu
