So says David Klinghoffer (“In Prometheus, Ridley Scott Takes on Intelligent Design — and the Cambrian Explosion?”, Evolution News & Views, May 30, 2012):
Prometheus is kind of a prequel to Scott’s superbly scary sci-fi classic Alien (1979), and it appears to take Richard Dawkins at his word that alien intelligence could be responsible for the evident aspects of purposeful design in life. The story? In the not-so-distant future, a crew of space explorers journey to a bleak, distant moon in search of revelations about the origins of life on earth. The lone review so far, in the Hollywood Reporter, describes a conflict between two characters, scientist-explorers who debate the question of Darwin v. Design.
Elizabeth [Noomi Rapace] and her scientist boyfriend Charlie (Logan Marshall-Green) continue to spar about the potential momentousness of their journey — she, who wears a cross, hopes to find confirmation of her religious beliefs that will point to the existence of a traditional creator, while he is convinced that what they discover will merely prove once and for all that Darwin was right.
Actually, a well-known Canadian sci-fi writer, Rob Sawyer, also tackled the topic in Calculating God .
It is a great idea, as long as it is not turned into Darwin’s bully pulpit, which remains as unpopular as it was 30 years ago. But surely it will be hard to beat Space Odyssey 2001 , which single-handedly saved the space program from aghast American taxpayers. 😉
Prometheus:
See also: The original selfish gene met the original iron man?