Characters in the drama wonder if having seen a vision of the future means that their lives are determined, writes Mike D’Virgilio
When I first heard about ABC’s Flash Forward (8:00 EST/Pacific Thursday nights), I was intrigued by the possibilities of such a plot device.
Dubbed ABC’s companion series to Lost, this drama is loosely based on Robert J. Sawyer’s sci-fi novel of the same name. The plot centers around an eerie, chaotic vision of the future after a mysterious event makes everyone on Earth lose consciousness for two minutes and seventeen seconds. Later, as people start waking up, the world starts changing because people know their future, six months hence, or think they do.
I didn’t foresee that they would delve into such serious issues of free will and determinism, but that is exactly where the last couple of episodes have gone. One of these episodes even explores the concept of “Nihilism.” If the future is already determined then our choices really have no meaning. A certain segment of humanity that had no visions at all begins to live out that Nihilism, because they assume that blankness means they will be dead. Eat, drink and be merry . . .
They come to the conclusion, you presume, that there is no morality because their actions are determined and beyond their control. Maybe B.F. Skinner was right: We are beyond freedom and dignity. The corollary might be, why be moral if my actions cannot change my future? One character, FBI Agent Al Gough (played by Lee Thompson Young), leaps to his death in a futile attempt to capture human dignity and prove the existence of free will.
Maybe they are out there, but I am not aware of a prime time TV drama that deals so directly with the philosophical issues of what it means to be human, and the nature of ultimate reality.
–Mike D’Virgilio
A TV drama that addressed existential, class, racial, political, and psychological issues was Battlestar Gallactica II on the Sci Fi Channel. “Humans” tortured Cylons and summarily executed them with a justification that the Cylons are not human since they have a strange, different religion and are clones. It was a timely exploration of our conflict with and fear of Moslems.
I hope that Flashforward does not end up like other pop castaway shows where folks have a chance to cast off stifling norms and notions to make a better life but fail to even try. Some examples of failure to create a better life are Gilligan’s Island, Lost, and Jericho.
Good review Mr. D’Virgilio.
I’ve been enjoying Flash Forward so far. I’m a bit of a fan of Robert Sawyer’s who wrote the book upon which the show is based. Haven’t read the novel yet, but Sawyer is a die hard liberal so I’m wondering how the free-will/determinism thing will work out in the end.
That’s right, Mike, and his conscience clearly comes from the fact that free will engenders a sense of personal responsibility which is lacking when one takes a hard determinist position as the other character does.
As to references to God, there were indeed several in the first episode, and I believe there have been intermittent instance since. It seems highly possible that this will become a matter of further discussion as the series progresses.
And the gentleman standing up for free will actually has a conscience and feels a tad guilty about murdering 20 million people. He actually wants to go public that they had a roll in the blackout.
I also wonder if the discussion will ever roll around to God. There are certainly plenty of determinism/free will implications to his existence. Indeed, how can you have such discussions without belief in God playing a central roll.
Great article, Mike. In last Thursday’s episode, two characters explicitly argue their positions on free will and determinism, using those very terms in the discussion. It was rather startling to hear so explicit a discussion of this philosophical issue, and it was even more interesting that the character representing the determinist side was so decidedly unattractive and the one standing up for belief in free will was presented as the laudable one–and a better poker player.
The symbolism of that last part is very rich and an excellent choice on the writers’ part.