In a society where special effects and computer graphics can bring life to monsters more daunting and hideous than some could ever imagine, the characters that inspire the most fear, that tend to haunt our thoughts long after we have left the theatre, ironically remain the ones that are most like ourselves. It seems the potential within us or our fellow human beings to lose control of our mental or moral integrity is scarier than any fiction. Because of this, the role of the mad scientist is still as popular among dystopic filmmakers today as it was in the early years of the medium, despite technological advances.
The term ‘mad scientist’ encompasses two intimidating concepts: that of insanity, and that of hyper-intelligence. The portrayal of insanity on its own in film is unsettling to viewers because it is a reminder of the fragility of the human mind, forcing the audience to confront the potential within themselves to similarly lose touch with reality, and because it often alludes to previous atrocity, an event in the character’s past that was so horrible as to cause such madness. Hyper-intelligence is equally disconcerting in a scientific context because of its connection to ground-breaking invention and experimentation, territory in which morals have not yet had a chance to develop, and where the societal repercussions of such unprecedented work are undefined and open-ended. Just as insanity is the loss of one’s mental integrity, hyper-intelligence alludes to the loss of one’s moral integrity.