Reaction Paper  - The Fly (1958)

I have to say that this movie so far had one of the most unusual plots I ever saw—and it kept me watching intently, too curious to know what happens next. The film entertained me and grossed me out at the same time. Imagine what I felt when it immediately started with a man squished dead with a hydraulic press! Seeing Helene admitting the murder of her husband with a straight face, then later going hysterical for a slapped fly left me at first too dumb to make sense out of the movie but as the movie went on, everything gradually became clear.

Andre was a brilliant scientist for having developed a machine that makes atoms of matter disintegrate in one glass case and have it reassembled in another. It’s amazing how the filmmakers thought of this as early as 1958—they also thought of a situation when such a seemingly perfect invention can go ugly.

The movie is a morality play. It showed that no matter how great a breakthrough Andre's invention was, the film's opinion was expressed through Helene, when she told her husband to be "playing God" by using living things for experiment. And the film certainly showed the limitation of a human being by letting Andre's atoms get awfully mixed up with fly atoms.

When I thought some more about the idea of teleportation during the 1950s, I suddenly felt as if we owe them an explanation for still not turning this into reality after so many decades. How high their expectations must be if they once thought that it would only be a matter of time before we go from one place to another in the blink of an eye!

Science and Technology continues to grow and accumulate knowledge. We never know when the real teleporter gets invented. Though it’s not bad to discover and push for progress, the movie reminds us never to cross the line.

Reaction Paper: The Fly (1958)

Jeric B. Bonostro

2013-23838

The start of the film The Fly seemed boring because of its lack of effects, but as the film progressed, the effects did not matter as much anymore. Rather, the interesting plot, the questions that needed to be answered, the comedy and the wit, the romance, and the acting made one want to continue watching the film. 

The film's commentary on scientists and conduct of science was that there were always limits and risks. Much caution should be made when dealing with science and this is where the question of morality comes along. The film showed the boundaries science can go to, the ethics it should follow, and its do's and don’ts. Furthermore, the film tackles the issue on murder, whether it was right to kill a monster which was once a man or an animal which was part animal. Was it also right to kill a man who has given you his permission?

With the experimentation on teleportation, the film showed that Science and Technology has already been ambitious even in the 1950s. The film also portrayed that there were some lack of proper procedure and ethics that were supposed to be followed when doing an experiment.

All in all, what made the film interesting was its content and of course, science!

Reaction Paper: The Fly (2013-48674)

MARQUEZ, Kristina Patriz S.
2013-48674
STS-THY
Reaction Paper: The Fly

                Why did Helene kill her husband?  How did she get him in the hydraulic press? Why did she confess that she killed something but refused to provide a motive? Why’s she so obsessed with flies and how is this related to the movie’s title?

                Those were just the few questions that flew into my mind right after the first few minutes of the movie. I actually enjoy watching mystery movies or playing detective games, and the film was actually full of suspense and mystery. This may be why, even though I found the film somehow corny, “The Fly” caught me and still somehow kept me entertained. It was funnily corny, creepy and horrible yet dramatic.

                The film’s portrayal of the 1950’s science and technology and the 1950’s people’s futuristic vision was perfect. It somehow amuses me how the simple-looking simple-operated machine turned out to be a teleportation device. It somehow amazes me how futuristic and how science-inclined the 1950’s people’s visions were. Although, it is not the same as our generation’s futuristic settings, it involved one of the scientifically fictitious devices and act: teleportation.

                The film also involved what they, the film makers, have called “atomic mutation” on human. The human, Andre, mutated while using the teleportation device and swapped his head and arm with a fly’s. The film tells how the boldness of new discoveries is compromised by science's need for precision. That tiny error turned Andre’s life into a nightmare tale and eventually ended him.

                It is still a blur who killed who or what and if it is considered murder but it is quite clear that Andre crossed a line that he shouldn’t have. It was his decision, despite knowing the consequences or not knowing at all, that put him in that situation.

The Fly

Name: Derecho, Edjierson

Student No.: 2013- 41509

Section: THY         

Reaction Paper for The Fly (1958)

The movie The Fly is a science fiction film about a scientist who built a device that transport matter from a chamber to another chamber. After sometime, the scientist finally succeeded on the experiment and tried it first on lifeless things. After the success he tried on living things which includes his pet cat however, instead of transporting the cat, he disintegrated the cat. After the failed experiment, he then tried to fix the problem and had built a man-sized replica of the invention. Afterwards, he tried it to himself and it was a success but it turned his the head and his left arm into a head and a left arm of a fly because a fly got caught in the chamber. It was only later discovered by his wife who went down to the basement where his invention was kept. When the wife called for her husband, the husband responded using a letter. He explained what has happened to him and that he needs his wife to find the fly who had mixed with his atoms and that by finding it can help him reverse the process. They tried to search for the fly but still no progress. Until such time, he became hopeless so he decided to lay his head and his left arm to the hydraulic press and commanded his to push the start button.

                The wife told the police about what really happed however no one believed her. They decided to send her to a hospital. Then suddenly, her son was shouting that he had found the fly. The inspector was convinced to check it out and was dismayed by what he had saw. The fly really exist and was being eaten by a spider so he tried to kill the spider with the fly.

                This movie has very awesome storyline. For me, it was very difficult to think of such ideas for movie during that time. The movie showed that even that time, the idea of teleportation had been theorized. The movie also carefully explained how the theory works.

Reaction Paper for The Fly (1958)

Name: Pelingon, Shayne Allyssa O.

Student No.: 2013-49565

Section: THY

Reaction Paper for The Fly (1958)

 "Help me! Help me!"

The Fly is an interesting and entertaining sci-fi classic. The story is great, blending romance, sci-fi and horror, and the narrative, through flashback, keeps the mystery alive until the last scene, when the fly with white head is finally found in a spider web screaming for help. It was treated with such passionately interesting set-up that pulls you in by taking a more serious approach with dabble of comedy along the way.  

The Fly (1958) has its place in the conversation with “has science gone too far” movies. \ Is there an answer to the “playing God” question? The Fly tries to answer, “God gives us intelligence to uncover the wonders of nature”, but is it the right one? Here we have a young, brilliant, classic scientist playing God morality tale.

The lab scenes in The Fly are priceless. This is a pure, 1958 vision of science at work. Lights flash, sparks arc, spinny things that look suspiciously like reel to reel tape recorders churn away in the background. Andre and Helene have to wear goggles when the matter transmitter (teleportation machine) is activated. This Sci-Fi film from the ’50s until now have been products of science-run-amok: nuclear testing, transplants etc. The monster is based on an unusual premise-a failed experiment in teleportation (matter transmission). It is about the unbelievable tale of how Andre invented a device that allowed solid material to be broken down and transported across space and has the potential to solve world hunger, save millions on transportation and shipping, and could revolutionize mankind’s place in the universe.

Overall, it was an awesome film. I would cheerfully give the cast a round of applause plus standing ovation.

Crossing the Line: A Reflection on The Fly by Nicah Santos

I’ve always wanted to dress like the girls I’ve seen in vintage pin-up posters and play the role of the dutiful housewife that those posters always portray. There’s just something about the 1950s era that is sweet, fun, and simple all at once. Yet somehow, after watching The Fly, I have to say that I now have mixed feelings about that once appealing age.

I was immediately interested in watching the film, and I’m pleased that it didn’t disappoint me. I was not able to catch it from the beginning until the end, but the parts of film that I was able to watch certainly entertained me. My interest in it comes, of course, from the setting. I’ve never seen a movie set in the 50s, and I was eager to finally watch one. I had no idea what the movie was about at first, so when I caught on to its plot which revolves around teleportation and science gone wrong, I found it exciting and unexpected.

The film, for me, spoke a lot about how science is for everybody and can be a domestic hobby. I think there is a notion that research and experimentation are only for the academe and those in the fields of science. We forget that some of humankind’s greatest discoveries, inventions, and innovations were made in ordinary people's backyards, garages, and basements. Science is for everyday people who live everyday lives, and The Fly is a reminder of that. I would also consider it a morality movie because of the lesson that the audience can draw from it: Science and technology can lead to great things, but they can also be abominations. The movie points out the fact that science is both an effective and potentially dangerous tool that must be applied with caution. There is a line that must not be crossed because what lies beyond that line can be frightening and lethal.

Before watching The Fly, all I knew about the 1950s was that it was a bad time for feminism and that people dressed sharply. Now I know that the 1950s was a time when people were deeply invested in and probably quite frightened of science and technology. Men and women of the 50s knew that amazing and seemingly impossible things could come from science and technology. They also knew that when a certain line was crossed, science and technology would be something to fear. In the end, mankind was not ready for teleportation and it's terrifying side-effects and The Fly ended with the destruction of what would have been the greatest invention of human history.

Nicole Catrina P. Santos

2012-63269

the fly reaction

Jayvee R. Marjes

2013-13902         

From the very start of the movie, I have a lot of questions already. I was confused on why the title of the movie was the Fly. Why did the wife kill her husband in such drastic way? And why is she being protective on a house fly that her maid killed? With these many questions in mind, I got interested on the movie. It became very mysterious for me, and that got my attention. With all of the plot twists, I was entertained with the movie.

                This movie has shown its viewers the risk of so much technology. The scientist’s invention was a great one indeed, but with a little miscalculation, it caused it his life. It was very risky and dangerous. It is not bad to try out new ideas for progress. But there should always be a limit of what humans can do. It is wise to use our knowledge for our own progress, but it is wiser to use it wisely, to use it to know how much we can do and what our limits are.

                The movie showed that in the late 1950s, technology has already began on innovating that far that even teleportation has entered the minds of the scientists. Scientists began to think of different inventions that will help the world in a lot of ways. The 1950s is when technology began to bloom and a lot of inventions has been made. They were on the verge of modernization. Up to now, scientists have just one thing in, to create an invention that will help a lot of people in their everyday life. 

2013-68149

THE FLY REACTION PAPER

I did not know one fly could change a person’s life. I was quite confused at first because I did not see the relevance of the film’s title to the actual film. But then as the mysteries/secrets started to reveal, I became actually interested. It is both entertaining and interesting, in a weird way. Maybe because the concept of using fly as a fantasy element in the movie is rare. People see fly as a pest and this movie showed how one fly can ruin a scientist’s life and his family. One reason could be because it is an old movie so it did not have yet the technology for it to give that “fantasy/sci-fi” effect.

Being a scientist is rewarding, but it also has its downsides. And this film showcased exactly what can happen if a scientist, so hungry for the thought of discovering something big, failed. All just for the sake of science he would sacrifice the lives of an innocent cat and a fly. It was morally incorrect but in the end, when he turned into a fly, he realized that what he did was wrong so he made his wife kill him. He loves his family so much that he would not want them to suffer and let them see him looking like that.

It just shows that the science and technology during the 1950's is already advanced. For them to have the concept of teleportation is a proof that science and technology is starting to develop and is of importance to the citizens of the world.

                It is just sad that he had to sacrifice his life. But then this movie is a reminder that too much is always bad. Never be too hungry for something because it can bring about bad things. Learn to balance.

Of Fly-Swatting and Truth-Searching: "The Fly" Reaction Paper

2013-14710

BACONGUIS, Liana Isabelle

STS-THY Group 7

Reaction Paper: The Fly

The Fly is a perfect picture of 1950s science and their visions of the future – they had grandiose dreams of flying cars and teleportation (neither of which we have today, sorry!), things very large-scale and grandiose. However, while its conflict is very speculative, it also paints a vivid picture of the very real dangers involved in creating such things.

I realize that while the film played fast and loose with “gene mixing,” (understandable for the level of technology at the time), it was trying to tell us that while science can be beneficial, there are lines it should not cross, because just one tiny mistake – like the titular fly in the teleportation chamber – can cause drastic, serious damage. 

The film also played with the idea of justified killing – is it wrong to kill a monster if it was once a man? Was the inspector justified in killing Andre if he was part insect? Was Helene? Would either be considered homicide? It’s all quite gray. Perhaps that’s why today’s science tries its best not to step over any toes. However, today’s line between acceptable and not is just as blurred as it was sixty years ago – science can help us progress, can extend our lifespans, etc., but at what cost?

Despite all this, the film does not view science negatively. At the end of the film, Helene’s beleaguered brother-in-law Francois reassures his nephew that his father Andre died doing the most beneficial act for humanity – “the search for the truth.” Perhaps what the film was trying to say is that science is neither good nor bad – it is inherently neutral, and in the end, it is up to us to decide how we use it.

Reaction Paper for “The Fly” 2013-61222

Ed Joshua Mañalac
2013-61222
THY
Reaction Paper for “The Fly”

For me, I found the movie interesting and entertaining because it made me want to know what really happened. The flashback storyline made me interested on the reasons why Andre died and on why Helen kept denying that she didn’t kill his wife.

The film’s commentary on science is that sometimes, Science forgets the limit and boundaries of what to study in the sense that they will neglect any obstacle they will face for the sake of research. It implies also that we should consider morality issues and ethics in doing experiments or should I say research for science. The film portrayed a morality play on the exchanging of genes part because I think, the alteration of one’s genes is an issue of morality. Another issue of morality for me also is the part of killing because Andre died in a manner that is not sacred. He died in a way of like sentence death which is not moral. But the moral of the film I think was illustrated to us that we should learn how to limit and control ourselves on what is supposed and what is not supposed to be done.

The science way back 1950’s as portrayed by the film was amazing. Looking back at the movie, the concept of teleporting one object to another is already an advanced technique in science. The science way back is already advance, but I think as portrayed by the film, that science back then does not consider morality much.  But looking at the science now, I could say that there is a dynamic change between the science of the 1950’s from the science now.

Reaction Paper for The Fly (1958) - 2013-72071

Name: Fabia, Bianca Anne M.

Student No.: 2013-72071

Section: THY

Reaction Paper for The Fly (1958)

            I thought that the film was interesting and entertaining because it sparked my curiosity from the start. It really made me curious as to why Helene, the wife, killed her husband, Andre, and why she just simply shrugged it off as if she didn’t kill a human being.

            I think that the film’s commentary about scientists and the conduct of science was that sometimes, they forget ethics thinking that their experiment is for the glory of science. I feel like it talks about how you should always think about ethics because it’s there for a reason and that is for the scientist’s safety.

I think that it tackles about morality because it touches on experimentation on animals which could be considered animal cruelty if it could harm them in any way. In the latter part of the movie it also implied the question about murder. Murder because when Andre was killed when he was part insect already, was it really murder? And when the inspector killed the fly with Andre’s head was it also murder when he was already being eaten by the spider and there wasn’t really another way out?

            During the 1950s, I think that their views on science was already pretty advanced since they were already thinking about teleporting objects, animals and people by disintegrating and re-integrating them. I think that they were really interested on looking for a way to help people find better ways to do tasks especially those like travelling.

            I think that similar to our view of science, they also view it in a way that science should be used to improve the world. I think that they believe in inventing something to be able to help ease the burdens of our everyday lives.