From birth to death, vaccinations play a pivotal role in allowing us to live healthy, productive lives and also serve to protect those who have compromised immunities. COVID-19 has reminded us about the importance of vaccines. With the likes of Moderna and Pfizer, the United States has manufactured effective vaccines to save lives and bring us closer to a world we once knew. According to Dr. Najera, a world without vaccinations would claim the lives of millions at an early age, shrink the global population by nearly 5 billion, and give rise to new variants of eradicated diseases that would impact populations (Najera et al. 2020). If vaccines are so vital to the world, then what is the reason that many fear getting vaccinated? While there can be many reasons why some are opposed to getting vaccinated, it is possible some believe the risks outweigh the benefits and others may think pharmaceutical companies cannot be trusted. While some of the reasons may seem bizarre to the rational and scientifically minded, this long term problem has paved the way for many Science Fiction novels and movies to be produced. One popular example of vaccinations being vital to saving human existence is the movie, I am Legend (2007), which starred Will Smith.
   I am Legend is set in the near future after a therapeutic treatment that was meant to cure cancer ultimately leads to the demise of most of humanity. Many of the cancer patients who were treated with the therapeutic treatment transformed into flesh eating and mentally unstable vampire-like beings called “Dark-seekers” who overrun the world. Dr. Robert Neville, played by the actor, Will Smith, was a scientist who began studying these dark-seekers after the world came to a sudden end. His scientific research led to the creation of the antibody that counteracted the antigens of the therapeutic treatment and ultimately saved those who became ill. While I am Legend’s extrapolations of humanity transform into vampire-like creatures is clearly an example of Science Fiction, I argue that the film is more deeply connected to the genre in these ways; its engagement with thanatology, exploration of human-made technological failures, and use of cliffhangers as a narrative technique.
The plot of I Am Legend is positively correlated with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, because in both stories scientific breakthroughs led to the demise of many others. In Frankenstein, Victor created life from the work he conducted but his own behavior and feelings toward the creature led to the creature taking the lives of many people. Thanatology, the study of death and what happens after you die (Ellis, Lecture 4), plays a pivotal role in both Frankenstein and I am Legend. In Frankenstein, we see Victor study the various mechanisms behind the causes of death and how these dead individuals can become alive again. In I am Legend, Dr. Neville captures various alpha beings and studies the causes and effects of their death with bright light. Dr. Neville further learns that the mechanism behind their death was because the pigment of melanocytes of their epidermis were non-existent, therefore light destroyed their tissues. This finding led Dr. Neville to develop various vaccines out of tissues of alpha being that ultimately led to the vaccine that saved the world. Anatomy is another key characteristic seen in both story plots. The anatomy of the alpha being helped Dr.Neville develop a vaccine in order to prevent human extinction whereas Victor in Frankenstein, used the study of anatomy to understand how life can be created or destroyed. From the works of Phillip K. Dick, we learn about the studies of epistemology, defined as the study of what we know and how we can verify we know things, is a major part of the characteristics that drive Dr. Neville (Ellis, Lecture 10). Dr. Neville’s curiosity of the reason why alpha beings act so hostile towards healthy humans is what drives his studies of how he can verify what causes the beings to act this way. His research in which he conducted for nearly three years alone at “ground zero” in Manhattan, New York focused entirely on capturing an alpha being and exposing it to various sources that disgruntled the creature. Phillip K. Dick would infer that Dr. Neville’s hypothesis was justified via scientific experiment rather than opinion.
Technology is groundbreaking. Technology does not only show the advancements made by human beings through time but also promotes promise for the future of tomorrow. In the studies of H.G. Wells and his contributions to Science Fiction, it is important to state that he warns the reader consistently through his work, The Time Machine, about the excitement and potentials of technologies. In The Machine Machine, we are confronted with a situation where an individual uses a time traveling machine that at the time was a breakthrough in scientific research by physicists however the time machine results in him being lost in time and never returning to the period he initially started in. Also, in E.M. Forster’s The Machine Stops, we are introduced to a society that relies heavily on technological advancements that practically eliminate the social norms of what defines human interactions. Since the society abandoned social norms and relies entirely on the system for daily life activities, when the system fails, the society falls apart. Both Science Fiction readings show similar characteristics of I am Legend. In the movie, society discovers the breakthrough of a therapeutic injection that cures cancer, a deadly disease that takes the lives of millions each year. This technology, which becomes widely used globally and avoids the despair of death caused by cancer, is rejoiced as the greatest scientific finding of all time. Little did society know that this technology would lead to those who were cured of cancer to develop a disease (similar to transforming into a zombie), that would nearly end human existence if it weren’t for Dr. Neville. While technologies nearly ended human existence in I am Legend, it can also be argued that technology also saved humanity, which may seem counterintuitive.
Cliff hangers, as we know, are scenes in which the viewer or reader is left to conclude what may happen or had happened during a novel or film. In Science Fiction film serials, such as Flash Gordon, which are low budget films, implement the use of cliffhangers at the end of each episode during a battle or conflict to keep the viewer interested and return the following week to watch the film (Ellis, Lecture 7). While I am Legend, in no way was a low budget film, it included some key components of Science Fiction film serials such as cliff hangers to keep the viewer focused. In the middle of the film, after the tragic death of Dr. Neville’s son and wife, we are immediately transitioned into a time point in the future which depicts Manhattan crumbling as infrastructure is beginning to fall apart without humans. This leaves the viewer guessing, did all humans die? Did humans abandon Earth? Rather than the film answering these questions, the viewer is left to assume that many humans did die from the spread of the disease caused by biotechnology and we are in a time point in the future. At the end of the film, Dr. Neville uses a grenade to defend a mother and her son who he gave the vaccine to from the alpha beings. After his death, the story shifts narratives to the mother, which was also seen in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, when the creature told part of the narrative of the story. As the mother is telling the story that Dr. Neville’s vaccine was tested by other scientists that survived and was confirmed as a successful vaccine, the film is suddenly cut off. This cliffhanger leaves the viewer deciding what happened after the mother and her son arrived at the “safe zone” where other survivors were.
While we may hope that the COVID-19 vaccine does not cause the two hundred million of us who got vaccinated to transform into alpha beings, dangering human existence, it is important that we all do get vaccinated regardless of the rhetoric some may see on social media pages or some news outlets. Perhaps I am Legend portrays our collective anxiety around disease, medicine, and vaccinations. As a work of Science Fiction, it takes some scientific concepts concerning injections and cancer treatments, and it extrapolates a nightmare scenario. Yet, it is worth noting that I am Legend cannot replace the real science that demonstrates how vaccines like those for COVID-19 are safe and effective. It is certainly fine for a film to reflect our concerns, but it can’t take the place of the science and the public health messages based on science.
Works Cited-
Ellis, Jason. “Conclusion Of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” Lecture 4, Feb. 2021,
Ellis, Jason. “SF Film Serials” Lecture 7, Mar. 2021,
Ellis, Jason. “New Wave SF” Lecture 10, Apr. 2021,
René F. Najera, DrPH. “What Would a World Without Vaccines Look Like?” The History of Vaccines, 15 Mar. 2020, historyofvaccines.blog/2020/01/10/what-would-a-world-without-vaccines-look-like/.
