THERE’S this exciting show on Netflix called “Love, Death + Robots”. It’s an anthology series of different short stories with varying styles of animation.
Season 2 just came out, and I was able to breeze through all the episodes in one afternoon. Two of the episodes centered around immortality and the desire of most people to attain it.
One episode centered around people living in a society where immortality was given in a “rejoo” treatment. In exchange, people had to forego their ability to have children. Those that chose the rejoo treatment were thriving and looked to people who decided to have children as foolish and as pests.
The other episode was about this albino man who lived on a desert planet. There was a massive bounty on his head because he could regenerate and self-heal. He was looked to as the “secret to immortality.”
It’s incredible how people are obsessed with finding ways to extend their life as long as possible. I admit, when I was a child, I found the idea of immortality extremely appealing. I thought immortality was a much better fate than having to die.
I had a great-grandmother who lived to be 100; in her later years, she started cursing her old age and wishing she could finally join her loved ones who went before her.
The rest of us in the family couldn’t understand why she was behaving that way. She was strong, so why couldn’t she find something to keep her “entertained”?
It’s only now that I’m older that I understand. Sure, the world has some fantastic things to offer, but after a while, you grow tired of it. Going on trips and learning new skills can only go so far as to make you feel fulfillment. There are times you don’t even know what to do, and you’re left as a moping mess.
Don’t get me wrong, living up to old age and still being healthy is a blessing. It just makes me wonder how far some people will go to extend their lives. If the secret serum to immortality is discovered one day, how many people will aspire for it? What will be the cost?
Then, when the time comes that some people they know are gone, and the world they are familiar with has made a 180-degree change, will they still treasure their immortality?
Or will they wish to rest, too?/PN
