Bethany, the transhumanist protagonist of Years and Years, shows how combining human and machine can be a conundrum.
Two parents are concerned in the HBO/BBC miniseries Years and Years. The parents’ teenage daughter Bethany is hiding behind a 3D animated mask. She has set up a meeting with them. In an attempt to understand what’s going on, they peek at her web searches. They are relieved when they find out that she has been researching being transgender.
It’s only when they meet that Bethany tells them she is transhuman, and she wants to live forever as information. The show represents the transhumanist movement, which has both positive and negative implications. What does that mean? We humans opened Pandora’s Box by combining technology and biology long ago. Now, we are speeding into the consequences despite not knowing the outcome.
Bethany’s \”coming-out\” scene is based on the fact that she wants to make changes, which are more dangerous and, for her, more difficult, than gender reassignment. Bethany’s enthusiasm at leaving the mortal coil is filled with teenage naivete. \”Transhumans don’t look like men or women, they are better,\” she tells parents. Bethany’s excitement at escaping the mortal coil is brimming with typical teenage naivete: \”Transhumans are not male or female, but better,\” she tells her parents. She exclaims, \”I’ll be data!\”
Source:
https://slate.com/technology/2019/07/years-and-years-finale-bethany-transhumanist.html
