Altered States

Lore & Background

The plot follows Columbia University psychopathologist Edward Jessup, who experiments with sensory deprivation and a hallucinogenic potion from the Hinchi tribe of Mexico. His experiments lead to actual biological devolution, transforming him into a caveman and later into primordial matter. The film's final transformation sequence used a computer-assisted rotoscope system, with frames traced by electronic pen and colors added via optical printer.

Reader's Guide

Altered States is significant for its ambitious blend of psychological and body horror with surrealist and science fiction elements, exploring themes of consciousness and evolution. The film garnered generally positive reviews and earned Academy Award nominations for Best Original Score and Best Sound. Its production was marked by creative disputes, with Chayefsky removing his name from the credits after conflicts with Russell. The film introduced William Hurt to cinema and featured an early role for Drew Barrymore. Despite a troubled production and budget overruns, it remains a cult classic for its visceral visual effects and intense performances.

Did You Know?

• Paddy Chayefsky withdrew from the project after disputes with Ken Russell and substituted his actual first and middle names, Sidney Aaron, on the credits.
• The film marked the debut of William Hurt; Drew Barrymore also appears in an uncredited role, though her film debut is more commonly associated with 'E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial' (1982).
• The final transformation sequence used a computer-assisted rotoscope system that produced smooth movements without jitter.
• The film was nominated for Best Original Score and Best Sound at the 53rd Academy Awards.

Defining the Boundaries

The question of what actually qualifies as science fiction has puzzled writers, critics, and readers for generations. Isaac Asimov, who was both a biochemistry professor and a prolific author, framed it as literature dealing with how people react to shifts in science and technology. Robert A. Heinlein offered a more methodical take, emphasizing realistic speculation grounded in solid knowledge of the real world and a thorough grasp of the scientific method. Yet even devoted fans, as editor Lester del Rey acknowledged, struggle to articulate clear boundaries, noting that no fully satisfactory definition exists because the genre resists easy delineation. The 1993 Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, edited by John Clute and Peter Nicholls, devoted extensive discussion to this very problem. Damon Knight captured the circularity with a wry observation: science fiction is simply what people point to and call it. David Seed suggested it might be more productive to think of the genre as the overlapping intersection of more concrete subgenres rather than a single fixed category.

Roots and Early Pioneers

The lineage of science fiction stretches further back than most readers expect. Lucian's second-century satirical novel A True Story contains elements that feel strikingly modern: journeys to other worlds, encounters with alien lifeforms, interplanetary conflict, and even artificial life. Some scholars call it the first science fiction novel. Stories from The Arabian Nights, the tenth-century Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, and Ibn al-Nafis's thirteenth-century Theologus Autodidactus are also cited as containing proto-science-fiction elements. During the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, works like Francis Bacon's New Atlantis, Johannes Kepler's Somnium, Cyrano de Bergerac's lunar and solar epics, Margaret Cavendish's The Blazing World, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, and Voltaire's Micromégas are recognized as early science-fantasy. Kepler's Somnium, imagining a trip to the Moon and Earth's motion seen from there, was considered by both Asimov and Carl Sagan to be the first true science fiction story. The genre truly coalesced in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with Mary Shelley's 1818 Frankenstein often credited as the first genuine science fiction novel, followed by the pivotal contributions of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells.

A Spectrum of Subgenres

Science fiction is far from a monolithic category. Hard science fiction prioritizes scientific accuracy and rigorous technical detail, while soft science fiction leans toward social sciences and human behavior. Space opera emphasizes pure adventure in settings where interstellar travel is commonplace. Cyberpunk probes the friction between technology and society, while climate fiction tackles environmental crises head-on. The thematic palette has broadened considerably over the decades. Early works centered on space exploration, extraterrestrial life, time travel, and robotics. Later additions brought parallel universes, dystopian societies, and biological manipulation into the fold. More recently, the genre has embraced information technology, transhumanism, posthumanism, and pressing environmental challenges. A common thread running through all these strands is the exploration of how human beings respond to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances. The twentieth century saw the genre grow substantially during what is known as the Golden Age of Science Fiction, and it expanded further with the introduction of space operas, dystopian literature, and the proliferation of pulp magazines that made the genre accessible to mass audiences.

Naming, Culture, and Ongoing Debate

Even the name of the genre carries baggage. Forrest J. Ackerman, a magazine editor, writer, and literary agent, is credited with first using the term "sci-fi" around 1954, echoing the then-trendy "hi-fi." The first known printed use appeared in a January 1954 review of Donovan's Brain by movie critic Jesse Zunser. As the genre entered popular culture, writers and fans began associating "sci-fi" with low-quality pulp and low-budget B movies. By the 1970s, critics like Damon Knight and Terry Carr deliberately used "sci fi" to separate hack work from serious science fiction. Australian scholar Peter Nicholls noted around 1993 that "SF" or "sf" remained the preferred abbreviation within the community of writers and readers. Heinlein himself felt "science fiction" was insufficient for more thoughtful works and proposed "speculative fiction" as an alternative. Beyond nomenclature, the genre's cultural footprint extends well past literature into film, television, and broader society. It serves as a vehicle for critiquing present-day society, exploring alternatives, providing entertainment, and inspiring a sense of wonder.