Gnosticism, technology and the soul in Cuarón's gravity

Abstract

Situated within the Digital Age, where technology and science have made life in space possible, Alfonso Caurón's award-winning space-thriller, Gravity, explores critical notions of the relationship between technology and the soul. More specifically, Cuarón’s depiction of space voyage illustrates the dualistic approach to the soul in relation to technology, especially the gnostic mind/body split and its manifestation in the Digital Age. This intersection between technology and the soul is a notion of increasingly importance in contemporary society, however it is often evaded in literature. Accordingly, it is crucial to analyze and unpack films, such as Gravity, that confront audiences with these concepts, to better understand this relation. In this article I provide a broad overview of gnostic thought, in terms of the soul and dualism, and then situate these gnostic views within the Digital Age and the realm of film. Finally, drawing from these discussions, I then analyze Gravity in terms of identified key characteristics, in order to interpret the gnostic relation of technology and the soul in the Digital Age.