10 Movies With Hidden Subtext You Totally Missed
6. The Fly Is About Technology Turning Against Mankind
Seth Brundle's stomach-churning transformation in David Cronenberg's The Fly is laden with metaphor. The most obvious parallel is terminal illness, but there's extra subtext in there you may not have considered.
The 1986 remake is also an allegory for technology turning against mankind, a concept other films such as Terminator have tackled in a more in-your-face way.
Seth finds himself merged with an insect at molecular level because of the technology he created. The computer's cold logic is his downfall when his telepods are faced with the man-plus-fly conundrum.
It's no coincidence that Brundlefly ends up merged with his tech at the end of the film - he becomes a living (just about) metaphor for the damage technology could potentially do without the appropriate safeguards.
Seth's ultimate fate is subtly foreshadowed earlier in the film when he rolls on a circuit board and it becomes embedded in his back.