Conference quark::human_relations-v1

120.0. "What turns us on? - a new slant" by GWEN::HOFFMAN () Tue Oct 28 1986 12:25

An interesting movie, "Who is Julia", was shown Sunday night on
the late show. It has to do with the first (successful) brain
transplant in history.

This heavy subject receives the shallow --and at times, ludicrous--
treatment you expect from the same industry that produces 'Dalas',
'Dinasty' and 'Supergirl'. And, yet, it does provide some snack
for thought.

First interesting point: we're not dealing with a brain transplant
here, but, rather, with a body transplant. That is, the person
resulting from the operation is the one that provided the brain,
but with a new body. The person that provided the body is dead and
gone!

Another interesting thought allows us to re-evaluate the question
of "What turns us on" in a new light. The lady providing the brain
had been a georgous blonde model. Her life had rotated around her
external appearance. The new face is not as lovely, the new body
not as tall (to say nothing of the fact that it doesn't fill the
old bras in any meaningful way).

Will the husband love her as before? And why did he love her to
start with? Was it her mind and soul (in which case nothing has
changed), or the previous body? or some combination?

My own opinion, which I have voiced somewhere here before, is that
initial "liking" is purely physical. Most of us tend to have a "type"
which we consider attractive. The more we get to know the person we
"like", the more character, mind and soul attributes replace physical
appearance consideration. However, I believe attraction to physical
attributes never goes away entirely.

The movie goes along with my initial concept (on first sight,
appearance is all important), but then goes to the other extreme and
tries to say that after the relationship matures, importance of
physical appearance goes to zero.

As a result: the BRAIN's husband starts out by rejecting the
"new" wife, ends up (when it's time to finish the movie) in complete
committment.

The BODY's husband, yearning for his dead wife, is totally engrossed
in getting her back, is desperate enough to try to rape the body. He
then realizes, in minutes (obviously, under strict instructions from
the movie director), that his wife is gone. Thereupon, he immediately
loses his attraction to this absolutely identical body.

The plot is actually thicker than all that, since the surgeon who
performed the operation falls for the combination of Julia's brain in
the new body - but that has nothing to do with the subject of this note.

-- Ron

    I can't stand it....
    
    Bahama Mama

    This subject was covered, with even more superficiality, in
    Robert Heinlein's novel "I Will Fear No Evil".  I can't say that
    RAH had any more deep insights into the problems than this movie
    seemed to.
    
    But the base idea seems to be "what is the essential element that
    is 'us' that is loved by others?"  Unfortunately, this is a kind
    of question that has no real answers, only opinions.
    				Steve