‘The Invisible Man’ - Science Fiction’s Great Horror & Humanity’s High Tech Desire 

The seemingly awesome power of true invisibility beckons to all of us at some point in our life. A magical desire to disappear entirely from view is especially common in childhood, when we play at being the invisible one - the special one who can’t be seen by our family or friends. To be cloaked from sight and become as an immortal plucked from the exploits of Greek myth, dabbling as a magic practitioner from a wizard’s realm or piloting a modern stealth fighter jet evading enemy sensors - being invisible to radar - stirs our imagination as an ability we’d love to possess. But how to achieve such a dream? If only the genie would grant our wish... If only the magic cloak truly existed... If only science and technology would catch up to our wild, fanciful dreams. If or when the fanciful dream comes true, hordes of Invisible Men and Women will start parading around for all the world to never see.

Of course, in keeping with the logistics of only the human body itself being rendered invisible, all who dare to become invisible must wear only their birthday suit. They all must be naked! The naked truth? Indeed.

In his 1897 novella, The Invisible Man, British author H.G. Wells created the bold template by which all notions of human gained invisibility through science will be forever measured. But despite his novella’s literary notoriety, it’s the Claude Rains starring Hollywood classic horror film, directed by James Whale (Frankenstein) which the world knows best. Rains fleshed out a crazed, yet sad and tragic character, who after achieving invisibility, careens down a horrific rabbit hole of complete madness and savage murder.

Plato - The Ring of Gyges & A Hobbit's Dilemma 

The notion of becoming invisible at will and bypassing all that nasty hard work through experimentation or scientific plausibility is a dream expressed in much global folklore, myth and in fairy tales. One of the earliest examples can be found in Plato’s Republic. Written in 380 BC, Greek philosopher Plato weaves the story, The Ring of Gyges, as a lesson in discussing and teaching morality.

The ancient tale is centered on a magical ring which bestows invisibility to the one who wears it. The famed Greek philosopher uses the narrative to question our own adherence to morality if we could do things without the risk of being punished for them later. If there are no consequences nor punishment for the invisible person who commits a crime or fools another for their own personal gain, why would they continue to live in a just and moral fashion? If you're invisible, why obey the rules?

In author J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy books, The Lord of The Rings and The Hobbit, a similar dilemma is foisted upon the diminutive people known as hobbits. Bilbo Baggins, and then later his cousin Frodo, must deal with the overpowering seduction of possessing a ring of immense magical power. Not only does the ring make the wearer invisible, but it allows them to tap into a sort of collective consciousness or brain trust with other magical ring owners. Though both Bilbo and Frodo remain focused and law abiding citizens throughout the fantasy epic, there are more than a few occasions when the temptation to use the mystical ring for personal gain grips them strongly.

Tolkien’s ring beckons to the hobbits and to all those around them to use its dark powers. Unlike the tormented soul in H.G. Wells novella turned movie, a choice between being invisible or not can be made by Tolkien’s characters. They need only to slip off the ring to turn off the magic. Resisting a kind of drug like addiction which the ring’s influence exerts on the weak, the hobbits can at least control themselves; for the Invisible Man, depicted in the 1933 film, his madness in part lies in the horrific prospect of being forever trapped in an invisible realm - isolating him forever from the rest of the human race.

The 1933 Universal Horror Classic 

“We’ll begin with a reign of terror. A few murders here and there. Murders of great men, murders of little men. Just to show we make no distinction. We may even wreck a train or two. Just these fingers round a signalman’s throat…” - Dr. Jack Griffin (Claude Rains) in 'The Invisible Man' 1933

James Whale’s filmed translation of H.G. Wells’ work deviates from the original narrative, but the core story of a man’s life upended by becoming invisible remains. Rains plays the chemist and researcher Dr. Jack Griffin, who after succeeding in making himself invisible, descends into anger, desperation and then utter madness.

Before crafting the potion which transforms him, Griffin was a poor, struggling chemist - trying to make a name for himself by concocting an invisibility potion and using a risky, unstable drug called monocane. Unknown to the researching Griffin, monocane can cause madness. As Griffin succumbs more and more to the effects of the powerful drug, he embarks on a bloodthirsty reign of terror - killing whomever gets in his path. In one of the most shocking scenes, he takes control of a speeding locomotive and derails the train, killing hundreds of passengers.

Despite the plot device of the 'monocane madness' drug being the main cause of Griffin’s mental deterioration, one can plainly argue that his inability to go back to his normal life - one where the world can see him, including his frantic girlfriend - also preys heavily on his weakened mental state. Could the prospect of being like a disembodied phantom, detached and separated from the normal world of his fellow humans have also put him squarely over the edge?

In the end, we watch in pity, and in perhaps one of the most poignant ends to one of Universal’s classic monsters. After finally being captured by police, the Invisible Man expires. As he dies in his hospital bed, his invisibility wears off and he returns for all the world to see him.

At death's door, he manages to say his farewell by gasping out some final words to Flora, his fiancee, standing a bedside vigil for him, “I wanted to come back to you. My darling. I failed. I meddled in things, that man must leave alone.”

Years later, another psychologically unbalanced invisible man tried to crash the sci-fi based party in Hollywood. This one starred Kevin Bacon. Like Whale’s classic entry, director Paul Verhoeven’s film, Hollow Man, also eschewed fairy tale or magic plot devices for gaining invisible powers by using fictional, though speculative science. Verhoeven who had given the world a crime busting RoboCop (1987) and the sci-fi action fest, Starship Troopers (1997), faltered with this big budget science fiction entry. The movie, released in 2000, garnered a more than respectable box office return, but was mostly panned by critics and audiences alike. Although the movie’s special effects stunned viewers, however, the story just didn’t effectively grab the public enough.

An Invisible Future? 

Will the dream of true invisibility ever be fulfilled for humanity through the real magic of science, optics and physics? Researchers in labs all across the globe are experimenting to find the answer, and they’re always getting closer.

Scientists are using exotic materials to achieve what myth and folklore have only entertained and given us in our wildest dreams and fantasies. These incredible materials are called metamaterials which can do extraordinary things with regards to the visible and infrared light spectrum and also for sound and acoustics - the basis of seeing and hearing, vision and sound. With these magical like metamaterials, success in cloaking objects are continually improving and are edging us ever closer to be becoming an invisible capable people. An invisible society? Maybe when everyone turns invisible, the moral dilemmas which Plato challenged us won’t even matter. Welcome to an Invisible Planet!