A great deal of what occurs in the world of science fiction involves the mind and/or brain. Strange forces, and not necessarily alien, want to control others thoughts, expressions, decision making capabilities, functions and more.
Why is that?
Well, for starters, the brain/mind is who we are. What we see. What we do. It governs our perception of the world and how those react towards us. It goes without saying that a brain controlled is a person conquered.
Mind control is like getting the keys to the kingdom. Figure out how to rob one’s senses and you have the entire population cornered.
Take, for instance, Invasion of the Body Snatchers or its modern update, The Invasion. A pod of sorts lodged itself to a human form and, long story short, assumed that person’s entire being except for its soul. Seemingly, the soul was destroyed in the process and everyone was pretty much like the women in The Stepford Wives. In that film, the women were duplicated via robot/android. Then it’s assumed everyone was bumped off and buried anonymously in a hidden grave deep in the Connecticut woods.
In A Clockwork Orange, our hero Malcolm McDowell has a rather questionable attitude when it comes to women, violence and society in general. It’s a pretty simple fix when he’s subjected to the Ludivico Technique. After that, the urge to vomit pretty much takes over when he’s starting to explore those negative tendencies. If that were me, the idea of having my eyelids pinned open would be enough to gross me out and get me to never do anything evil again.
Oh, let’s not forget the classic Jedi Mind Trick, either. It’s one way Luke Skywalker invites himself in for a visit our revolting friend Jabba the Hut. Come to think of it, just by simple virtue of being a Jedi all that is familiar to your being is a mind trick.
The mind is a mystery. We all have one, but who knows what’s in it? How many times have you said, “What are you thinking?” Haven’t you ever taken your fist and rapped it on your brain, or that idiot friend of yours and said, “Dude, are you nuts? What happened to your brain?” Yet, we still wonder what occurs during the thought process, what makes us arrive at the decisions we so nimbly or slowly do. Our influences, our impressions, our decision to eat yet another piece of food that will stuff us silly all comes from that thick grey matter residing in our skull. Is it a machine? Is it will? Is it hope and dreams?
It’s a thought worth thinking about.
Moon, Stars and Beyond 
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