“What will become of treasured notions about equality if we get to the point where genuine differences can be imprinted, demonstrated, even bar-coded? Will equality survive in a brave new world of built-in inequality?” asked James Pinkerton, writing about the new X-Men movie.

The intended message is harmony amidst difference, but the storyline is always discord, even violence, among visibly different factions. What does that tell us about the future of a speciated humanity?

Beyond the special effects, maybe “X-Men” is a already a hit (number 1 box office movie this past weekend) because it probes our deepest Darwinian feelings–and fears. If science succeeds in updating the definition of “fittest,” the survival of our particular species, in its current form, could be at risk. That’s great for future mutants, but not so great for the rest of us, and our current civilization.

Isn’t this the sticking point of many sci-fi stories and shows one weakness of the naturalistic worldview the stories come from? We’re all equal, humans and nonhumans. Even those bugs over there. Isn’t that right, Chewy? Rwaaraaa!

Here’s a meditation on the movie Hero. Jason Morehead loves it, saying the director appears to have developed “a visually ravishing exploration of the sacrifices that people are willing to make for causes larger than themselves, sometimes foolishly, and the human foibles that plague and hinder our attempts at nobility.”