‘Be afraid, be very afraid’: Aftermath and Legacy

Abstract

This chapter studies the reception and legacy of David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986). Critical discourse around The Fly leapt on a social anxiety that was generating worldwide media attention at this exact time in the mid-1980s and appeared to be playing out explicitly in The Fly — that of a man suffering through the incremental stages of death from AIDS. Cronenberg has publicly steered clear of supporting the AIDS analogy theories, openly stating at a number of occasions that drawing such parallels to the AIDS epidemic was not on his agenda. In watching The Fly retrospectively, a far broader meaning is unmistakable. That is not to say the AIDS metaphor is meaningless in any way, but The Fly is not just about death and mortality through AIDS; it is about death and mortality, full-stop. The chapter then looks at the sequel, The Fly II, which was directed by Chris Walas. Just as the original The Fly continues to be attributed in pop culture, Cronenberg's work receives its fair share of homages too.