In the 1965 film She, Ursula Andress plays Ayesha, immortal queen of the lost city of Kuma.
For more than 2,000 years she has preserved her looks and vitality by bathing in the mystical Eternal Flame.
And when a young British explorer arrives in her realm she persuades him to enter the ceremonial fire too and become her everlasting lover.
As a kid, I was intrigued by the story and other fantasy films about time travel, rejuvenation, and eternal youth.
So I’ve been wondering if Jeff Bezos, who’s the same age as me, shared the fascination.
Because the billionaire Amazon boss is reportedly backing a US-UK experiment to beat the ageing process – with boffins genetically reprogramming cells to replace diseased tissue, organs and perhaps an entire body.
Bezos is also backing research to beat “zombie cells” which don’t quite die and keep secreting chemicals linked to dementia, diabetes and osteoporosis.
While other Silicon Valley tycoons and wealthy oligarchs are funding different anti-ageing and rejuvenation projects.
It’s hardly surprising. Because the one thing their money can’t buy yet is the three extra lifetimes they’d need to spend it.
Of course there’s another side to this research – the prospect of wiping out degenerative diseases, curing cancer and improving the lives of ordinary mortals.
But where will it end? At the age of 150…180… 200?
Is the obsession with rejuvenation and eternal youth more about a fear of oblivion? It certainly feels as if we, as a society, have become more scared of dying.
Two years of Covid terror certainly haven’t helped. Images of people forced to say goodbyes on iPhones, their loved ones surrounded by medical staff looking like aliens in PPE.
But last week doctors claimed that reports of end-of-life suffering are scaring people into backing assisted suicide.
Members of the Association of Palliative Medicine (APM) claim the focus on negative and traumatic experiences has stopped people talking about “a good death.”
The stories of pain and anguish drown out the many positive experiences of support given by hospices and home carers to ensure a peaceful passing.
And people are so convinced that their last days will be hell that they want the option of a swifter exit.
Assisted dying is a sensitive and controversial issue – one that I am still conflicted about.
My mother had a “good death” – a peaceful, pain-free, love-filled departure after a long cancer battle.
But in the months before she suffered terribly and if assisted suicide had been legal, and her choice, I’m sure I’d have supported her.
Three in four Brits now support doctor-assisted dying for the terminally ill, so there must be a proper parliamentary debate on any proposed legislation.
But we must also learn to break the taboos and start talking properly about our deaths.
And snuff out any billionaire fantasy of finding the eternal flame.
