–By Laura Pelcher

The Visionary, a film about Nikole Tesla, the man behind alternating current energy, tells of ordinary flaws and circumstance that can bring down even the most extraordinary of minds. Tesla is caught in a circus climbing a rope ladder to an uncertain future without a net to catch him. Confidence and funding make up the proverbial net that Tesla lacks. Whether it is his relentless jealousy and mistrust of Thomas Edison, his father’s disappointment in his chosen path, or his fear of public opinion, he is unable to finish his most imaginative and largest project- the Wardenclyff Tower. Though he projected it would revolutionize the way the world communicates, J.P. Morgan is unable to see how he will personally benefit and cuts off funding.

Did Tesla simply tire of competing with Thomas Edison and did he grow weary of being a showman in order to receive respect and financial backing? It is hard to know why Tesla largely withdrew from his previously active social life. The circus setting, while cliché, is an effective way of quickly showcasing the mindset of a genius reduced to petty games in order to have the room to reach his full potential. Tesla’s work is so essential to our modern society that without it “the wheels of industry would cease to turn, our electric cars and trains would stop, our towns would be dark and our mills would be idle and dead” as described by the man who awarded him the Edison Award. To think that a genius like Tesla was stifled should forever stand out as a lesson of what not to do when we look at the future of science in our country.