Okay, wow. I had no idea that the history of Sci-Fi criticism was this layered! I guess I fell captive to the tradition of aprioristic underestimation of science fiction. We saw many perspectives from this week, many of which can be put in direct opposition to each other (for instance, grab Freedman's quote "all SF is a utopia," [...]
1. In the 2005 film adaptation of War of the Worlds, the heat ray instantly cremates humans, turning them into a fine grey dust reminiscent of the dust that covered parts of Manhattan after 9/11. In the original novel and radio adaptation, however, the Heat Ray leaves corpses “charred and distorted beyond recognition" (p.27). [in [...]
James Tiptree Jr.’s “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” is a dismal depiction of the relationship of one woman with her body, and the relationship between that body and the world. The story, first published in 1973, presents a dystopic future where revered celebrities referred to as “gods” are elevated by mega-corporations, most notably GTX, [...]
From Le Voyage dans la Lune directed by Georges Méliès released in 1902 to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey released in 1968, outer space exploration in cinema has become increasingly popular throughout the years. Although the novelty of the dark and faraway unknown is enough to spike the curious audience’s interest, space and our [...]
Introduction In THX 1138, George Lucas tackles the question of what would happen if science, religion, and the state all merged together with the corporation. In an hour long amalgam of state mandated drug plans, a repressive surveillance state, psychological torture, and sexual repression George Lucas asks the question - is freedom worth it even [...]
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s “In the Pale Moonlight” premiered on April 15th, 1998 and is definitely an outlier in the Star Trek universe. Star Trek has always been considered a utopian science fiction universe. When the Star Trek premiered in 1966 it depicted a future that where humans made it past their nuclear adolescence [...]
Dollhouse is a science fiction television show created by Joss Whedon and produced in 2009. The story follows a series of “dolls," which are essentially indentured servants who have signed away their consciousness, personality and memory for five years in exchange for a large sum of money. These dolls, also called 'actives,' are temporarily implanted [...]
Released in 1998 under the direction of Shinichirō Watanabe, Cowboy Bebop is a hot genre mess. The title of the show already points towards two of the main stylistic pillars of the show: the American western and (the also American) jazz music; but those are hardly the only two ingredients in this brew! the delightful [...]
Gene Roddenberry may have been the first to pitch his television show as a “wagon train to the stars” (Worland, 20), but subsequent series such as Firefly have shown us that there’s more than one way to write a space western. While Roddenberry’s final frontier is explored by members of a utopian society intent on [...]
