Big Idea Sci-Fi

Blog Week 10 Psci-Fi

A Scanner Darkly dir. Richard Linklater

Adapted closely from the novel by Philip K. Dick

This is one of my favorite late-night movies of all time. It transcends many categories, but is mostly a Sci-Fi film at heart. It is a “1984”-type dystopian future, a tale of drug addiction and it’s consequences, and a comedy led by the antics of Woody Harrelson and Robert Downey Jr. It is a deep philosophical discussion about reality cloaked in a noir mystery, and a mesmerizingly alive animated graphic novel, exposing the audience firsthand to the harrowing hallucinations of an addict. It will certainly be a cult classic.

The main character Bob Arctor is one of many undercover cops dedicated to ending the reign of a drug known as Substance D, a drug so addictive that over 20% of the population is hooked. He works at an extremely secretive (yet effective) treatment facility in which they all have to wear “scramble suits”, which are constantly changing appearance (which works well with the animation style). The twist comes when we learn that our hero is himself an addict, and is then ordered to start spying on “Bob Arctor”.

It’s interesting to see the film play with the fact that doing drugs (at first) can actually be very enjoyable and lead to good times. A lot of films paint it as a dark, looming experience from the start, but then viewers don’t understand why the characters can’t just put the pipe down if it sucks so much anyways. As Bob grows increasingly disoriented, the audience does as well and it becomes harder to distinguish between what’s hallucinatory and what’s real. In the end, we see that the movie is also a tragedy, a mirror to our own addicted society, corporations only seeing the bottom line, an endless “war on drugs”, and a reminder of how easy it is to get lost.

Space Opera

Blog Week 9 Space Opera

“The Stars My Destination” by Alfred Bester

            The reading for this week was very interesting, but also a bit easy to get lost in the storyline. It seemed as though the narrative changed with each page, just so many things happening at once. The main character Gully Foyle starts out as an unambitious man, he’s unskilled and uneducated and most things aren’t working out for him. He goes through many transformations throughout the story. The gears are set in motion for this man’s life to change drastically when his ship is attacked and he is marooned for six months in space, all alone, waiting. A passing ship ignores his cry for help, and Foyle transforms into a man now consumed by rage and revenge.

            This book came about during the late stages of the cyberpunk movement, which is a “subgenre of sci-fi in a near future setting. Noted for it’s focus on high-tech and low-life, it features advanced science, such as information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.” This book was meant to be a sort of vision into the future in which there was cybernetic body enhancement, as well as an interesting concept called “jaunting” which is basically personal teleportation. As well, there are examples of telepathy in this world. The characters are interesting and dimensional, especially Gully Foyle. Although he is a bit predictable, everyone loves a good righteous revenge story. Something I really liked was that after he got the “tiger face” tattoo removed (which was forced on him to begin with), it will resurface when he becomes enraged. The plot is a bit overworked, and some thing could definitely be simplified and easier to follow, but the author obviously has a great imagination and knack for creating worlds. The ending was fantastic, and overall the book made me think more about evolution and where our society may be heading.

Mythic Fiction & Contemporary Urban Fantasy

Week 8 “Lady in the Water” and “The Ocean at the End of the Lane”

            Contemporary Urban Fantasy - Going from the mundane world to the fantastical, the two worlds coexisting in the same realm or parallel realms.

Lady in the Water directed by M. Night Shamalan was a bit too corny for me. The main detractor for me was the overly self-indulgent role that Shamalan put himself in as the savior of the story. He plays a role he probably imagines mirroring his own life, a misunderstood author who will one day influence a boy destined to become the president of the United States. His acting in this role is unintentionally funny, with awkward and unbelievable reactions to the turning of events throughout the story. The fairy tale aspects of it are very interesting though, with a mystical woman (a Narf) being prevented from returning from her world by ferocious grass wolves (Scrunts). The music was really great, though.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman begins with the narrator returning to his now dilapidated and run-down childhood home for the first time since he left many years ago. He begins to remember parts of his childhood, when he was seven years old and his family was taking in boarders to help pay the rent. The narrator remembers one of these housemates, a miner, accidentally killing his kitten and later killing himself in his family’s car. This incident releases an ancient evil through a wormhole (a literal hole with a worm which he breaks off half of) in the narrator’s foot in the form of a woman named Ursula. Ursula seduces his family into trusting her, and soon begins a relationship with his father. Lettie Hempstock and the other Hempstocks help his family overcome Ursula’s evil, and have a very close encounter with death. Ursula is eaten by supernatural scavenging birds who also want to eat the narrators heart (because Ursula left a piece of her in him). While speaking with the Hempstocks in present time, the narrator finds out Lettie almost died saving the narrator, by jumping in front of the hunger birds when he tries to sacrifice himself. He finds out this is not the first time he’s returned to the property, and he comes to see Lettie. The narrator’s memory is extremely unreliable, but he asks the Hempstocks to tell Lettie he was there when she returns from Australia (she is actually recovering in another world). This story is very interestingly written, from the perspective of a grown man having flashbacks to when he was a child.

            The myth in this novel is very integrated into the contemporary world. Although it is not as realistic as some myths, it is very inspiring and heartwarming. A myth is defined as a traditional story concerning the early history of a people or an explanation of a natural or social phenomenon, typically involving supernatural aspects. This story definitely fits these criteria. It tells the history of a battle between good and evil and the history of the supernatural Hempstocks. It explains how evil is brought into this world (by suicide) with Ursula’s appearance (and spread with money) and how evil is eradicated with her downfall. This was a very enjoyable book, very interesting and smart and clever.