My Quirky Idea Tonight: Science Fiction Turned Reality?
This is still not finalized I think....
As my friends know, I am a huge fan of the science fiction genre. For me it all began with Star Trek, despite William Shatner’s overly dramatic Captain Kirk. By the time Star Wars debuted in 1978, I had been hooked.
To me the real power of Science Fiction is the ability of the writer to craft his or her story in whatever “world” or “universe” they want. Not all fiction writers can take advantage of such a powerful tool. Your average legal drama today requires a setting in today’s society (or a well documented past one) where there are certain rules in place. For example, you can’t have a story today where you can probe the suspect’s memories for the truth with a machine. You can’t have a chase scene that spans a continent. You have to use a judge, a jury, and follow the norms of today.
In SciFi, the author can have all sorts of possibilities. Want a chase scene across galaxies? Sure. Want a truly invisible stalker? Alright. Time Travel? Okay. But even beyond that, SciFi can provide a writer several other socially relevant options. Star Trek is the prime example of one.
In the 1960s, race relations were strained to say the least. Young black people certainly were not able to reasonably dream of being President or even serving as high ranking officers in the military. If you had a Russian accent, you had to be a Communist. And women certainly were not supposed to have careers. Star Trek had the ultimate melting pot: an alien first officer, an Asian pilot, a Russian navigator, and a black female communications officer. The show did not overtly preach race relations; rather it simply indicated a future where racial tension had been overcome.
It simply proves the power of the genre, the author can set the environment to suit his story. In doing so, many times they can provide social commentary about a very real current problem, but do is in a more subtle fashion. Instead of feeling preached at over race relations, if you watched Star Trek, you merely accepted the notion in the future, things would be better. The best of tales will have multiple themes, one which might pertain to a social trend or situation, while at the same time addressing a spiritual element as well. So, short story long, this brief blog topic passed between my ears and here it goes.
A common theme in science fiction is the author choosing set their story in the future. Many times this is done to predict or foretell where mankind will end up because of the choices it makes. One of the most written about ideas, of which I never seem to tire, is how humanity will create machines which will one day overthrow, enslave or exterminate mankind. Indeed, The Matrix movies, Terminator movies, Battlestar Galactica, I, Robot, several Star Trek episodes, and even a Stephen King story to name just a few, have dealt with this exact theme.
Before you simply tune out, wait. This common sci-fi theme is actually closer than you might think, in a way. Mankind is slowly handing over more and more of our lives to machines. Think about it for a minute. How much of our lives are tied to machines today? You’re reading this now using a computer, hooked to the Internet. You probably spend nearly an hour on your cell phone or texting your friends and family. You might even be talking or texting while driving your car. You might be talking on the phone, while driving your car, following the directions of a GPS. That is quite a bit of technology involvement in your life. And don’t forget the big one: How much time does the average person spend at the altar of technological capitulation, a.k.a. in front of the television?
No, I am not going to bash technology. I love tech. I have made my living in technology. But, I also like to just get away from it all every once in a while and turn off the cell phone, go for a nice long hike up a mountain or down a trail, and I don’t take a GPS but an old fashioned map, so I have to rely on myself. Or pull up a chair at a table and just have a nice chat with a friend about something, face to face (no silly emoticons, or LOLs).
Just a short whisper in your virtual ear to remind you to “unplug” every once in a while and enjoy the non-tech things in your life. And the next time some sci-fi show comes on, maybe you give it a minute, there just might be something more to it than a cyborg on a spaceship.
As my friends know, I am a huge fan of the science fiction genre. For me it all began with Star Trek, despite William Shatner’s overly dramatic Captain Kirk. By the time Star Wars debuted in 1978, I had been hooked.
To me the real power of Science Fiction is the ability of the writer to craft his or her story in whatever “world” or “universe” they want. Not all fiction writers can take advantage of such a powerful tool. Your average legal drama today requires a setting in today’s society (or a well documented past one) where there are certain rules in place. For example, you can’t have a story today where you can probe the suspect’s memories for the truth with a machine. You can’t have a chase scene that spans a continent. You have to use a judge, a jury, and follow the norms of today.
In SciFi, the author can have all sorts of possibilities. Want a chase scene across galaxies? Sure. Want a truly invisible stalker? Alright. Time Travel? Okay. But even beyond that, SciFi can provide a writer several other socially relevant options. Star Trek is the prime example of one.
In the 1960s, race relations were strained to say the least. Young black people certainly were not able to reasonably dream of being President or even serving as high ranking officers in the military. If you had a Russian accent, you had to be a Communist. And women certainly were not supposed to have careers. Star Trek had the ultimate melting pot: an alien first officer, an Asian pilot, a Russian navigator, and a black female communications officer. The show did not overtly preach race relations; rather it simply indicated a future where racial tension had been overcome.
It simply proves the power of the genre, the author can set the environment to suit his story. In doing so, many times they can provide social commentary about a very real current problem, but do is in a more subtle fashion. Instead of feeling preached at over race relations, if you watched Star Trek, you merely accepted the notion in the future, things would be better. The best of tales will have multiple themes, one which might pertain to a social trend or situation, while at the same time addressing a spiritual element as well. So, short story long, this brief blog topic passed between my ears and here it goes.
A common theme in science fiction is the author choosing set their story in the future. Many times this is done to predict or foretell where mankind will end up because of the choices it makes. One of the most written about ideas, of which I never seem to tire, is how humanity will create machines which will one day overthrow, enslave or exterminate mankind. Indeed, The Matrix movies, Terminator movies, Battlestar Galactica, I, Robot, several Star Trek episodes, and even a Stephen King story to name just a few, have dealt with this exact theme.
Before you simply tune out, wait. This common sci-fi theme is actually closer than you might think, in a way. Mankind is slowly handing over more and more of our lives to machines. Think about it for a minute. How much of our lives are tied to machines today? You’re reading this now using a computer, hooked to the Internet. You probably spend nearly an hour on your cell phone or texting your friends and family. You might even be talking or texting while driving your car. You might be talking on the phone, while driving your car, following the directions of a GPS. That is quite a bit of technology involvement in your life. And don’t forget the big one: How much time does the average person spend at the altar of technological capitulation, a.k.a. in front of the television?
No, I am not going to bash technology. I love tech. I have made my living in technology. But, I also like to just get away from it all every once in a while and turn off the cell phone, go for a nice long hike up a mountain or down a trail, and I don’t take a GPS but an old fashioned map, so I have to rely on myself. Or pull up a chair at a table and just have a nice chat with a friend about something, face to face (no silly emoticons, or LOLs).
Just a short whisper in your virtual ear to remind you to “unplug” every once in a while and enjoy the non-tech things in your life. And the next time some sci-fi show comes on, maybe you give it a minute, there just might be something more to it than a cyborg on a spaceship.
Comments
Post a Comment