Things I like: Science Fiction

For regular readers here, this is no surprise. And I mean that I like science fiction in all its flavors: books, movies, TV, graphic novels. And it doesn't even have to be great science fiction. I've said this before, but I believe that even bad science fiction has merit. This is because even the worst science fiction is trying to make a point or send a message. It may fail miserably, but it's still trying.

Science fiction is allowed to address important social and political issues that traditional genres would not be able to without being considered preachy. Most recently we saw this with Battlestar Galactica, addressing torture, fundamentalism and terrorism, among other things.

My early beginnings in sci-fi were the novels of Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. As I got a bit older, Larry Niven became probably my favorite hard sci-fi author. It might be cliche, but for a brainy and shy teenager, the escapism of science fiction was one of the few things that brought me solace and joy for those tough years.

In my adult years, I gravitated to the cyberpunk of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. But, I'm still discovering authors that are fantastic, like Greg Bear and Iain M. Banks, and fantasy authors like Philip Pullman and Neil Gaiman.

Obviously, as with all males of my age, one of the most formative experiences of my youth was seeing the original Star Wars movie. In those days, there was no Internet, no DVD's, and VCR's really weren't prevalent yet. Going to a movie theater and seeing something like Star Wars was an indescribable experience. It's so indelible that I remember that it was at a drive-in in Salem, Oregon and we watched it in the back of my folks Jeep.

It was through Star Wars, Blade Runner, the Alien movies and the books of my youth that my interest was cultivated. The 70's and 80's were, however, NOT the heyday of science fiction on television. You had the original Battlestar Galactica (which may prove wrong my theory of all science fiction having merit) and Space 1999, both unintentionally campy and embarrassing. I had no exposure to Doctor Who until I was in college. It's really just been the last 15 years or so that science fiction has come into it's own through things like the X-Files, the Stargate shows, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, the new Doctor Who, and many other shows. Something that was often an afterthought in programming now has a channel dedicated to it (SyFy) and just about every traditional network has at least one program that could be considered science fiction.

I just don't find issues of science, philosophy, consciousness, religion, the environment, war, etc. being addressed in such an entertaining manner as I do in science fiction. I don't read a lot of fiction, but when I do, about 75% of it is science fiction.

Top 5 favorite science fiction/fantasy books, no particular order: Dune, Lord of the Rings, Snow Crash, Neuromancer, Contact

Top 5 favorite science fiction movies, no particular order: 2001, Star Wars, Blade Runner, The Matrix, Children of Men

Next up, tomorrow:  Bluegrass music

Obi-Wan Kenobi is dead ...

Laura posted a link to this on Facebook:

Obi-Wan Kenobi Is Dead, Vader Says

It's hilarious! Be sure to read the comments as well. They're even better than the article.

Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed

I saw a very well-made show on the History Channel tonight, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed, that examined the mythology of the Star Wars series of films. It explained how Lucas drew from classic archetypes of history, mythology, religion and literature to create characters and situations that just about everyone can see and connect with. He made these references general enough that people from vastly different stations and cultures could see things that they identify with. These connections are explained not by Lucas himself or even anyone from the film but rather from historians, experts in mythology, politicians and other directors. The directors predictably included Kevin Smith -- someone who has not had a film that did not have a Star Wars reference in it. Peter Jackson, Joss Whedon (Serenity, Buffy) and J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias) also made appearances. But, people like Camille Paglia and Stephen Colbert also explained the influences of the film and how it influenced others.

One of the politicians that were interviewed was Newt Gingrich. Gingrich, a self-proclaimed expert in history, somehow always seems to forget a vast majority of it, overstates his influence in it, and funnels everything through the narrow prism of the Cold War and Ronald Reagan. In three different segments, he was interviewed and the things that he gleaned from Star Wars were that good and evil are clear-cut, that the Jedi Order represented Jesuits and that the Dark Side obviously represented Russia. Quite the broad view you have there, Newt.

But even his inclusion did not detract from the program. It just confirms that there is something in the stories for everyone.



Parallels were made to Nazi Germany, to Homer's Oddyssey, to Hamlet, to the Greeks and Romans, to Lord of the Rings, to King Arthur, to Paradise Lost, etc. Classic concepts of "mentor", "nemesis", "sins of the father", etc. were explained. All very interesting stuff. By drawing on mythology of the past and introducing it in an interesting and new setting, Star Wars is creating it's own new mythology.

Even if you only like Star Wars a little, I recommend checking out this program. It provides a new frame of reference in which to re-watch the Star Wars films.