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Clark College Science Fiction class with Nancy Thompson
This class...
CBS Mystery Theatre - "The Outsider" (H.P. Lovecraft)
Weekly Top Ten: This week, animation
- Electric Earthquake
- The Underground World
- Dodo in Japan
- The Hole
- Duck and Cover
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
- My Neighbor Totoro
- Mulan
- The Corpse Bride
- Yellow Submarine
30 comments:
Alright, my question was going to be: How would the morality of possessing the Jovians change if they were native lifeforms instead of artificially created?
Why was The Ones who Walk Away from Omelas sci-fi?
This wasn't one of the ones that was brought up in our group discussions in class, but I might as well add another question to the ones already provided.
What is your favorite Sci-Fi book, movie, or TV series?
And what connections, if any, can you make between it and any of the texts/clips we've seen in class?
I suppose if the Jovians were native, the law of natural sentinence would apply and any thought of possessing them would go the way of the dinosaur. Or not, depending on how badly the author wanted to sell the book.
Compare/Contrast the ways the "creators" in both Frankenstein and Call Me Joe view their "creations."
I dunno, Captain Vimes...the world justified human slavery for a long time, no? In fact, it still does. Check these out: Modern Slavery : People for Sale and today's New York Times article on slavery case in Niger
Alisha, I see Omelas as a world other than ours, and a world that is somewhat futuristic. Its premise isn't plausible in our current world. I also see it, though, as general fiction; in other words, I think it's a crossover story, one that isn't stereotypically sci fi, and one that functions equally well as "other than sci fi."
I think this is a great question, because it opens up the questions of themes in scifi. In Omelas, we have the themes of morality, of dualism, of political awareness and action (or the lack of action, as some pointed out in class; the walking away, in Omelas, does not accomplish a better situation for the child). The child is symbolic; can we assume that the child lives forever? If not, then how is the next child chosen? It raises the idea of the scapegoat and the function of the scapegoat in society. Leguin's technique in this story is to allow each of us to creat Omelas inside our own minds; purposefully, she does not draw Omelas for us, but invites (and in fact pushes) us to imagine it, and by imagining it, we create it. That's very different from other writers we've seen who carefully draw out setting and imagine the world for us.
Which Star trek race is your favorite, Ferengi, Klingon, Bajoran, Cardassian, Borg, Orion, Andoran, Maquis, Q, Talaxian, Hirogen, Shapechanger, Mohean, or Terran?
What is your favorite Star Wars film? That or does anyone even like the prequels? What would be your favorite race in Star Wars? Given that there are many I would suggest looking them up. Unless you just stick with the films then thats cool.
"Luke...I am your father." Hard to beat that. And I like Klingons a lot, but suppose I have a soft spot for the Borg.
Bryson - My favorite Star Trek race would have to be the Vulcans. Probably because I can connect so well with them - hide (or mastered) our feelings... and tend to think others as strange. We observe others and try to learn the others' point of view or lifestyle/culture, but at times, we just can't figure out why one would do a certain thing.
Grand Moff Tarkin - Although I'm more of a Star Trek fan than a Star Wars fan, I'll still answer your question. My favorite Star Wars film... hmm... I would have to say Star Wars I: The Phantom Menance. I have seen the older Star Wars movies, but Phantom Menance is the one that really has captured my heart. Probably because of my favorite character, Queen Amidala, being in it.
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Another question from me which relates to NBC Heroes and any Comic Book superhero at that:
If you had any superpower, what would it be? How did you get this power (born with it, "meteor freak" [Smallville term], other type of "freak" accident, etc., etc.)? Would you have a superhero name? If so, what would it be? And finally which side would you be on - Hero or Villain?
Moff Tarkin I would say it's a tie between the wookies and the talz, and jedi was my favorite film
Christine sorry about forgetting the vulcans but i was concentrating so hard on the others that they fell through the cracks in my mind, to answer your questions I'd be my fave, a Green lantern, I can quote the oath from memory, "In Brightest Day, In Blackest night, No Evil Shall Escape my sight, Let those who worship Evil's light, Beware my power Green lantern's light!" and with the greatness of yesterdays episode I'm a total villain
Bryson - to answer your question I would say Klingon because that is the only one I am truly familiar with. I'm not much of a Star Trek fan obviously.
Good question, Bryson, I'd have to say the Klingons are my ultimate favorite, followed by Species 8472 and the Hirogen tying for second.
Well, yeah. I guess I temporarily suspended belief in human nature for the duration of my theory, lol.
Ah..my favorite Star Trek race is absolutely the Ferengi. What could be better than an entire race of people dedicated to earning as much money as possible?
Not much of a fan of Star Wars, to be honest, I never really got into it I guess.
The fact that the Jovians were created doesn't matter to me. If they were designed to have human intelligence, then they should not be controlled.
It would still undoubtedly happen anyways, but I believe it would be wrong.
My favorite star trek race would be the Terran because that's my name!
Anyways concerning Alisha's question. I would agree with Nancy. It is a story depicting a future society. This is one of those few stories where there may be no technology but still...
Just like "Planet of the Apes" today. There's really no technological advancement of any kind in the film however it's depicting the future of our planet and society thus making it science fiction.
I don't know, it's things like this lately that have been redefining my definition of sci-fi.
Bryson - Ah, I think I remember you saying Green Lantern's oath when we had Theatre class together.
I'm sure some would like to know what my answers would be to my own questions - so, here you are:
I don't really have a favorite Sci-Fi book or movie... I enjoy reading and watching the genre, but I have to admit that I've been a bit more familiar with Fantasy and the Science Fiction. When it comes to TV series, my favorite would be Star Trek (fav. season is Voyager) and NBC Heroes.
If I had any superpower, I would love to have the ability to fly, telekinesis, and telepathic abilities. If I was to choose how I got the power... that part I'm not really sure. Though I probably would lean more towards being born with the powers or have some sort of "freak" accident like how the Fantastic Four got their powers. Name - not sure what it would be... though I do like the name Cosma. And finally, which side would I be on - Hero or Villain? Hmm... I'll go with both. I'll be one of those people that could go to whichever side depending on who they encounter. Sort of like Christina Aguilera's "Keeps Getting Better"... one day you are a bad guy, next day you are the good guy.
To answer your first question Christine I would say that my fav scifi book is Darth Bane; Path Of Destruction, my fav movie is Star Wars, and my fav tv show is Doctor Who
Has anyone here read WATCHMEN? I'm almost finished with it, and now I'm really looking forward to the movie.
Also, is science fiction a good genre for feminist writing? I'd think it would be since you can use scifi to satirize "utopias", so naturally one way would be to satirize patriarchal societies or something like that. Anything like that I could get mah hands on?
Killer question James!
Totally ran into something like that while writing my research paper on Paganism
It's popularity is growing among the feminist population because of the importance of female goddesses in the Pagan (and NeoPagan) religions.
And I would say that satire in general would be a great genre for any undermined group. However, drawing the connection between feminists and sci-fi because of the satire was pretty cool.
Terran –
Cool. I guess it didn’t cross me at first as science fiction because the dancing and the music reminded me of the 60’s and the past.
I don’t know. It just didn’t hit me as science fiction.
Does anyone think that the satire makes the sci-fi?
Kissa -
Favorite "sci-fi" book, though I again I never saw it as sci-fi, was Slaughter House Five (I've got a total soft spot for Vonnegut).
I read it when I was 15 or so, and loved it.
Thinking about it now, the aliens and the time travel would have totally made that book sci-fi - kinda of like the Looney Tunes clip we saw.
Thanks Nancy!
At the end of "Call Me Joe", they say that the mind transfer that Edward did into the body of Joe could be a solution for cripples who want another chance. Would you willingly shift your mind to another mind if you were a cripple? Does your mind really shift over or do you lose yourself? Would you be willing to lose part of yourself for a new body and is it fair to the jovian?
planet of the apes ... sorry not ares
I can't really recall if I've read any scifi that you couldn't call a satire.
Sci-fi and satire...I don't think satire can be escaped. It's in everything. Our lives (my life at least) seems to be nothing but a giant satirical piece. It makes me frequently laugh at my misfortunes. It's beautiful.
I hope that apes take over the world as well as AIDs and cancer to go airborn, for a zombie outbreak to occur and there be an alien invasion as well, all at once...it would make things a lot more interesting.
So would satire be a key element that would caterogize a piece of work as "science fiction"?
Satire is definitely a common element in sci-fi. I agree with Scully, it makes sci-fi more entertaining and interesting in my opinion.
A Wrinkle In Time is sci-fi right? Would it be considered a satire though?
I think when you are dealing with an idea of a future world or a "utopian" world I think elements of satire are going to come out. What do satires do? They create new things to represent something that already exists. Or they take something that isn't extreme and make something incredibly extreme or wild. The idea is that the insanity of something is supposed to bring out the truth of something we have come to accept on a normal level.
In Sci-fi that is a lot of the time what they are already dealing with naturally. So I think it just kind of comes out that way. A better question might be do writers who choose to write satires choose Sci-fi because it fits so well?
A lot of stories have satire, but Brave New World is a whole book full of satire. I think that is why it is so difficult to connect with any of the characters. For Huxley to get his full message across, I think he had to sacrifice the possibility of having likable characters. However, I have never read any of his other books so I don't know if he ever creates well rounded characters...
I agree and think that satire is very common in SciFi. It can make stories a lot more interesting that way, and a lot more entertaining. Also it can force the readers to look at things from a different view, which can be eye and mind-opening. Doesn't mean that the reader will have to agree with the point the author's trying to get across, but it forces them to at least try to understand it.
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