writing. photography. film criticism

Tag: Sci-Fi

Paradise Bound: Interstellar and the Quest for Dimensional Transcendence

interstellar

In the beginning, God created Adam. Then, because Adam was lonely, God made Eve. When Eve fell, she led Adam to fall with her and God expelled them both from the garden of Eden. In the 17th Century, English poet John Milton provided his own take on the story of Adam and Eve in his epic poem Paradise Lost. Milton’s version contains moments of sympathy for God, for Eve, and even for Satan, but most poignantly for Adam.

Milton, in his own problematic, misogynist view of Original Sin, presents the idea that Adam chooses a life of companionship over a life of bliss. In other words, the idea of a lonely existence in paradise is worse than whatever could await outside the garden walls, and his decision has haunted us ever since.

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Sailing to “Elysium”

Elysium

Elysium, the newest film from Neill Blomkamp, the creator of District 9 once again forces us into a world where the unspoken social undercurrents of our modern world are thrust into light. The post-apartheid era of District 9 gives way to a stark, segregationist landscape reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. On Earth, we experience Los Angeles in the year 2154, a wretched hive of scum and villainy if there ever was one. Citizens of Earth live under the distant glimmer of Elysium, an Edenic off-world haven. Those wealthy enough to flee the plague-ridden Earth have made Elysium their utopian home, while the less fortunate have been left to toil by the sweat of their brows.

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Post-Earth, Post-Feeling

afterearth

All sentiments aside about the film’s director, After Earth exists as an elegant and pensive examination of the power of human emotion.  While it fails to elicit the proper excitement and suspense often required of its chosen genre, the poignant tale of a young boy transforming into his own hero is a unique and thoughtful statement on one’s ability to surpass insurmountable obstacles.

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Uncanny Visions

davidteddy

How do writers anticipate future technology? There is no clear cut rule, and like many visionaries we are wrong more often than we are right (hover boards by 2015). However, there are two guiding questions that tend to form the boundaries of creative space in which to develop fictional societies and depict imagined worlds — Where will technology go? But more importantly, where will technology refuse to go?

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Intelligent Design: Biopunk and the Utopian Body

intime

Whenever I’m asked about my chosen genre, I tend to say drama and “occasionally” science fiction. But I realize, I find myself only grudgingly admitting to writing sci-fi only because my true genre is speculative fiction. Speculative fiction (another SF, as a friend an I have often discussed) tends toward the scientific side simply because it is a recent trend that the rapid exponential development of technology has enabled humanity to fulfill its dreams while simultaneously facing its fears. But in actuality, SF can cover all genres. It’s all about the “What If?” that every writer chases.

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