To start, I know Sci-fi is kinda off topic (but still geeky), but its always been a pet peeve of mine. That said, I recently had the opportunity to check out the Sci-fi museum at Seattle, so I did... That was quite the adventure in itself and talk to me if you're interested to hear more, but what struck me the most was how Sci-fi was a) Futuristic with a vision/imagination that is quite enviable to scientists (since scientists usually work within constraints and sci-fi typically scoffs at them) and b) Seemed to mirror the social issues of its time (the feminist movement, the cold war, etc). However, this is neither a history lesson nor a discourse on Sci-fi through the ages, its more an analysis of a couple of particular examples. Another reason I decided to write this piece is a comment my friend made recently: "girls don't like sci-fi... except the geeky ones". So I do this in an effort to provoke thought and to encourage more girls to be geeky cause: lets face it, we RULE!!!
I personally got into dune [Frank Herbert's Dune(1965)] because of their video game. I eventually watched the movie, which was mediocre (this was the best adjective I could come up with) and the book(s) are on my list. Incredibly, the futuristic Dune is almost primitive, even "dark ages" like in terms of society and religion. While Herbert started writing the book based on an interest in Ecology, the stories went on to span politics, economics, culture, genetics and human psychology. I found the rivalries in the story mirroring those during the cold war , and Herbert talks about genetic engineering and futuristic gadgetry in this setting. It can be difficult to maintain the undercurrent of science while getting into philosophical discourses about life and what it means, but Dune does a damn good job of it. Case in point is the recent show V (short for visitors, shot in beautiful Vancouver, btw). While it started off being strong on the science-fiction, it soon degenerated into a philosophical question of what the human soul is, although no less interesting for it. However, for a sci-fi geek like me, the lack of science towards the end was a bit disappointing.
Thinking back on all the sci-fi works I've enjoyed over the years, one in particular comes to mind - K.A. Applegate's series called the Animorphs. These books come under the category of "young adults" but frankly, I've enjoyed them much more as an adult. They follow the lives of 5 young students who acquire the ability to morph into animals (acquire DNA) in their pursuit of defeating a parasitic alien race that lives in the brain of its host and controls all their cognitive functions. (Yes, thats why I love the series). The level of science-fiction imagination is quite staggering, spanning over 64 books.
I for one, am ecstatic to see the amount of science fiction work available today for the discerning crowd. I am not even going to get into Star Wars and Star Trek (before you ask, I think Star Wars RULES). It is a little disappointing (if expected) that the literary output (sci-fi) today is on the decline. Following the huge success of the Harry Potter series, the young generation, although newly interested in reading, show little inclination towards classics of sci-fi which talk so eloquently about the problems faced by humanity and suggest elegant solutions for it. The film industry however, is making giant strides in this genre with the most recent works including inception, Batman, Spiderman etc. Incidentally, most superhero science fiction works have some kind of biblical connotation, including Batman - with the whole orphaned saviour of mankind theme. On looking beneath the surface of any piece of sci-fi, you can usually find darker elements of the cultural, economic and societal influences that lead to the development of the storyline.
I'd like to leave you with a little food for thought. If you've ever tried writing a piece of work combining facts, imagination and the possibilities, you may be surprised with what you come up with. I once set out to write a short sci-fi story and ended up writing one about mermaids with zoom equipped eye balls and fluorescent protein living in an ocean polluted by man. It has been published, so let me know if you'd like a copy. I never thought I'd write a story about a mermaid, ever.
This piece is my tribute to all the masters of Sci-fi who had the imagination and the intelligence to entertain generations to come...
Thank God for science geeks!
