Science Fiction
A Definition of Science Fiction -- a Frightening realistic glimpse into a probable future
"Oh Brave New World! O. Wonder! That Has Such People in it!" This is the poetic exclamation that John the Savage of Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World utters, upon seeing individuals from 'the future' (really, the present day) in his so-called primitive, native society. When the future individuals seem bemused by John's highfalutin poetic utterance, John explains that he is merely quoting Shakespeare's "The Tempest," a fantastic play about wizards and enchanted islands and airy spirits. Yet while Brave New World is conventionally defined as a science fiction novel, "The Tempest" is never defined as a science fiction play, merely a poetic fantasy. When attempting to come to a convincing definition of the novelistic genre science fiction, it is perhaps thought proving to first look at this striking comparison between these two fictions and two apparently similar genres -- the fantastic and the scientific.
While both fantastic and scientific fictions can show the reader the distinction between different types of human moral behaviors, through the use of fictionally contrived plot devices and artfully created strange situations, wondrous settings, and author-constructed rules of law (such as making magic govern an island, rather than the police, for instance, or genetically programmed happiness rather than judges), science fiction, unlike any other form of fantastical fiction attempts to give human beings a vision of the future that is probable, rather than merely imaginative. The genre of science fiction hopes to not simply hold up a distorted mirror to the present day, by which present day people can better see their true selves. It instead hopes to show a vision of what the technical future may really be like -- unless people act differently today, towards the technological capacities they do possess. Thus, while Shakespeare's fantastic island might have been a cautionary tale about human behavior and wonderment, it was not a warning that someday wizards might govern all of humanity. But Huxley's vision of a eugenically governed future, where people seek nothing but pleasure, not truth, and soma rather than lasting satisfaction in hard work, was meant to scare his readers into looking more critically at their attitudes and technology....
Science Fiction Film Comparison In the world of science fiction, anything and everything that is imagined is possible. Aliens can travel across the galaxies and come to the earth and be aggressive or friendly depending upon the story being told. As fantastic as these works are, within even the most bizarre scenarios there is a grain of realism. Some pieces of science fiction, whether written literature, television, or films, have inspired
Audiences and their equipment and expectations have changed, too. Many have DVRs, streaming video, portable television, and certainly hi-def or plasma sets. Therefore, not only do they expect higher quality programming and effects, but network scheduling is now a moot point. Audiences can also engage in repeat viewings, watching and analyzing more attentively, which leads producers to create "increasingly sophisticated narrative worlds that sustain and reward intensive fan involvement on
SCIENCE FICTION & FEMINISM Sci-Fi & Feminism Origins & Evolution of Science Fiction As with most things including literature, science fiction has progressed and changed a lot over the years. Many works of science fiction were simply rough copies and following the altready-established patterns of prior authors. However, there has always been authors and creators that push the envelope and forge new questions and storylines that have not been realized or conceptualized before.
Science fiction novel: Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? The most interesting facet of Philip Dick's novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, is its depiction of humanity and several crucial tenets that help to define it. Within the novel, humanity is akin to empathy, since one of the primary distinctions between the people and androids in it is that the former are capable of and the latter
Utopias Explored: THE TIME MACHINE and BLADE RUNNER Science Fiction and Film Utopian Societies Explored The Ancient Greek work for "no place," utopia has come down to modern readers as something to be the ideal -- the Eden. The actual word comes from the Greek 'ou -- not' and 'topos -- place,' and was coined in the modern sense by the title of a 1516 book written by Sir Thomas Moore. More's Utopia
Science Fiction Stories -- Comparisons / Contrasts Wall-E & Blade Runner -- Utopia vs. Dystopia The two well-known science fiction films that are critiqued in this paper -- Wall-E and Blade Runner -- will be critiqued and contrasted as to the following dichotomies: utopia and dystopia; technophobia and technophilia; and futurity and nostalgia. Thesis: these films both delve into the potentially disastrous environmental future for the planet, and each in its
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