CI5472 Teaching Film, Television, and Media
Module 7: Film/Television Genres ~ Different Genre Types
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Science fiction and fantasy films/television | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Science Fiction Films [Susan Stepney] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SciFilm.org:
A Cereblation of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror and Special Effects Films | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fantasy films are related in that both involve audiences in the experience of alternative worlds and ways of thinking. Through the experience of these alternative perspectives, audiences may return to their lived-world experience with new, alternative, creative insights. In both genres, audiences need to be able to suspend their disbelief and momentarily enter into an alternative world without imposing their reality-bound assumptions — the belief that “this would never happen in the real world.” | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The fantasy genre focuses more on the mythic, magical quest journey in which the “good” heroes confront various challenges associated with “evil,” challenges that test their tenacity, particularly in the final challenge. In 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, based on the Jules Verne novel, Captain Nemo and his submarine crew journey to the depths of the ocean and face the giant squid. In The Wizard of Oz, the band of characters cope with different challenges, culminating with the final confrontation with the Wizard. Many of the fantasy heroes are loners or orphans who come out of obscurity to become heroes (Scott, 2002). In The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo Baggins lives alone in a rural village until he is summoned to lead a group to face a whole series of bizarre, supernatural creatures and worlds, each requiring him and his companions to out-wit the enemy in the land of Mordor. In The Harry Potter series, Harry is an orphan who lives with his abusive aunt and uncle. Superman is a “mild-mannered reporter” until he is faced with the need to intervene to save someone. Spiderman is an “outsider” high school student until he is transformed into Spiderman. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
These loner, outsider figures appeal to adolescent audiences who experience a related sense of being outsiders who imagine themselves as becoming heroic. As A. O. Scott (2002) notes: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Scott also notes that the appeal of fantasy is based on the nostalgic, conservative desire for the restoration of innocence and goodness in a world perceived as cynical, corrupt, evil, and complex. Fantasy worlds revolve around simplistic binary distinctions between to good versus evil, in which the good ultimately triumphs |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
And, Scott notes, the hero triumphs not through greater physical prowess, but through his knowledge of specific details, outwitting the enemy. Again, this focus on knowledge appeals to the outside nerd who has acquired detailed, seemingly useless knowledge and fantasy lore. This appeal is socially manifested in audience participation in fan clubs, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
in which knowledge about the particular fantasy establishes
one’s identity in these clubs through participation on fan
chat rooms, fanzines, and conventions (see also media ethnography).
In his study of Trekkies, Henry Jenkins (19 ) found that members
of Star Trek fan clubs actively engaged in assuming Star
Trek roles, sharing artifacts, and creating their own edited video-tape
versions of past shows. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Another essential element of fantasy is the role of magic as
manifested magic transformations in which human characters are transformed
into flying figures or assume special powers. One of the reasons
that fantasy works well as animated films, as in Toy Story,
Shrek, Monsters, Inc., Fantasia, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
Fantasia, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Mulan is that
animation, as well as the use of computer special effects, dramatically
portray the transformation power of magic |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The adventure science-fiction film such as Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi, as Joseph Campbell (1991) demonstrates in his book, The Power of Myth, share with fantasy quest films the focus on mythic/archetypal quest, in this case, Luke Skywater’s search for the father represented by Darth Vader, involving the traditional tension between good versus evil — the encroaching power of “the empire,” made up of the “Jedi Knights,” the “Jawas” who trade “androids,” and the “Droids.” |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As in the horror genre, there is a fascination with the unknown, alien “other” portrayed in the science fiction genre as a threat to civilization, as well an uneasy ambiguity associated with the idea that our own technological advances may serve to be destructive. The nature of the alien has shifted with shifts in cultural attitudes and fears. In the 1950s, fear of the presumed pervasive Communist threat was manifested in the fact that alien invaders were “out there,” but invisible. Other films, such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers, challenged the cultural conformity associated with the 1950s, as did Fahrenheit 451 in the 1960s and A Clockwork Orange in the 1970s. With the rise of technological advances in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the threats took the forms of technology gone amok — nuclear disasters, mutant insects, computer breakdowns, skyscraper fires, etc. In the 1990s, the threat of environmental destruction, epidemic diseases, mind-control, and genetic manipulation was reflected in films such as 12 Monkeys, Contact, The Matrix, and Gattaca. For example, in Gattaca, the potential effects of genetic manipulation is examined in terms of a family having to decide to not genetically modify one of their sons. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Television science fiction/fantasy series such as Star Trek, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact also involve space adventure conflicts with “the other.” In this series, the sidekick figure, as in the Western, Dr. Spock, is someone who can connect to the local culture of alien worlds, providing Captain Kirk and his crew with useful information. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yahoo Directory: Television Shows: Science Fiction and Fantasy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Science fiction films such as Outbreak, Strange Days, 12 Monkeys, Men in Black, The Matrix, and Minority Report and television series The Twilight Zone, Dr. Who, and The X-Files examine larger issues of the effects of changes in science/technology on society, as well as unexplained paranormal psychological events, time travel, mind-control, and alien abduction that elude scientific explanation. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In many cases, the technological advances portrayed in science fiction films portend actual advances that later occur. For a comparison of the technology portrayed in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001, made in 1968, and the actual technology of 2001 see The Tech / 2001: Destination Space. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Science fiction film/television often draws on the themes, ideas, and storylines of science fiction writers such as Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asinov, and Philip Dick. For example, Philip Dick’s 1968 novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was the basis for Blade Runner, which portrays a cop who kills artificially created humans; his 1966 story, "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” was the basis for Total Recall, a story about a man who has an adventure on Mars implanted in his memories; and his 1956 story, "The Minority Report," was the basis for Minority Report, about police use of precognitive mutants to arrest people before they commit crimes. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
One important subgenre of science fiction/fantasy is the computer
video game, which, as Henry
Jenkins argues, serves to transports
its users into a different social realm or world. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Computer
Crowsnest: Science fiction site |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Courses in science fiction |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University
of California, Berkeley library: Bibliography on science fiction
films |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
For further reading: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Haber, K. (Ed.). (2003). Exploring the Martix: Visions of the cyber present. Boston: St. Martin’s Press. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
King, G., & Krzywinska, T. (2001). Science fiction cinema. New York: Wallflower Press. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kuhn, A. (Ed.). Alien zone II: The spaces of science-fiction cinema. London: Verso. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Telotte, J. (2001). Science fiction film. New York: Cambridge University Press. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Tulloch, J., & Jenkins, H. (1995). Science fiction audiences: Watching Doctor Who and Star Trek. New York: Routledge. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wagner, J., & Lundeen, J. (1998). Deep space and sacred time: Star Trek in the American mythos. New York: Praeger. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Webquest:
Fahrenheit 451: Book Burning: It’s not Just Science Fiction |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Fantasy/Sci-Fi |
|
Teaching activities on genre developed by students in CI5472, Spring, 2004 |
|
