That's how Rob Sawyer, He Who Rules Canadian Science Fiction, starts his speech about his favorite genre and how Star Wars ruined it.I have to admit, I'm a fan of Star Wars for the villains. They're much more interesting than the heroes. Darth Vader? I'm there, baby. Darth Maul? Rawr! Hans Solo, meh, sure, he's cute only because it's Harrison Ford.
But I digress.
Sawyer looks at Star Wars and recent science fiction movies from a whole new angle. It shocked me so much, in fact, that I *had* to come share it with my hussies posse. The speech is broken into three portions of about 5 minutes each. So you're looking at a quarter of an hour. But I promise you, it's not wasted time. Especially the bit about the androids.
Oh, and because he rocks and rules and does it simultaneously, he also reminds people that the first true science fiction novel was written by a...
Woman.
Yes. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was the first story that entirely hinged on science. It was the science, the experiment, that drove the characters, triggered the conflict and registered so high on the Massively Addictive Index. When you start reading that story, you can't put it down.
Next time someone tells you scifi is for guys, you whip out your machette, erm, I mean, your copy of Frankenstein and tell them, "Dude, that chick was writing scifi before H.G. Wells was even BORN. Now kiss my feet."
Episode 1: Planet of the Apes, Star Trek, and Frankenstein (6:48)
Episode 2: H.G. Wells and Jules Verne (4:00)
Episode 3: Star Wars (5:17)
To read Rob's comment about woman writers and science fiction, follow this link:
3 comments:
Ah ha, proving yet again that despite common misperceptions or even how history chooses to record it, women are ALWAYS at the forefront. Rocking the world and the people on it. Yeah baby!!
Wow, how cool is that. I need to go back and watch some of those movies and see if I pick up the social messages!
Woot! Way to go on the first true sci-fi being written by a woman. :D
My family knows not to bother me on Friday nights - it's SciFi night and then it's "What the Frack!" Don't get between me and whatever night BSG lands back on.
I've got to have my SciFi fix or I might transcend the spacetime continuum and if I do that, then I'll only be particle beam or some form of human thruster transformed into a vaporized extractor that's visible only underneath a magnified holospectrum datastream reader. I mean REALLY!
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