The Kind of Science Fiction We Need: Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
Summary
In this article, we discuss the importance of post-apocalyptic science fiction in today’s world. We argue that stories like Beasts of the Southern Wild and The Wind-Up Girl are telling stories not set in the distant future but rather in the near future. We believe that science fiction can teach us things that science cannot and that predicting the future can help us change it.
Table of Contents
- The Kind of Science Fiction We Deserve
- Beasts of the Southern Wild: A Special Kind of Science Fiction
- Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction: A Genre We Love
- The Imminence of Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
- Science Fiction as a Tool for Teaching and Change
The Kind of Science Fiction We Deserve
The speaker had previously gone on a rant about the kind of science fiction we deserve, but now he wants to talk about the kind of science fiction we need. He saw a movie called Beasts of the Southern Wild, which is a sort of sci-fi post-apocalyptic story told through the eyes of a six-year-old girl. The story is about a Katrina-like storm that floods a Gulf Coast area and releases giant beasts into the world. The speaker believes that all stories are imaginary, and if Pan’s Labyrinth counts as fantasy, then Beasts of the Southern Wild counts as science fiction.
Beasts of the Southern Wild: A Special Kind of Science Fiction
Beasts of the Southern Wild is a special kind of science fiction because it is post-apocalyptic. The speaker has always loved post-apocalyptic science fiction, even back when he was watching cheap movies shot in the Mojave. He loved going on adventures in the Forbidden Zone chasing after a Cherry 2000 Android. However, he is starting to think about post-apocalyptic sci-fi in a different way because it seems a lot more imminent. Stories like Beasts of the Southern Wild or The Wind-Up Girl are telling stories not set in the distant future but rather in the near future.
Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction: A Genre We Love
The speaker loves post-apocalyptic science fiction because it allows us to explore what happens after the end of the world. It’s a genre that allows us to imagine what life would be like if everything we knew was gone. However, he believes that we don’t watch science fiction about this stuff or read science fiction about it because we want to revel in the end time. We watch it because we hope that science fiction can be, in some cases, better at teaching us things than science.
The Imminence of Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction
The speaker believes that post-apocalyptic science fiction is more important now than ever before because there are things that could be happening right now. In fact, some of them are happening right now. As he was shooting this video, Colorado was on fire. There really was a Katrina-like storm, and we lost a chunk of the Gulf Coast. These events are worrisome, but we don’t watch science fiction about them because we want to revel in the end time. We watch it because we hope that science fiction can teach us things that science cannot.
Science Fiction as a Tool for Teaching and Change
The speaker admits that Max Headroom, a science fiction show he used to watch, turned him into a reporter. The show was about an intrepid, crusading journalist in a cyberpunk future with a computer-generated version of his id floating around on the monitors behind him all the time telling jokes. The speaker wanted to be Edison Carter, coming to you live and direct for Network 2. He believes that science fiction turned him into a different kind of person and that it can do that for everybody. He thinks that the point of predicting the future sometimes is so that we can change it.
