POP SCIENCE: FICTION

I once knew an otherwise nearly reasonable person who, when I asked him if he watched Battlestar Gallactica, responded that he didn’t like Science Fiction. Just like that. Flat out. Doesn’t like Sci Fi, as a genre, at all. He’ll have no part of it. Won’t even give it a shot. What a dick, right? Maybe BSG isn’t worth getting involved in, but you can’t just write off Sci Fi as a whole.  You can’t. If you still think you can (you dick), allow me to try to convince you with five intro-to-sci-fi things that you should probably check out.

 

Moon

I could let the preview speak for itself, but I won’t. So why do I think this movie would appeal to almost everyone, including people who don’t like Sci Fi? Most importantly, Sam Rockwell is a stone cold fox (Do me a favor, youtube “sam rockwell dancing,” enjoy, then thank me later.) Less importantly, Sam Rockwell can mos def carry a whole movie where he only interacts with video chats and an emoticon. This movie is the height of mind-bending psychological thrillers, with flawless acting and pretty great cinematography. If you don’t like this movie, I don’t like you, but please, continue reading.

 

V for Vendetta

V for Vendetta doesn’t even seem to be Sci Fi at first, which is why I chose it. It is both a fantastic movie and an even more fantastic graphic novel. Action film, political thriller, story about a kick-ass girl and her weird relationship with a creepy mustachioed villain/hero, buddy cop flick – V for Vendetta has it all. Trust me, if you read the graphic novel and don’t get it, I don’t get you and I won’t tolerate you, but read on and maybe we’ll find some common ground.

 

Firefly

The preview for the show doesn’t do it justice, so I chose this “best quotes” video. Spoilers all up in that bitch.

I feel like I’ve written about this already. Have I written about this already? I’ll probably write about it again, too, because the series is just so effing cool. The show is rife with tasty non-sci-fi morsels: tough-guy and war buddy trying to just make a living but constantly having run-ins with “the man,” sexy lady-mechanic likes to fuck and has a heart of gold, mysterious old preacher spits truth and throws punches, sexy lady-companion likes to fuck and brushes lady-mechanic’s hair, outlaws operate under their own morality that is against stealing from the poor but is totally OK with sucker punches, war buddy is actually a sexy lady who likes to fuck. And then on top of it all you get the Sci-Fi twists involving neuroscience, space travel, mutants, and futuristic dystopian government scenario. If you can’t get behind this show, you are worthless and should be sterilized because of your low IQ and I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire, but seriously, try the next one on the list, and maybe then we’ll see eye-to-eye.

 

Alien/Aliens

I mean really? You’re going to act like Alien isn’t a good movie? You’re that fucking committed to your anti-science-fiction mantra? You’ll just defy objective reality? You’ll just ignore its massive critical praise and box office success? All the awards? It’s been inducted into the Library of Congress, did you know that, you fuck? Yeah, for real, for historical preservation because it is culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant, or something. Fuck it. I can’t even look at you. But check out the next one, because, who knows? Maybe that’s the one for you.

 

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (5 book trilogy)

 

Yeah, they made a movie, but I’m not including the trailer because it is one of those movies that only people who like the book could possibly enjoy, and only after getting over their initial disappointment, and then only because it reminds them of how the books were good (see for example, The Golden Compass). Meanwhile the BBC miniseries seemed to actually go back in time and make the books worse somehow. So don’t watch that shit. But I felt like I should include at least one Sci Fi novel, because novels are such an important part of the genre. My problem is, I haven’t read a ton of Sci Fi. I’ve read some: Robert A. Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, Michael Crichton, (no Asimov), others. While Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, Sphere, Andromeda Strain) is arguably the most accessible, and I did like the books, I think the most I could say about them is that they were accessible and I liked them. In contrast, I stand by the Hitchhiker’s Guide books whole-heartedly. I even tried to get my father-in-law to read them, and he mostly reads historical non-fiction and political biographies.

I very rarely laugh out loud while reading, and these books not only made me belly laugh, they made me laugh so hard my eyes watered and my sides ached and I lost my page. The Sci Fi elements of the story (which are not at all sneaky but are totally pervasive) are used almost exclusively to set up and exaggerate the ridiculous humor of the series. The humor of the books is very self-referential, with jokes folding back on themselves, and payoffs books away from set-ups.  Writing about them is making me want to read them again soon (for the fourth time). If you give these books a shot, and don’t like them, I fucking swear to god I can understand, because hey, art is subjective, and after all, it takes all kinds.