Friday, February 19, 2010
Sci-fi drama- the new mainsteam?
"Lost". Need I say more? "Battlestar Galactica". The resurgence of vampire chic mixed up with teenage hormonal imbalance. "Twilight", "True Blood", "The Vampire Diaries"... "Avatar", of course. Can't really skip that one, it became the highest grossing film of all time. A tree hugger film at that, which makes it all the more poignant. Even snooty high literature is bowing down. Yann Martel, David Mitchell- two of my favorite young writers more than dabble with sci-fi in such showstoppers as "Life of Pi" and "Cloud Atlas". Cunnigham's "Specimen Days"- another example of the permeation of the genre. And I love it, needless to say. Sci-fi is very dear to my generation, and it only follows that it will be catered to. Of course there is the larger trend of eclecticism in art, the blending of genres, media, styles. But that's a whole different topic. So get your sci-fi on. I know I'm doing it. :-)
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It is a trend being catered to because it makes money, for the most part; although I don't necessarily think it's a good thing for art, in general.
ReplyDeleteThe world is so rich and full of wonder--have we forgotten how to mine its treasures? Has it stopped inspiring us? Can we not be thouroughly entertained by works that do a good job reflecting, pondering, and manipulating that which more approximates our reality?
Sure, there is a place for science fiction... But it would truly diminsish that which we collectively call the "humanistic arts", and us as well, if it became the central genre.
It is discouraging to lovers of great literature, film, music, that these are referred to as "snooty high arts", as though we are not sincerely engaged, and moved by them. Yes, one needs to bring some knowledge, some learning, to them so they can be fully appreciated.
It is this attitude that discourages fledgling artists from trying to plumb their minds and hearts for material for their art..... Best to pander to that which sells.....that which is not "snooty"....
I don't think it's a matter of what sells necessarily. I think it's a matter of keeping up with the times. Sci-fi has been continuously discredited by people writing "high literature". And why? And the general argument, the one you are basically bringing to the table, is that one should not need to look further than what's out there to express the human condition. And I think that's unfair, because the vastness of the human imagination, the scope of human aspirations, I think that is an integral part of the human condition. To quote James Cameron, it allows for a person to have this almost out of body experience, where they are engaged in a fantasy that ultimately reflects upon reality. And that's the beauty of the genre. Movies such as "Avatar" and "District 9" are not about some aliens, they are about actual things being experienced- the crumbling of our environment and apartheid in South Africa respectively.
ReplyDeleteAnd how is it that fallible? It's simply the language that speaks to people. And it is quite snooty to pretend that writing as Hemingway or Melville is the language that speaks to people. The only literature that ultimately matters is the literature produced today, not because older publications are dated necessarily (although there is that), but because they don't speak the language of the times.
You're discrediting sci-fi as pandering to that which sells. And that's merely a by-product of its ability to stimulate, engage, and inspire. Isn't that what art is about?
And a reminder, that's it's not pure sci-fi we are talking here, it's the blending of sci-fi and drama. The best thing to happen to literature within the last 20-some years is David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas". Mind you, "Cloud Atlas" was not a smashing seller, it sold well, but didn't come anywhere near Dan Brown's junk. That book is a stunning example of how sci-fi can augment traditional modern and post-modern literature. And again that's what it boils down to.
Getting on with the times.
I agree with you about the ability of art to engage and inspire...But honsestly...why haven't we seen a lot of great work about what's happening today in the world in which we live? Fantasy worlds have a place, of course....but not at the expence of sensitive, mature works about real humans.... Not talking here about Hemingway or Melville.... Where are the cinematic equivalents of Richard Ford? Joyce Carol Oates? I want to see today's version of The Best Years of Our Lives....The Last Picture Show...The Graduate...American Beauty. James Cameron created a 1000-word language....but maybe would have done more good to learn an actual primitive language, and understand what a real human people are thinking, longing for, feeling....
ReplyDeleteIt's sort of elitist, too, to claim that older voices have nothing to say to us....or that a dfantasy genre is the only way to communicate to people. That is what i mean by pandering.
I don't think the older voices have nothing to say. There was an amazing quote (I believe by Gertrude Stein, but don't hold me to it) that there are only three stories to tell, and that as Cameron pointed out, a writer's job is to tell a story in a different way.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm far from saying that sci-fi is the end of all, the ultimate way to communicate to people. I'm not sure how that notion came about. My point was that marrying sci-fi and drama is becoming the new mainstream. A mainstream, a major trend does not exclude other things, it simply means that it better reflects the zeitgeist.
And I celebrate this, because sci-fi was kicked to the curb and discredited as pulp for many years (and yes, there is plenty of sci-fi pulp as there is plenty of pulp in any genre). And now you're seeing the literally elite open up to it and incorporate and explore it deservingly. "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy won the Pulitzer (I believe one of the few, if not the first sci-fi drama book to win?). Cunnigham, another Pulitzer laureate, explored the genre in his latest- "Specimen Days".
I think you're focusing a bit too much on the sci-fi element and not on the blend, and it's the blend that excites me, the sci-fi drama, not the "pulp" side of it.
As for the types of cinematic renditions you're talking about, they are still very much out there. I know Focus Features have been putting out tons of movies in that category over the last decade or so.