Science Fiction: The Engine Behind the Summer Blockbusters
The tradition of anticipating summer (Western) feature films with the best special effects extravaganza from Hollywood’s leading 3D animation studios would never establish a deep following if not for the invention of the sci-fi literary genre. Science fiction, as it is more fundamentally called by fans of film and literature, covers a wide spectrum of topics and situations that explore the wonders of science.
Because so much imagination and creativity is involved, science fiction requires the help of top-notch computer-generated 3D animation special effects to realistically engage viewers in the staging or world created by the movies. Therefore, science fiction almost always falls into the territory of fantasy (positive side of science) and horror (its adverse effects).
Science fiction is a hotbed of ideas in which very attractive scientific ideas are tested within the context of a society, especially their consequences for the way people lead their lives with certain technologies present in their lives. The most common scenarios that science fiction has thoroughly explored are alternate timelines in the future (the Terminator franchise), travel to outer space (Star Trek), interactions with aliens (ET – Alien), counteracting the laws of nature. (The Matrix), and other complicated scientific principles, such as time travel, psionics, nanotechnology, light-speed travel, and dystopia (where anarchy has reigned supreme).
But what is science fiction? Critics and fans alike have a hard time pigeonholing an established definition for science fiction. As far back as the 1970s, science fiction wasn’t even used to refer to big-budget summer Hollywood blockbusters. It was used by film critics to refer to low-budget and inferior B-movies.
The most popular writers in the science fiction genre are also at a loss about a specific definition for the entire realm of literature. Mark C. Glassy suggests using the benchmark of obscenity to determine a work of science fiction: “you don’t know what it is, but you know it when you see it.” Vladimir Nabokov said that if the definitions were rigorous, Shakespeare’s artwork The Tempest would have to be included as belonging to the genre. For Rod Serling, science fiction is “the improbable made possible” compared to fantasy which is “the impossible made probable”.
Science fiction may have some roots in the imaginative nature of ancient mythologies. As for earlier works of science fiction literature, one of the earliest recognized works is Kepler’s Somnium, which describes a journey to the Moon. Other earlier science fiction literary references include Voltaire’s Micromegas and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver Travels.
To the wealth of science fiction literary works are added the books of Mary Shelley, Frankenstein and the last man. Even the noted poet Edgar Allan Poe joined in on the fun by writing a story about flying to the moon. During the introduction of important technologies such as electricity, powerful transportation and the telegraph, luminaries such as Jules Verne (Around the World in 80 Days) and HG Wells (The War of the Worlds).
There have been many paradigm shifts in the approach of science fiction writers over the years. Cyberpunk authors like William Gibson began to break with the typical optimism associated with the progress of science fiction. On the other hand, the emergence in popular culture of George Lucas’ blockbuster Star Wars brought back the space opera popularized by Star Trek, and placed a premium on narrative and character development rather than the precisions of scientific speculation. After all scientific imaginations were just fictional, then why bother explaining it in detail? But this is true: science fiction has earned a solid place in the entertainment values of people around the world.