I promise eventually Sci-Fi Fridays will get back to having science content (as much as I ever had science content, shush you).
For tonight I'm being simple and rambling on for a bit about something I've noticed in Sci-Fi (particularly the movies) and then giving you an update on the Marianas Trench Contest.
Why is 'the humans are a**holes' a genre? Every time I see one of these I want to punch something small and fuzzy. It's like some ridiculous nod to the 'noble savage' novels that used to be so popular, where the native peoples on a planet are peaceful and nature loving and then the big, corrupt, evil humans come along and ruin everything.
I'm not in any way saying I don't think we'd do this, any more than I'm saying it's not turning a legitimate historical precedent into a futuristic setting. Mostly I'm saying I'm tired of watching Pocahontas In Space. It's lazy, one dimensional story-telling. And it sells us short.
Do I think, if we ever start colonizing space (basically it's a numbers game, imo, it's gotta happen some time) we're going to do everything right? No. Because we're human, and for good or ill forethought isn't always our most used trait. But fiction is fiction for a reason, and seeing ourselves as horrible wastes of life isn't the only way to make us question our behavior.
Okay, rant over.
So, update about the Marianas Trench Contest. I've decided on a prize, for the winner. I'd post a photo, but I don't have one that I have rights to, so it'll have to wait until I'm finished. So, whoever submits something to me by April 20th will get a hand-knitted plot bunny. I'll make it long before then and post a picture for inspiration.
For tonight I'm being simple and rambling on for a bit about something I've noticed in Sci-Fi (particularly the movies) and then giving you an update on the Marianas Trench Contest.
Why is 'the humans are a**holes' a genre? Every time I see one of these I want to punch something small and fuzzy. It's like some ridiculous nod to the 'noble savage' novels that used to be so popular, where the native peoples on a planet are peaceful and nature loving and then the big, corrupt, evil humans come along and ruin everything.
I'm not in any way saying I don't think we'd do this, any more than I'm saying it's not turning a legitimate historical precedent into a futuristic setting. Mostly I'm saying I'm tired of watching Pocahontas In Space. It's lazy, one dimensional story-telling. And it sells us short.
Do I think, if we ever start colonizing space (basically it's a numbers game, imo, it's gotta happen some time) we're going to do everything right? No. Because we're human, and for good or ill forethought isn't always our most used trait. But fiction is fiction for a reason, and seeing ourselves as horrible wastes of life isn't the only way to make us question our behavior.
Okay, rant over.
So, update about the Marianas Trench Contest. I've decided on a prize, for the winner. I'd post a photo, but I don't have one that I have rights to, so it'll have to wait until I'm finished. So, whoever submits something to me by April 20th will get a hand-knitted plot bunny. I'll make it long before then and post a picture for inspiration.
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