Science Fiction Blog

2004-01-23T13:09:00.000-08:00

13. In class we discussed our reactions to the class. I feel like my whole attitude towards science fiction has change. At the beginning of class I had perception that science fiction was all about aliens, space ships, and advance computers. But that isn't necessarily true. Science fiction is about change in technology and society and the possibilities of the outcomes. Even such things as Falling Down is consider Science Fiction, because it deals with alienation and change in society and the experience. Science Fiction is a huge umbrella of different topics and issue, that people don't realize it encompass.

2004-01-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

11. Trekkies was an interesting movie. It was a documentary about people who were Star Trek fans. This movie questions what is normal and what is not. Is there a difference between a male wearing a sport jersey for his favorite team than those that dress like kilons and commanders? I think there is not much difference. You are still supporting something you like and taking enjoyment in stuff that you like to watch.

Another question that was raised was: is there other conventions out there and are they as "unnormal" as science fiction. I haven't heard of any one of them. But there's not a taboo against other conventions, just for Science Fiction.

2004-01-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

10. After reading the Neuromance and having the discussion with the class, I realize that I had a better understanding on what was happening in the story than I thought. I understood all the situations and conflicts, I just didn't understand why things were happening and what's the purpose of the story.

In the Matrix, we had many questions that for the movie. Why did people wear the glasses? Why was switch wear white? These things were all discussed with my group. It gave me a better understanding.

2004-01-20T13:28:00.000-08:00

10. We didnt discuss much of the book Neumancer. I didnt get to read the articles about cyberpunk, therefore I don't have much to discuss in the blog. For my response of the movie, I want to talk about the violence and how drugs were use throughout the movie. Both of these themes can be seen in the book Neuromancer too.

2004-01-16T13:12:00.000-08:00

9. In class discussion we talk about the short story, Bears Discover Fire. When I was reading this story, I could not find the purpose of the story. I thought the author was random in its narration and plot. I couldn't figure out the themes and the lessons that the author wanted us to know. When we came to class I notice a lot of the student felt the same why as I did. We couldn't understand the purpose of the story. Paula tried to help us by questioning the purpose of the mother. The mother was the link between the old way of living and the new way of living that was happening. From this link of the mother we are able to understand what the bears symbolized and the lessons behind the story. The bears represent the new way of living. Changes were happening to us and our society and our old way is dying off.

For the science fiction story that we have to write for class. My group has decided that we will talk about the misuse of aliens to fulfill a corporation's gains to take over the world.

2004-01-15T13:23:00.000-08:00

9. The Race article was interesting on the fact that they used simple ideas and themes from SF and turned it around to convey a message about racism in our culture. I do think the author of the article did go too far with some of his issues. I don't most literary work or film can be analyzed so intensely to say that there is racism in every work.

I do believe that the phrase about calling Will Smith character "kid" was intensionally, not on the basis of being racist but in the fact that it does happen and people might think its funny but that could be very offended by others. I don't think anyone else could say that, not a white man that's for sure, but as a black man the comment was appropriate.

2004-01-14T13:22:00.000-08:00

7. Analyzing feminism in Science Fiction is a thought that I've never heard about or thought of. But analyzing the parallel between aliens and females was really interesting. Both aliens and females have a lot in common. They are both creatures from outside of the norm. Males and man do not understand the other being. Aliens and females are both complex beings trying to survive as the minority in a male and man dominated world.

Maybe I'll look more into this idea, since I found this topic so interesting. I still have to find something to talk about in this website project.

2004-01-13T13:21:00.000-08:00

6. After discussing Representation Is Furtile I had a better understanding the main ideas that the author was trying to convey. While I was reading the article I could not understand the relationship or the ideas that was going on. But when we talk in our groups, Michelle brought the complex issues down and simplified it so I was able to understand it. In the end I decided that the article was about having indivisualism and protecting that indivisualism from others. We were protecting it from the communists or the collectives, that's how they are referred to in the article.

But another issue that was brought up through the group discussion was the irony of being an individual is the same as being a group. In the end they are the same fighting for the same thing.

2004-01-12T13:20:00.000-08:00

5. The Short Story Ender's Game has been the most entertaining story that I've read in class so far. I really enjoyed the character Ender and the change that he went through throughout the story. The author made Ender mature throughout the story; he began to question what the Captain and his teachers were teaching. I thought that was very important aspect that the author wanted to convey to his readers. Asking questions shows a level of maturity. Also the fact that the military was using children addresses an issue that is current even though the this story was written in the 70s. People are going into the military at the age of 17 and it makes you question: are they able to understand what and why they are fighting at such a young age.

2004-01-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

4. My respond is going to be about the possibility that the replicants were more human than the humans. However, I don't think there could be a example of the humans because the movie focus mainly on the replicants. Also after watching the movie and discussion, we decided that Derreck is a replicant as well. The movie was based that the replicants had no empathy to anything. But this was proven wrong in many different situations.
Natasha

2004-01-08T13:04:00.000-08:00

3. When I read the short story Robbie, I thought there were many ideas and themes that the author was trying to get across. For one thing I believed that the author was trying to emphasize the attachment that people have to their technology. The way that Gloria felt; depress and anger are real feelings that people have when they lose their telephone or don't have access to the internet. When people receive new technology, they become dependent on it; a feeling of not being functional without it.

Also the line between artificial technology and human was becoming buried in this short story. Robbie was a robot that had emotions but was not able to talk. The emotion that Robbie felt was able to communicate to Gloria and other without the speech. This could be perceived higher that able to have speech, because the robot that was able to speak was not able to understand certain questions or emotions.

2004-01-07T13:07:00.000-08:00

2. For homework we had to read two articles about the origins of science fiction. Throughout both articles it mentions that science fiction is created with change. The change in technology, environment and society was all led by or contributed by science fiction. Some call science fiction futurism because the stores of the science fiction were coming true. Also we read two short stories one by Mary Shelley and the other Eger Alan Poe. I didn't really understand the short story by Poe. Later in class the students in my group was able to clue me in on what was happening the the story and the themes that I had missed. I did like the short story by Shelley. I thought that was pretty interesting. I believe that loneness and jealousy is what plague most of the characters. Also the idea of internal life is something that is being dealt with now. Medciene and healthy living is contributing to the long life of people. With people living longer we have to be able face with the consequence of our actions longer and our environment.
1/7/04

2004-01-06T11:36:00.000-08:00

1. I don't know much about science fiction. The writers that Paula was talking about and other students mention drew a blank for me. However, I do think this class will be interesting. I like the movies we are watching, unfortunately I've seen most of them. I don't know about this reading stuff!!! There is so much to read for each day. We'll see about how that goes for me.
Natasha