Viewing Blogs #7,8,9

(As previously stated on blog before, I dedicated these past weekends to watching these films!)
       Jurassic Park (1993)
I never saw this film from start to finish, only in bits and pieces, but I finally saw it all from beginning to end and it was quite fascinating! The thing that amazes me would be the close portrayal of dinosaurs phisical wise. I found it quite hysterical though, to see a dinosaur be capable of opening a door without being trained! It begins with a older man with hopes to open a park on an island dedicated to real life dinosaurs. He managed to put together a team and have this team of scientists recreate dinosaurs using dna. While I was wathcing the movie I thought it would be quite cool to recreate a dinosaur (or not.) I theme I continuously saw throughout the movie was people being put into situations where they can only pretect themselves with what is around them. Also team effort of course. For its time, this movie was done well in the sense that they used models of dinosaurs making them look like the real thing and having the actors react more genuinely when coming across a dinosaur which I thought was pretty cool.
       Nightmare before Christmas (1993)
I have always loved this movie and decided to use this movie for my viewing blog. I wasn't completely sure on whether or not this falls under science fictions but it does! This movie was created by using dolls out of clay and having a frame by frame type of filming. I marvel at how people on set where able to be so patient to movie the clay dolls little by little just to get the character wave. People on set had to move one doll 24 times just to create one second of the movie! This movie consists of Jack, the main character who lives in a town dedicated all year round to Halloween. He loves his town, but he begins to wonder if that is all there is for him; Halloween year after year. One can relate to Jack simply because he begins to analyze his life asking himself "is this it? will this be it for the rest of my life?" We can all at one point or another relate to his thinking but in the end he realizes that it is himself that determines what his life will consist of, not life by itself.
       Monsters Inc. (2001)
I again was a little stunned to see this movie that I had seen TOO many times when I was young, to be part of science fiction (fantasy of course.) Monsters Inc. is about a fictional world full of monsters who need the screams of children to be able to power for electricity. Sounds a little creepy actually! The main characters, Mike and Sully are monters who work for a power company. Mike is Sulley's friend who makes sure the door he is about to walk into is in top shape. While Sulley is the one who goes through the door and scares the children for power. The monsters have been taught over many years that if a monster comes into contact with a child, they will die because "a single touch could kill you." Monsters have been lead to believe that children are poisonous but guess who comes on contact with one;Sulley. One night a little girl escapes from her world and goes into the world of monsters. She is holding onto Sulleys back while he walks around the power facility. Once he notices he jumps and is worried he may have been poisened. He puts her in a big duffel bag, not knowing what to do with her so he panics and takes her to his house where Mike also lives. The two debate on how they will put her back into her world without their government seeing them carry a human child around. I think the thing being taught her is that you shouldn't fear everything you are told too. Not everything people tell you is dangerous actually is. Mike and Sulley grew attatched to the little girl but sadly by law, had to put her back into her room in her world.

Viewing Blogs #4,5,6

(As stated on previous blog, I spent the past weekend watching these films!)
       Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I don't know if you are aware but I am a huge Harry Potter fan! So you can already imagine how my house is like when the marathons of almost all the Harry Potter movies come on ABC Family; no one touches the remote! This is my favorite Harry Potter film out of all of them and I really don't know why. I might have a bit of reasoning as to why but it isn't quite clear to me yet haha. In this film we have different schools join Hogwarts in the wizarding world competing for the Goblet. The rules for competing state that you must be 17 years or older to compete but guess who is underaged and called to compete?! That's right, Harry Potter. Many people think this is an outrage but once chosen you must compete and so he did but paid a terrible price (go watch it!). I think the reason why I like this movie so much is because in this film, the students at Hogwarts have to participate in a dance. Those awkward school dances I used to dread because what's the point? Sure some poeple liked it but I really did not. In the scenes of the dance or Yule Ball, we see kids going through the awkward stage of asking someone out to the ball and dressing up for the ball. All these things make me feel a little nostalgic in a funny way. We see Harry being put in uncomfortable situations which I think is corny/funny.
       Gravity (2013)
Now, I usually don't go for watching a movie that takes place or that is about space (sorry) but I sat down and saw the Oscar winning (for best director) movie Gravity. I gave it a shot to change up from what I had been watching lately hoping that I would like it but I was wrong. It was a bit too slow for me. Although it did have some parts of emotions and anxiety it wasn't a lot there. We have astronauts that are up in space fixing what I think is a satelliete or part of a station. Debris from space come hurdling towards the astronauts and a part of the debris makes the main character float away from the staion while other debris killed others. She goes looking for another station before she runs out of oxygen and dies. Maybe I'm not seeing the whole point of it all clearly; after all it did pull in 7 Oscars last year! So maybe I'll give it another shot.
       The Wizard of Oz (1939)
I was curious if this movie fell under the umbrella of science fictions, so I looked it up and it does! under the fantasy umbrella of course. I have seen this movie plenty of times before when I was little mainly becuase my little sister was obsessed with it and over time I grew to love it! It falls under fantasy because of the witches and fairies and the munchkins invovled. Dorothy falls under a deep sleep and awakens in a strange place full of fairytale like beings. A witch tries to hunt her down for her ruby slippers but the good fairy (or good witch) protects her but not for all the movie. Dorothy travels on the yellow brick road to Emerald City where she finds and makes new friends. This movie will always be considered a classic to me (and others) because of the loyalty being shown and the never ending hope she has to return home.

Viewing Blog #2 & 3

(I spent the entire past weekend watching these films!)
Fifth Element
       I've seen this movie before but never fully from beginning to the end, but this weekend I sat down and actually saw it as a whole. It was a bit slow from the start but it quickly started to throw in characters that may not seem like a big deal but contribute a lot in the end.There is the Priests, Zorg, Korben, Leeloo and of course Diva Plavalaguna. The Priests have been protecting 9 in a way) Earth by being some sort of conduit from Earth to the protectors of the stone.  This movie reflects onto humanity because of the power of love. The reason why I say that is because in the movie the universe is in danger all because evil has come to destroy it. There are four stones in need to save the world and a fifth element (hence the title) but the fifth element isn't what you expected; you would think that it is Leeloo, the perfect being and fifth element, but she alone cannot save the world. Korben from the beginning falls for Leeloo but has been taken aback by romance from his previous wife who left him for someone else. The universe has seconds until it is saved and it is up to Leeloo to protect but she is weak and possibly dying from battling Zorg until Korben kisses her and she then realizes that love is worth saving. She was doubting saving the world because she claimed that ' all we do is destroy" and "what is there to save" but all that went away when Korben proved her wrong. The end of the movie is signaling to me that with love, you can accomplish anything. I highly recommend watching it if you haven't. I like watching movies that are filmed in the 80's and 90's that take place in the future because of their interpretations on how the future would look like especially clothes wise. The wardrobe for these movies are interesting to look at, and the setting as well.

Marvel's The Avengers
       I am a big Marvel Fan . The Avengers (2012) Starts off with Loki (antagonist) coming to Earth and wanting to take it over. Like any villain he has an army,  the Chitauri, but lucky for the Avengers, they have a Hulk. The Avenger Initiative originally a secret project created by S.H.E.I.L.D, was to assemble a team of remarkable heroes  that would be able to destroy any global threat that was to come. This reflects onto us because this is a classic example of team work. Taking six (it's officially four members but I think Hawkeye and Black Widow play a huge role) people with different perspectives on situations and giving them a task which in this case would be saving Earth. In the beginning the Avengers butt heads and bicker on how the situation should be handled but in the end, they all come together putting their weaknesses aside and putting their strong suits together. I really recommend to anyone to watch this movie. The witty banter being thrown back and forth from the cast is worthy of watching, not the only thing you should be watching it for necessarily, but one of them.

Blog Set #13

For the readers choice, I chose to explore fantasy a bit more. I feel like we stayed on that topic a short amount of time. I am a huge Harry Potter fan and I think those series of books really impacted society in a good way.  The Harry Potter has many aspects of fantasy because of their wizards and witches and spells. I think it fascinating to think up of a world full of amazing creatures that don't exist. Granted JK Rowling didn't come up with unicorns or dragons up by herself, but when you add those elements into a story like the Harry Potter series, it makes it a magical experience. I'm going to also talk a little bit about wizardry and witchcraft because this series is full of them. When we were talking about witches last class I was surprised when I didn't see any witches from the series. All the female characters in this series were witches and all the male characters were wizards. I also think it's interesting because last class we talked about how a typical witch looked like; green skin, wart or mole and long pointy nails. In the Harry Potter series the witches look just like you and I; no green skin or warts on nose, which was cool because they blend in with the humans really well. I will also be addressing the main message about the series which is to stand up for those you love. The series addresses loyalty, friendship, betrayal, and the constant good vs. evil (Harry vs. Voldermort of course.) This series shaped my childhood. It is a story that will remain with me and many Potterheads for many years to come.

Blog Set #12

The Premature Burial
       I think what Edgar Allan Poe is describing is very legitimate. For one thing I sort of cheated and looked up "catalepsy" on Google and there is such thing. Second, I do believe people would think that people with catalepsy would be considered "dead" because there was very little medical advancement at that time; in fact I would say little to none. What I thought was interesting about this story written by Poe, is the narrative. Usually we get the narrator doing, being or seeing something scary but in this one Poe takes a psychological twist and adds experiences of other characters to the story. What Poe does is actually super clever; he leads you to believe that he was buried alive when he wasn't. PLOT TWIST! He was just chilling on a boat, no big deal. This shock of being shaken up by a friend makes him realize that his fear of death and being buried alive is silly. Actually a sort of nice ending.
The Monkeys Paw
       Be careful what you wish for (literally). This is the story of a nice small family that wish for more than what they need. In actuality, this family looks like they have it all; a nice house and nice family members. The monkey paw is stolen from a family friend who got is by being in exotic countries. The Sergeant-Major tells them the monkey paw grants wishes but at a terrible price. The White family doesn't heed his warning! It's like people back in the day couldn't care less! If someone told me that monkey paw granted wishes BUT at a terrible price I would burn that monkey paw myself and dump the ashes in a river. Seriously, the White family was just careless. Then they wish for 200 pounds. Really? I would never wish anything on the monkey paw but if I were to, I would have gone higher that just 200 pounds! But anyway their wish comes true all right; but not like they expected at all. The Whites son dies in a freak accident and what does the company the son worked for pay the parents? 200 pounds, just like they wished for huh? This story is SUPER super natural because we have clear evidence of the son coming back from the dead like the parents wished for and no it wasn't a cataleptic attack haha! The sons body was horribly mangled. Moral of the story (for me anyways) was to be grateful for what you have and live life a day at a time.

Blog Set #11

 Berenice
       I honestly feel that Edgar Allan Poe was one of, if not the first, to write short horror stories like this one. In many of his stories I see a pattern of disease. Such as this one, where Berenice is slowly rotting away from a disease and all that remains are her teeth. Creepy. Also, mental diseases come into play, like the narrator Egaeus suffering from monomania; which is when you obsess over one thing at a time. Berenice and Egaeus were set to be married even though she had a degenerative disease. The monomania comes into play when he sees her smile and sees her teeth for the very first time. He doesn't become obsessed with her beautiful smile, but her teeth. The teeth you go to the dentist for. One thing sets another thing off and Egaeus finds out Berenice has to be buried in which she does. Then one day Egaeus' maid wake him up and tell him that Berenice's burial spot has been disturbed. Someone dug up Berenice, but who? Yup, you guessed it; Egaeus violated her resting place. The only weird thing is, was that he didn't realize he did it until he saw a shovel in his room and mud and blood on his clothes. Then he peers into a box that is in his room and sees "thirty two small, white and ivory looking substances" (Berenice's teeth.) He was so obsessed over them that he went and removed them from her corpse in the graveyard. If that isn't obsessive I don't know what is. I would probably ask Egaeus how he blanked out through the entire teeth removing process. And he would probably say "My monomania does that to me; I blank out when I'm doing the deed."
 The Furnished Room
       I feel like I was sort of, in a way, reading Romeo and Juliet. A young man commits suicide when he finds out the young woman he was searching for tirelessly, kills herself. But I would say it was a darker version of Romeo and Juliet. The room in which this all takes place, I feel, has a lot of history. It is a dark, musty room with stories in every wall about other people who have been there. I feel like their lives or the lives of the others in the room where rather bleak. Before the young man commits suicide, he goes into the room and looks for a belonging of his love interest but all he finds is something intangible; a sweet smell. Maybe the sweet smell was her, maybe is wasn't I'm still a bit fuzzy but he commits suicide after he smells the smell. Only later do we find out that smell was just gas. I feel like it was her from beyond tricking him into committing suicide so they both can be together but who really knows. This story reflects a city because a city has drama on every other corner. A city has stories to tell and I think that applies in this situation.
 The Boarded Window
       This story was a little crazy but in a good way. Here we have a young narrator talking about a story his grandfather told him. It was about an old man who once was, full of life. But in the story he was described as stoic. The story has the usual "love of his life having a disease" and one day she was presumed dead; only by him of course. He binds her hands with a ribbon and is preparing her for burial as he lies her down onto a table. He falls asleep next to his "dead" wife. In the middle of the night he hears a series of noises but he is so scared that all he does is look up. He quickly grabs his rifle and fires aimlessly and the flash of the rifle is the only way he is able to see bits of what is going on. He lived in the west frontier but he was able to see (with the flashes of his rifle) a panther attacking his "dead" wife. The panther scampers off because the rifle scared him, but then he looks closely at his wife and her hands aren't bound with the ribbon anymore. Her hands were clenched almost as is she was fighting the panther back. He then looks at his wife's face and sees that the panthers ear was in her mouth. Leading the reader (or me anyways) to believe that she was alive and well but the maul of the panther actually killed her and not her disease. He was planning her burial a little too soon. I think it did involve supernatural powers because he saw that his wife was dead right? And it was toward the end where he woke back up and fought off the panther so I do think the supernatural was involved to some extent.

Viewing Blog #1

[last lines]

Marty McFly: Hey, Doc, we better back up. We don't have enough road to get up to 88.

Dr. Emmett Brown: Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads.

This movie, I think, would be classified as a classic. It's a science fiction movie but with a twist; it's a comedy. Funny science fiction movies back then were just coming out and in their prime. I think that people really enjoyed this movie because it had the "science fiction" element to it without feeling like it totally was "science fiction." People watch this movie and don't realize they are watching a sci-fi film! Back To The Future was a success because, besides the great ensemble of a cast, it was full of adventure. People go on a legit adventure with Doc and Marty McFly, and what's an adventure without a couple mishaps along the way; Marty McFlys mom falling for her son, encounters with Biff Tannen (your usual bully) and a scientist with a wild imagination. The movie starts out with Doc showing Marty Mcfly his "time travel machine" which is pretty much a decked out DeLoreon. All they wanted to do was test out time travel, but it wasn't that easy. Of course, something happens to ruin the unveiling of the time machine; Libyan terrorists gun down Doc but Marty escapes in the DeLoreon but one thing leads to another and Marty is sent back to the year 1955 by mistake. All this leads to Marty McFly changing his future for the better. In the beginning Marty's father was still bullied by Biff, his mother was and alcoholic and was stuck in the past but after Marty went through what he did in 1955, once he returned to the present his father was a successful author and no longer bullied by Biff, and his mother wasn't an alcoholic and was living in the now. I recommend people to what this movie because it's just an all around feel good movie! 

Blog Set #10

       I do believe that "The Fall of the House of Usher"  can very much be read in a realist tone. I feel like in that era it would be possible to mistaken someone to be dead, after all there where no medical advances at this time. Fun Fact: Around this era or earlier before, they used to sell caskets with bells on them so that is someone where to wake up from being mistaken for dead they can ring the bell so people around the cemetery would hear and lift up the person trapped inside the casket. Because I know this fact I'm a little more biased towards thinking that "accidentally" burying someone after thinking they are dead can be indeed a great possibility. But then again, maybe it is some kind of psychological encounter because Roderick seems to be a little off, mentally. So I think this could be Edgar Allan Poe trying to depict or describe the mind of a mentally ill person. I do think it could be interpreted but I still don't know what that interpretation could be. It could be just Poe describing in his way, what it's like to be "mad" but also it can just be a poetic piece with a somber twisted tone. When the narrator described the house I instantaneously thought of a haunted house; dark rooms, spooky staircase and so much more. 

       The first thing that came to my mind while reading "Afterward" I thought to myself why this couple would want to for one, retire in England (no offense to people from there or Englad enthusiasts but its always so gloomy there to me) and two, why they would hope for their retirement cottage to have ghosts in it?! Why would these people hope that a ghost resides in their new house? To me that was just plain creepy. The definition of "American Gothic" we were given I think does a great job of describing this story. The pasts ghosts will haunt the present and in this case it rings true. The "figure" in the book I think is a ghost but I get a little confused on how the ghost came to be or who it is. I don't think the definition differs because like I said it does a great job describing this specific story.   

Blog Set #9 Raven

       As soon as I begin to read I start to notice how this doesn't seem like a dark poem, but those are just the first couple of lines. Then I continue and quickly realize that he is upset or distraught because "Lenore" has passed. I begin to suspect that Lenore is someone who he loved dearly. The line "namles here for evermore" is how I got to the conlusion that she is no longer on this Earth. As I go on to reading, the narrator hears a tapping on his front door and he thinks it's just someone tapping the door but he opens it thinking that it might be Lenore. As he opens the door it obviously isn't Lenore but he still calls out her name. Why? Why would he even think it was her? There is know way she came back from the dead but maybe his constant thinking of her and yearning he thinks that is enough to have her back? Then the raven shows up onto his windowsill. The only thing that the raven says is "nevermore." For one thing ravens don't talk so I took this as a sign of insanity. To me the raven is the narrators conscience. The raven keeps reminding the narrator that Lenore is nevermore on this earth. He keeps battling between the raven and himself even though (to me) the raven is a figment of his mind. The "raven" that keeps telling him nevermore would be the reality part of his mind even though this entire scenario has insane written all over it. I think that the death of Lenore made him this way. He couldn't bear losing her and when he did he lost it. But in the beginning he acknowledges Lenores passing yet he had an entire conversation with the raven which seems mad. 
       Annabel Lee was so captivating yet eerie. Captivating because of the fact that the narrator of the poem knew this girl since they were children and they developed a love for eachother. Not just a little crush but seriously in love. The narrator says in the poem that "The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,   Went envying her and me—" to me meaning that their love was so strong and beautiful that even the angels in heaven were jealous! The narrator also believe the angels killed Annabel Lee because they envied their love so much so they (in his mind) killed Annabel Lee. When she dies the narator is devastated because her family takes her away to be shut into a tomb. This is where the eerie part comes in; he lies down with her every night in or around her tomb. I guess he loved her that much he could not let her go; sort of similar to The Raven. 

Update For Blog Set #8

I think that when we discussed this in class with other peoples views, it opened my mind just a bit which I like. Having great discussion on the stories also helped me see things a lot better. I remind myself that my opinion isn't the ONLY opinion. Even though some people thought a certain way that I didn't think of, it was interesting to see their side and their version and also how they came about with their opinion. But for the most part we all agreed on the base and foundation of the story. "Day Million" was one where it was, to me, revolutionary in the sense that a story like that was written in the time that it was written in. We all agreed in the class discussion that this type of writing was beyond its time. We also agreed that it sort of, in a way predicted the future. As we started to discuss "When It Changed" we all overwhelmingly agreed that this story was also written ahead of its time. Joanna Russ writes a story with a basic message: female empowerment. We all agreed that the men were not necessary in the story which I thought was pretty funny for some guys to admit in the discussion. But in this story it's true, men aren't in anyway needed. Women on that planet where capable of doing anything and everything. I feel like if a woman where to read that story back in the 70's when it was published, she might or might not look at the world differently (hopefully she did) because it is all about female power. The 70's (as we discussed in class) where a changing time for women, a start to a movement of power to the females in the world. We aren't quite finished yet but the 70's were deffinitely where it all began.

Blog Set #8

"Day Million" by Frederick Pohl was probably the most satisfying read in general for me in a while. Obviously what a lot of popular science fiction stories do is start a story and you have to figure your way around the story. This happened to me in this story as you can imagine. Like last weeks story, this takes place in the future. I do like that as I go along in the story, it explains more and more without revealing too much. It's great. Right away I see the message this story is trying to bring across. Love in this case has no race, religion, and certainly not a gender. I assume that this short love story is between a girl and a boy but I realize quickly that it isn't. To have this story written in 1966 where being "different" was an extreme taboo, this was very edgy of Pohl to write. I enjoy that he is challenging the small and narrow way we (used to) think. It is writing like tghis that provokes and challeneges boundaries created by society. I also think his use of language was very keen in this story. This wouldn't be cosidered a conventional love story soley based on the fact that it keeps you guessing on who is who. Usually we get the girl and the boy but like I said before it keeps you guessing. For this to be written at this time, to me, is sort of revolutionary because it was the 1960's. Things that where different or out of the "norm" we kept on the down low. To see him deter from the usual love story path is shocking, but the good kind of shocking.
"When It Changed" by Joanna Russ was yet another interesting read. Although it has lost me in some places, I enjoyed it! Once idea that really struck me, was the fact that when men arrived on Whileaway I noticed right away how they realized that this particular planet has not had any type of man on it for 30 generation so they go into this caveman like mentality of thinking that women on this planet must be yearning for men! But in reality they weren't and were doing just finewithout them. This story was written in 1972, which to me is a year full of the braking of all types of barriers. Since this planet (Whileaway) has figured out a way to reproduce without men I truly don't think they serve any type of purpose there. Maybe some women on that planet like men? but I highly doubt it, since it has been 30 generations without men. This planet has thrived without men and will continue to thrive without men.

Blog Set #7

I can easily say that the short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick was an awesome read. The idea that this man was imagining this type of furture to me is complelty amazing. I don't really think that the idea of artificially transplanted memories will be invented anytime time soon but then again, who really knows? If we were to easily implant memories into us as easy as getting cosmetic surgery, i think we would lose our humanistic element. I feel as if we won't be human anymore because you have artificial memory in you, which makes us sound a little bit like robots. I don't like the idea of having a memory implanted in me, even though I will be extremely convinced it has happend, a part of me deep, deep down in my brain will know it is false. We will all be living a lie.
I'm sort of torn with the whole casting thing. I do like that Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast because he sort of embodied a "hero" type physique but I also do wish they cast some one with an under-dog element. I could really have seen Matthew Broderick play this role because physique wise he isn't very big but I feel like that would've added a sense of vulnurability and under-dogness (I know that isn't a word) because he is somewhat small but yet he is tackling this huge feat of saving the universe. I think that would've been cool to see someone of average size to save the whole world; more men probably could have related if Matthew Broderick was cast. Remember this is all opinion based! hahaha
I think maybe movies being based off of movies impacts the story in every sense. Maybe some people haven't read the story and go see the movie and then read the story; but they already have a sense of what is going to happen since they saw the movie already and don't have the space to imagine it in their heads as they read. To me that takes away the whole purpose of reading. I love reading because you see it in your head and it exercises your imagination. Movie adaptations of stories in a way destroy that. 

Blog Set #6

"Burning Chrome" by William Gibson was extremely fascinating to me in more ways than one. There is a lot of cyber elements that come into play in the story. Another thing that got me interested was the fact that it also has traces of romance in it as well with Bobby and Rikki. When I was finished with the story, the vibe I got from Bobby and Jack were positive. Jack was the sensible one and Bobby was the brasher and wild one, and I think they complement each other very well. To me they seemed to do no harm, even though they were hackers and in this world we associate hacking with harm and theft, Bobby and Jack were not (to me) malicious and out to steal every ones bank account, but instead stealing money from Chrome; who is the true bad person here. I also got a sense of betrayal from Rikki to both Bobby and Jack but Bobby took it a little harsher.  Rikki turned out to be a double crosser; working for a program with ties to Chrome but at the same time pretending to be with Bobby and Jack. This is a huge let down for Bobby who was growing fond of her at a rapid rate. Rikki uses the money she (technically Bobby and Jack) stole to but herself “eyes"? I am not quite sure what the connection is between her and the "eyes" she purchased. But I feel the world Gibson is trying to foresee is a vain one, a world where people will do anything; even if it means compromising your morale to look picture perfect. All in all the ending is sad because Rikki and Bobby don't come together and she stole from them (the good guys) which doesn't always leave a good taste in your mouth. 

"Computer Friendly" by Eileen Gunn was very enjoyable because it told the story from a perspective completely different; a seven-year-old girl. I think she chose to write using this angle was because this was a new setting we (the reader) are learning about. Instead of using an adult and having the adult just throw you into the scenario, little kids her age are very well known to ask many questions so I think Eileen uses a seven-year-olds point of view to purposefully make you ask those questions then and there compared to what seems to be the usual; you start reading a science fiction short story/novel and you are lost in the beginning of it until I continue reading then i understand what’s happening hahah (I think this happens to just me though)

Blog Set #5 Artificial and Posthuman Life

As I was reading "The Culling" by Steven Dos Santos, I started to realize page by page that this was very similar to "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins but with a twist. The pages I read showed many human emotion in the sense that many emotions where being felt in just those 97 pages. I did sense a lot of desperation and also a lot of post apocalyptic elements into the story. I also realized that there is a sense of status in this book; a hierarchy. Similar to "The Hunger Games" there are the rich, who did not have to fight to the deaths to stay alive, and there are the poor who do have to fight. I am super excited to read the rest and see what happens to Digory and Lucky.

I think "Reason" by Isaac Asimov shows a very clear example as to why robots are dangerous, hahaha. But on a serious note, the theme in this story has been used throughout time in the movie scene. There have been many movies of robots being built by their "master" then going haywire after sometime realizing they should no longer obey human command and do what they want to do.I think Asimov gave the robot feelings on purpose. He could have just made a sci-fi story about robots and humans in space and not have the robot do what it does in the story. It gives the robots a human element and makes it a tad relatable to people who stray from their path or people who cause rebellion.

"Super-Toys last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldriss is very interesting for its time. Written in 1969 about a boy who starts to question whether he is real or not in this day and age of synthetic life form. It was sad for me in someway knowing (or assuming) that the mother of this boy may not even love him because he is not "real". I got to that conclusion (I may be wrong) because of the lack and difficulty of communication between mother and son. She is not a cruel mother but she tends to find it hard to love David and David tends to find hard what to express to her, which is very frustrating for both in the end.

Blog Set #4

The story "The Star" by H.G Wells, to me seemed to be going nowhere. Yes it does fall under the science fiction genre but it really did not fascinate me in any way. What it does use is a lot of science, like using the word "observatories" and "instruments" which makes this story sound very legitimate. H.G Wells makes us feel a little tense when he wrote " "it is nearer!" (page 42) but I feel like that is the only sort of build-up we have going on in this story. I do like the fact that H.G Wells writes about when "it" is getting brighter and nearer, the people have a kind of tension and they start to think all these thoughts; whether it be final moment thoughts and how they would spend their last moments together or people thinking how fascinating the big bright light is and not really thinking about the end of their world as they know it. Some people are oblivious and some are not, I think if I saw a bright light coming from the sky I would start to question things like " is this bright thing that is approaching earth good or bad?" When you put yourself in that situations, reactions from many different people may vary but the result at the end is the same.

"Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler I thought was really good. It shows how humanity works and that not everything is like a type of Utopia. The dystopic "near future" stated in this story is quite opposite that of a perfect society. This story to me shows how imperfect society is and miscommunication we have as people. Most of us do things on emotions while some logically think events through but that was not the case in this story. I still do not quite understand the reason or origin of the miscommunication but is shows how we use assumption and jump into conclusions. At the end Butler shows how communication is key to a civil society and that we must use it at all times.

Blog Set #3

       "That Only a Mother" had a very interesting setting. That being that it takes place in a middle class suburban home, when most people assume that most science fiction stories are portrayed in outer space or another weird environment. I think the setting on this story makes it relatable to the reader in the sense that most people live in middle class suburban houses, so it gives the reader a sense of belonging in the story. With that being said, in the story the baby has no legs or arms because of a mutation so it gives the reader an eerie feeling of relating but not relating at the same time. Throughout the story the mother to the limb-less child is somewhat oblivious (to me) that her daughter has no limbs, but somewhat acknowledges she has no limbs when she says "why a child of your intelligence can't learn to keep a diaper on the way other babies do" (page 217)  which to me signifies that she knew her baby had no arms or legs but ignored it to a point where she believed it and genuinely thought her baby had limbs. This story perfectly explains a mothers never ending and unconditional love. The child was perfect to her even though the baby came with flaws, which is what a lot of mothers still do till this day which is look past their child's imperfections and sees nothing but beauty. In a major way, this story and " We See Things Differently" both have to deal with the environment and post global war/terrorism.
       In the story " We See Things Differently" it clearly shows the "future" America in decline, but how? To me it is because the Americans only seem to have one person to look at as a sign of hope; who is Tom Boston. The fact that we only have one person (or so it seems) as a beacon of hope means to me that America has been wiped out in the sense that it is no longer the dream machine it once was. That it is no longer the go-getter country, and it certainly wasn't the land of hope it once was. This "future" America had people from all over trying to tear us down, which come to think of it is currently happening nowadays, but we haven't let them conquer. But in the America portrayed by Bruce Sterling, we lost that battle and started to decline.

Blog Set #2

As crazy or weird as it sounds, science fiction does reflect on humanity in more ways than one. Many (but not all) authors use a futuristic approach when it comes to their writing. Authors also use the theme of aliens, and in the story "Passenger" written by author Robert Silverberg, he uses both the futuristic and alien theme. For instance, around the third or fourth paragraph he talks to a compter and asks "her" what time and year it is. The year "Passenger" was written was in the year 1968, but the computer tells the narrator that it is the year 1987. Here is a clear use of the futuristic theme. I find it interesting because in today's world some people have Siri on their phones, and if you ask Siri was the date, time and weather are she will dictate it to you much like the computer told the narrator the date, time and the weather, and to me that is amazing because that technology that was being described in the story was nowhere near existent. In the next couple of paragraphs you see the theme of the future being used a lot. The computer makes a concoction in the kitchen for the hungover narrator and clearly in the 1960's this automated kitchen idea was not in existence either. Another theme that was used in "Passenger" was the aliens. What i noticed in the story was that the aliens took over the humans body as if the aliens where playing pretend, much like you do when you are a child. So these aliens posses these bodies and are free to do anything with them, which some find it to be a frightening idea; not be able to control your own thoughts or actions of the body.

In the story "Out Of All them Bright Stars", by author Nancy Kress uses the same alien but takes place in present 1985, except the alien in this story is friendly and does not have any harmful intentions onto the human race. The alien names "John" was a mild mannered, soft spoken, sweet alien who had nothing but good coming from him. He faced adversity and discrimination because of the fact that he was blue. Many where mean to "John" except for Sally Gourley, who saw the human essence in him unlike her boss and co-worker. This surely reflects onto humanity in the sense of racism or being a unique individual; because he was blue and didn't quite fit in. The fact that he was being threatened by the owner of the diner, in my perspective was wrong. Also reading the introduction was a great help and made me understand the essentials of science fiction writing, as well as how this genre slowly paved its path onto being one of the many popular genres to date.

Introduction

My name is Gabriela and this is my blog. Here is where you will get everything and anything about science fiction. This would have to be my favorite genre because of the fact of how the authors mind works while writing a novel on this genre. They create characters, and settings that are quite different in the sense that some take place in the future. I feel like many science fiction novels sparked ideas about the future and how it could or could not be. What machines, what kind of clothing or how will the government work in the future are just questions that some science fiction novels have answered, or try to answer. Hope you enjoy.