Science Fiction or Science Fact
Science Fiction has been around for a lot longer
than you may imagine. In this short article we
will look at how the genre works on multiple
levels, how you may have missed what has
been staring you in the face the whole time,
as well as how it educates and inspires the
audience.
When it comes to Science Fiction you
either love it or you hate it. No matter what
your personal opinion is there is no escaping
the fact that without it in our lives the world
wouldn’t be as technologically advanced as it
is. But how could this genre have anything to
do with our advancements I hear you cry? Well
it’s quite simple. Thanks to the imaginations
of novel, television and film writers, Science
Fiction has introduced over the years several
key applications/tools to aid the quests of the
Protagonists. For example in the original 1966
series of Star Trek, the audience was introduced
to the concept of handheld communication
devices. These would later be adopted into
our own lives and renamed first walkie talkies
and more recently mobile/cell phones. In Star
Trek: The Next Generation (1987) the crew
used handheld computers which we now have
in our lives as tablets or iPads. The Holodeck
is a room where anything from a room to an
entire world can be simulated, appearing real to
anyone in the room. This is known to us now as
a Virtual Reality Suite, a concept first seen by
the general public in 1992.
It isn’t just the imagined tools and
applications which helped develop the human
race at an alarming pace but also the themes/
undertones of films/television series. Journeys
to far-off lands, meeting alien races, learning
about astronomy as with the early series of
Doctor Who (1963) helped to inspire whilst
educating the audience. It would be interesting
to know the percentage of scientists who are
fans of and have been influenced by Science
Fiction. President Ronald Regan and the United
States Government stole the name Stars Wars
for its own Strategic Defence Initiative.
At some point in our lives, Science
Fiction has either influenced, aided or educated.
Although there had been previous
examples of time travel in fictional writing, H
G Wells in his book The Time Machine (1895)
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Craig McArthur
brought the concept of time travel to the
forefront of public imagination.
Using this genre, writers with strong
political views normally unable to screen the
subject matter may now slip past the sensors
with the political messages dressed up and
so appear less obvious. An example of this
could be the first ever interracial kiss screened
on Television courtesy of Captain Kirk and Lt
Uhura. Another example is Battlestar Galactica
2003, a highly political drama, covering all
aspects of refugee life e.g. water and food
shortages, setting up a government, black
market trading, abortion, equal rights and
racism. In an ordinary world there might be
complaints, if it was screened at all. Dressed
up as a Science Fiction adventure in space,
however, it is able to slip through the net,
educating whilst not offending the audience, you
are learning without even noticing it.
Films like Mad Max II & III show us a
world after we’ve devastated the planet. This
acts as a warning and a not so subtle way of
encouraging ourselves to stop the fighting, to
end the wars.
Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the
Star Trek franchise had a vision for a future
to which we should all aspire. He believed
that every nation should and would eventually
become one, bringing an end to arms, greed,
hunger and all other forms of suffering.
Hopefully we may one day achieve this. It
may not be in our lifetime but perhaps for our
children or grandchildren. As long as Science
Fiction continues with its subliminal messages,
we stand a chance of being better educated and
more sympathetic to the plight of others.
So, you can see how the Science
Fiction genre is built upon multiple levels, and
how it can cater for everybody’s tastes, you just
need to