June 18, 2015

Myths and Innovation

Our mythic imagination reflects our desires for mastery, magical or scientific

Our mythic anxieties shape our resistance tp innovation and mastery

Cultural Interpretation

Biopolitics of Pop Culture Fantastic fiction shapes the public’s thinking

about emerging technologies

Frankenstein, Brave New World, Matrix, Gattaca become shorthand for commonsense objections

Fantastic fiction depicts social and philosophical issues in abstracted form, more often with implicit bioconservative messages

Utopias are boring, and complex futures take more work

Radically transformed humanity is hard to empathize with

We need more sophisticated pop culture images of the future

Audience Trends The audience

The evolving demographics of fantasy, SF, horror fans

The expanding demographics of fantastic fiction in television, film and games

Socio-political trendsAnxieties about immigrants, minorities, foreign

threatsAnxieties about technology and personal identity The expansion of liberal democratic citizenship

Media Influence Massification of fantastic literature, film and

TV in 1980s

Literary SF is more sophisticated than film and TVLiterary SF more subcultural, film/TV SF more

popular

Film and TV have become darker and more complexMy Favorite Martian, Mork and Mindy, Alf vs X-

Files, Babylon Five, Battlestar Galactica

Five Categories of Other

Aliens Machine minds Animals modified for

intelligence Post-humans Other intelligent

species from Earth

Top Grossing Films None of the top 25 grossing films of 1965

had non-human intelligence or future biotech

3. Guardians of the Galaxy – aliens 4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – posthumans, aliens6. The Hobbit pt 3 - – non-human intelligent species7. Transformers: Age of Extinction – machine intelligence8. Maleficent – non-human intelligent species9. X-Men: Days of Future Past – post-humans11. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – uplifted animals12. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – post-humans13. Godzilla – non-human intelligent species15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – uplifted animals16. Interstellar – robots, aliens17. How to Train Your Dragon 2 – non-human intelligent species25. Lucy – post-humans

Political-Economy Cycle Kiser and Drass (1983): # of utopian novels goes up with

depressions and “hegemonic decline” in UK & US, 1883-1975.

Io9 analysis of Dr. Who’s revolutionary aspirations:

US Imperialism & Prime Directive Annalee Newitz’ study

Immigrants, Racism, Foreigners If negative Other

images reflect xenophobia we would expect them in more xenophobic groups and times

Since SF fans are more liberal, more positive depictions in lit than film and TV

Expansion of Empathy, Citizenship

Liberal democracies define citizenship based on psychological capacities, not physical characteristics

This expands citizenship to non-human persons

Withdraws citizenship from embryos and the brain-dead

The Measure of Man

SF Consumers are Different SF consumers were more opposed to animal

experimentation especially for “higher” mammals

Figure 1: Science Fiction Consumption and Opposition to Use of Animals in Medical Experimentation

fish rats birds cats dogs wolves chimps bears dolphins

High SF Consumers

Low SF Consumers

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80% Hughes, James. Aliens, Technology and Freedom: Science Fiction Consumption and Socio-Ethical Attitudes Futures Research Quarterly, Winter, 1995, 11(4): 39-58.

Problems Cult favorites (Lord of the Rings,

Evil Dead)

Elite vs. mass influence (Lovecraft)

Cumulative down list volume (monster movies)

Extraordinarily positive Others, applications of tech

Boundary definitions (supernatural creatures, talking cartoon animals)

Minor characters versus major characters (Gremlins)

Plot twists (silvers in Sarah Connor Chronicles)

Anti-technology Tropes

Novel technology causes evil, unintended consequencesDeadalus & Icarus

Evil scientists Dr. Faustus

The desire for longevity mastery or intelligence is evil, has unintended consequences

Evil, Tragic, Repentent Immortalists Most images of people who want more

life are negative

Only sanctioned salvation can provide immortality, otherwise its evil

Doctor Frankenstein The desire to reanimate the

dead will have bad, unintended consequences

Dr. Frankenstein is willing to unleash those consequences in the thoughtless pursuit of scientific mastery

Does it inform our thinking about cardiac defibrillators or organ transplantation?

Animal Uplift and Chimeras The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896) Planet of the Apes (1963-2017) Splice (2009)

Brave New World State managed eugenic

inequalityIn-vitro fertilization?Free genomic choices in a

democratic society?

Birth control, sexual freedom Safe happiness drugs

Have Prozac, sexual freedom and reproductive choice robbed us of humanity or distracted us from political struggle?

Pro-technology Tropes

Promethean tech heroes Wells’ Things to Come (1933, 1936)

Millennialism & utopian futureVerne, Bellamy, Gernsback, Star

Trek

Loyal servant

Elisions of Star Trek

Genetic engineering and cognitive enhancement are banned

Limited use of the transporterMedical use explored in one

episode

AI is rare, and has a Pinnochio complex

Genomic Choice

Gattaca (1997)

Its not evil to help parents have healthier kids

That future could fix his heart

Lying to NASA so you can die in space is not heroic

Cloning Doppelgangers, evil twins

and stolen identities Sleeper (1973) The Boys from Brazil (1978) The Sixth Day (2000) Star Wars: Attack of the

Clones (2002) The Island (2005) Never Let Me Go (2010) Cloud Atlas (2012)

Why would clones have fewer rights, or be more manipulable, than other humans?

Servant Races

Blade Runner (1982)Is the creation of genetically enhanced people evil?Or is corporate power, racism and the intentional engineering of subservience?

Cloning Extinct Species

Jurassic Park (1993-2015)Cloning a mammoth or a Neandrathal?

Wireheading and Brain Pacemakers 1963: 

"Electrical self-stimulation of the brain in man." by Dr. Robert Heath.

1972: Epileptic self-stimulated thousands of times for hours; “protested each time the unit was taken from him, pleading to self-stimulate just a few more times...”

Terminal Man (book 1972, film 1974)

Sleeper (1973) – Orb, Orgasmatron

Cognitive Enhancement

Flowers for Algernon (1959, Charly 1968) Awakenings (1990)  Lawnmower Man (1992) Limitless (2011) Lucy (2014)

Enhanced Soldiers

Robocop (1987)

Wolverine

Captain America

Countless others

Is the problem militarism or the enhancements?

What Kind of Images Do We Want? Orginal vision of cyberpunk: to

break with utopian and dystopian visions, and depict a gritty future

Beyond the demonized or valorized Other to the complex and gritty Other

For culture creators and audiences to be as sensitive to biopolitical tropes as they are now to racist images