The online classroom of UH 300-006, Andy Duncan's fall 2009 science fiction seminar in the Honors College of the University of Alabama.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Thoughts On Roxie
Though the idea of a major, devastating collision with a comet or asteroid is a real and disquieting possibility, I find a danger located right in our own proverbial back yard to be just as if not more fearsome: The Yellowstone Supervolcano.
That's very interesting, and it also reminds me of the danger scientists thought the Pacific Chain of Fire posed. Still, I wonder if anyone ever calculated the odds of Earth being destroyed by a meteor as opposed to some sort of internal implosion.
I'm really into myth, so I find all of this apocalypse stories very intriguing.
You can tell a lot about a society based on how it thinks the world will end. What do they fear will cause it? Do they embrace it, or see it as some sort of punishment? Will their be a battle, or some sort of final judgment in the end? Who will be punished? Who makes it okay in the end?
I wonder what these kind of sci-fi apocalypse myths say about our society, and what our particular views about the "end of days" are. Does science replace the role of prophecy, or is it a kind of hubris that ultimately betrays us in the end? There's all kinds of cool stuff to be mined in stories like these!
I have really enjoyed the different views of how the world may end. Its another look at how an apocalyptic event effects people on a personal scale. In both Roxie and Lost Contact, the main characters continue on with their lives in the face of extinction. Here we do not see the whole mass hysteria that usually comes with apocalyptic movies. That aspect seems to be overdone in this type of SF and I find the personal aspect much more interesting.
"Don't blame yourself. The apocalypse wasn't your fault. Actually, it was just as much your fault as it was anyone else's. Come to think of it, if you're an American, it was probably about 80-90 percent more your fault than the average human. But don't let that get you down. It wasn't exclusively your fault. Unless you're the president. Then it might be your fault. But you'll have plenty of interns to tell you that it wasn't, so you'll be fine."
That's very interesting, and it also reminds me of the danger scientists thought the Pacific Chain of Fire posed. Still, I wonder if anyone ever calculated the odds of Earth being destroyed by a meteor as opposed to some sort of internal implosion.
ReplyDeleteI'm really into myth, so I find all of this apocalypse stories very intriguing.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell a lot about a society based on how it thinks the world will end. What do they fear will cause it? Do they embrace it, or see it as some sort of punishment? Will their be a battle, or some sort of final judgment in the end? Who will be punished? Who makes it okay in the end?
I wonder what these kind of sci-fi apocalypse myths say about our society, and what our particular views about the "end of days" are. Does science replace the role of prophecy, or is it a kind of hubris that ultimately betrays us in the end? There's all kinds of cool stuff to be mined in stories like these!
I have really enjoyed the different views of how the world may end. Its another look at how an apocalyptic event effects people on a personal scale. In both Roxie and Lost Contact, the main characters continue on with their lives in the face of extinction. Here we do not see the whole mass hysteria that usually comes with apocalyptic movies. That aspect seems to be overdone in this type of SF and I find the personal aspect much more interesting.
ReplyDelete"Don't blame yourself. The apocalypse wasn't your fault. Actually, it was just as much your fault as it was anyone else's. Come to think of it, if you're an American, it was probably about 80-90 percent more your fault than the average human. But don't let that get you down. It wasn't exclusively your fault. Unless you're the president. Then it might be your fault. But you'll have plenty of interns to tell you that it wasn't, so you'll be fine."
ReplyDelete-Meghann Marco, "Field Guide to the Apocalypse"