Firstly, I almost forgot to post this week. Remembered at the last minute. =)
Secondly, I think I'd like to write my paper using Kessel's Stories for Men and/or Sunlight or Rock. I've got a few different ideas but most likely it'll center on Erno (just because his character fascinated me)
Thirdly, in my Anthropology class today, we talked about the third gendered( as in neither male nor female) caste group in India (known as the Hijra). Reminded me of the Nutes in River of Gods.
And Lastly, Does anyone else notice that the more advanced a group (mostly an alien group if you're watching scifi) is, the more arrogant they are? Seriously, I always find it frustrating to hear some advanced alien say "But that's impossible" You'd think they'd be advanced enough to think outside the box. Apparently it's hard to advance beyond arrogance.
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Maybe the whole thing about alien arrogance could play into your paper somehow? You could talk about how advanced knowledge can sometimes stunt creativity or abstract thought and provide examples? I dunno...but yeah Erno is pretty cool, you could chart the whole arc of his character and the challenges he faced, lots of stuff to talk about there.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed the alien arrogance, too. It's not just aliens, though. I had a chemistry professor who loved going out of his way to make us feel like idiots, and proving that he was smarter than us.
ReplyDeleteI think if any civilization gets advanced enough they tend to become arrogant, which leads to their downfall, and makes way for another civilization to rise up. It's like the circle of life or something.
ReplyDeleteTo me it always seems taht advanced alien races always sit back and thing they are better than humanity. They always are like well we were at that point thousands of years ago so they are not as good as us yet and we probablly should not even talk/work with humans.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite moment of alien arrogance comes in Bruce Sterling's story "Swarm," in which the title alien (a hive mind) tells a luckless human: "You are a young race and lay great stock by your own cleverness. As usual, you fail to see that intelligence is not a survival trait." Petrina, did you have a specific arrogant alien in mind, on or off our syllabus?
ReplyDeleteJennifer, I'm sorry to hear, though not particularly surprised, about your chemistry professor's attitude. My students routinely are smarter than I am -- as y'all may have noticed already.
Also, Petrina, writing about Erno sounds like a good idea. In the meantime, tell us more about the Hijra, please.
Nothing too specific. I was watching a scifi (it was an episode of Stargate SG1) that had an arrogent alien race in it and that go me thinking of other things I've seen with the same theme. My friend and I had a rant about it but I can't remember right now any of the specific examples we mentioned.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't go into to much detail on the Hijras in class so I probably don't have a very good understanding of them. What I get is that they are a third gender that is differentiated by the fact that they reproduce. I think they live by entertaining at parties and such.