Multi-Verse

One of my favorite things about this genre is how I get the feeling that it is the earth (in terms of social, political, and environmental problems) applied to the universe.

When humans gain the ability to space travel efficiently, we encounter the same problems we did on earth. Space travel was often looked at as a glamorous futuristic endeavor; clean spaceships and perfectly colonized worlds exist outside of humanity. Outer space seemed to be that place where we could finally achieve perfection.

But it becomes obvious in this genre that this is not the case. In reality, the openness and unconquered vastness of space just enable humans to do "their own thing," which we all know is never that bright. It becomes painfully obvious that we will never escape our problems and our own human tendencies; even when we try to emulate the planet we once were. Having the ability to "start over" and create another world really can make us understand how unrealistic our ideas for a perfect society are.

In Babel-17 we are presented with the expanding world that is suffering through intolerable differences. I found it interesting how with the expanse of beyond earth, we lose a sense of what is considered normal. I liked how language became a huge part of this book; and it had a large impact of how each character thought of their own situation and changed each interaction. In an almost 1984 way, language controlled the outcomes of each relationship.

The Stars My Destination

Though this has been somewhat of a common theme in some of my blog posts, I am just going to go for it. One of the things that was the most alluring about The Stars My Destination was the background concept for the main character, Gulliver Foyle Once again, we find ourselves with the average man.

The only thing that really motivated him to do anything extraordinary was the fact that his life really depended on his ability to un maroon himself in space. I (and I believe most others as well) find this very relatable to my own procrastination. I will stop at nothing to push things off for more time to do nothing, even if it is costing me success. It is also interesting that I am completely aware of this predicament, yet I continue to hurt myself in this way. It becomes such an apparent human trait especially when represented in the character in such an extreme situation.

I also find it funny that the tipping point was not so much at the fact that he was stuck, it was more when he became angry at being "passed up" at rescue by passing ships. His selfish behavior is so relatable, especially to my inner demon child.

Heterotopias

Our reading Foucaults Of Other Spaces really made me reflect on how the absence of understanding really dominates our daily activities and mental reflections. Space, in terms of both the universe outside this word and the one we are in now (internal and external space, as he put it) has an ever-present power to put everything we know into relativity, and nothing will ever amount to it.

The concept of the Heterotopia brings about the question of what we actually consider valid in our minds and in our thought process. These things can exist in already "physical" places but have more existing layers. So what is real? The combination of my own musings related to a physical place is just as real as the memory of a conversation that once was; just because something is lacking a human visual input doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If we rid ourselves of the practice of dismissing something of its "real validity" because it doesn't actually "physically exist," we can begin to understand the world in a different way and use these Heterotopias to escape our daily lives.

That's why I find gaming so fascinating. It is just as real as any place I "physically" exist in; both experiences have input and output with my brain.

I can remember being young and playing Zelda; Ocarina of Time and being completely captivated. I suddenly was transported to a different world, and as far as I was concerned, I was.

Contemporary Urban Fantasy

This weeks topic, contemporary urban fantasy, has been one of my more favorite sub-genres of fantasy/sci fi. It falls into the same logical thinking of why I loved Harry Potter as a kid; it is completely set up rationally around todays world, in the sense that you have to be open to weird things happening to people.

Don't get me wrong, there are obvious reasons why I find the extreme opposites attractive. Fantasy middle earths and far off lazer fights are a nice reason for before bed escape. But there is something to be said about applying absurdity into the logical thinking process of our brains; especially watching or reading about these situations unfolding to a seemingly normal group/single being.

Take Being John Malkovich for example. Craig is our average flatline unemployed puppeteer (I know this strays from "normal," but you get the picture) who just so happens to discover a portal into John Malkovich's inner being. Though he is shocked at first, this becomes a semi normal part of his life and he is able to adapt it its absurdity rather quickly.

Our weekly reading, Anansi Boys, follows somewhat of the same setup in terms of our main subject. Charlie (Fat Charlie) seems to lead a somewhat uninspiring life until this bomb of an "undiscovered brother" is dropped on him, throwing him into a world of an arachnid bloodline.

They both have interactions with being average or a lack of motivation. Though craigs interest in puppetry is quite unique; his average life and relationship with his pet obsessed wife lacks excitement. He basically deals with uncomfortable social situations that end up being most of his life. Charlie on the other hand, is pretty average himself, but has to deal with an overly quirky father who is obsessed with karaoke (and who is also an african spider god).

I feel like it is important to this genre to establish a sense dullness; not to emphasize the jump into abnormality, but to have a flat thought process in the minds of the people who experience these above normal situations with the paranormal/science fantasy types.

Harry Potter

I know it was suggested that we stay away from Harry Potter and his pals if we had already had the pleasure of reading the books before. But I couldn't resist reading once more now that I am older and I have some real world experience to compare it to.

It wasn't that I found them less interesting this time around, but I just really realized how much I fantasized about what it meant to grow older and be your own boss. I felt like when I was little, anything was possible. I do still believe that that is true, but back then I thought more along the lines that I would be able to experience anything I wanted, in an unlimited time frame. This idea of Harry becoming independent and owning up to his newfound magical powers and running around a giant castle under an invisible sheet at night(I would fantasize and compare this to learning how to drive, having a house, ect) was so open ended to me and applicable to my own life.

The obvious allure of this series was the idea of a secret world existing so close to our daily lives, yet being so undetected. I love how some some the solutions to keeping the magical world unexposed were so simple that they became absurd and comical. Like Muggle repellent charms that make an area off limits by making them think they have someplace more urgent to be that was previously forgotten about. They (we) become almost like an annoying nuisance.

Even just basic magical solutions to things that didn't involve muggle control are geared around this way of thinking, like the fact that you are supposed to bewitch a washcloth to clean dishes, instead of just magically making them clean in one step.

This division between two worlds brings up the interesting job of keeping them separate and drawing a fine line between what is considered the acceptable amount of mixing the two. In Harrys instance, he was brought up in a family of them who had full knowledge of the secret world, yet despised it. I love how Rowling brought in the idea that some Muggles were in the whole magical secrecy; especially the idea that Muggles can learn to do magic in certain situations.