Many of HG Wells’s futuristic prophecies have come true, but the one on which his heart was most set – the establishment of a world state – remains unfulfilled.
We need women to participate equally in science fiction’s conversations about humanity’s future.
MsSaraKelly
Science fiction is a popular and lucrative genre – but most authors are men and relatable female characters are sadly lacking. Given this entrenched sexism, it’s time for publishers to take affirmative action.
The Starship Enterprise, the famed setting of the original ‘Star Trek’ series, was almost lost to the graveyard of failed pilots.
alanoodle.com
With a pilot that was deemed too complex and cerebral, ‘Star Trek’ looked dead in the water. Fifty years later, we look back at the show’s rocky beginnings.
Climate disaster films are an emerging genre that reflect people’s desire to cope with a changing planet through art. How will they affect public attitudes on climate change?
Utopianism is a neglected prism through which to view Africa. It is the space where the intricacies of decolonisation and independence can be properly comprehended.
The X-wing fighters have been criticised for doing World War II dogfights in space.
YouTube/Star Wars (screen grab)
Science fiction has long warned of technology taking over the world. We’re increasingly connected to a digital world that’s growing, and more automated. So what if it starts to evolve?
Up into the imagination!
John Polgreen/James Vaughan/Flickr
The alternate reality visualised in Star Wars is now potentially much closer to home.
It’s okay in science fiction but not in real life: A robot (Robin Williams, left) who dreams of becoming human in the movie Bicentennial Man.
AAP/Touchstone Pictures
Science fiction can be good at predictiong soem of the technologies of tomorrow. But designers take note: not all those ideas are welcome.
The real force of Star Wars is to be found in its music, an aural cocktail of orchestral pieces punctuated with lightsabers, hyperspace leaps, and a hint of droid.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
For all the speculative commentary as to what the new Star Wars trailer reveals plot-wise, its true “force” is surely located in the various sounds that infuse this perfectly constructed teaser.