Culture and History in Science-Fiction

        My favorite narrative form, or genre, is science-fiction. The picture at the front of my blog is inspired by "Dune", a book series that is currently being adapted into multiple films, with the first being released in 2021 and the next in 2023. I wasn't able to fully appreciate the film on my first watch because I was finishing college applications that were due on the same day, but it was so cinematic and had a deep, interesting lore and culture around it. I was fortunate enough to be able to write my final, 10 page long,  high school essay about "Dune" after reading the first book.

        Also growing up, I loved the "Transformers" franchise. Not only would I replay the movies hundreds of times, but I also spent a lot of time one it's video games and animated TV series. Of course, the main intrigue was the giant robots fighting and not what was going on with the humans. However, the games revealed that the Autobot  vs. Decepticon was more than just good guys against bad guys.

        In science-fiction, the spectacle is always enjoyable, but the best ones have deeper themes and inspirations. "Dune" was written in the 1960s, and is influenced heavily by colonialism, historic wars, and both European and Arabic culture. Its fun to learn about real history and culture when the writers can creatively integrate it into a fictional setting and show us things in a different light when me may not realize it in the real world. For example, the Fremen are the native people in "Dune" and the spice represents oil, demonstrating how imperialist powers take advantage of natives and take their resources.