Why SciFi Matters

(NOTE:  The following post has already appeared live at Hollywood Jesus.com.  However, in an effort to build content on my blog, I've decided to post some of my more general postings on Movio Dei.  I just thought it'd be a good way to continue the discussion.)

“…if all others accepted the lie that the Party imposed—all the records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future:  who controls the present, controls the past.’… ‘Reality control’, they called it...” (George Orwell, 1984, p87)

Taken from George Orwell’s most famous science fiction piece, 1984, this quote speaks directly against a world where the blurred lines between media and reality can wage war on the minds an the unsuspecting public. In it, Orwell argues that, by attempting to control the manner in which people understand the world through constant bombardment of imagery and propaganda, it is entirely plausible for the human race to lose their sense of self and have their needs and wants dictated by some other person or group. It’s a theme that resonates strongly in our constantly plugged-in and media saturated culture.

And it was written in 1949.

In truth, much of Orwell’s tale of rebellion stands to be believed in our current culture. Motifs such as the ‘Thought Police’ and ‘Big Brother’ speak to a world where the people constantly are being manipulated and can be viewed as metaphoric of a culture that prides itself on being fed constantly by media outlets. Every day, we allow our ‘likes’ to be monitored by faceless Facebook operatives, invite others to judge our activities on Twitter and YouTube, and watch CNN on our cell phones during the morning commute.  (Hey, we even have a popular reality show named after Big Brother…)

Now, this is not to point out anything particularly prophetic about Orwell’s work. (In fact, the book really makes the most sense once one considers that it was written immediately after Hitler’s use of propaganda to control the German public during World War II.) Although it is safe to say that there is truly something remarkable about science fiction itself. By using future landscapes, screenwriters and authors have often been able to tackle contemporary issues within their culture and speak about them in manner that seems more palatable in some way. Whether it’s the Cold-War paranoia of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the redefinition of humanity in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, or the examination of genetic experimentation in Splice, science fiction films frequently explore the core questions that plague society but manage to keep their audience at a safe distance by placing them in an unrealistic setting.

In light of this, the depth of this style of filmmaking should be of extreme interest to us from a spiritual perspective as well.  As our culture wrestles with post-modern ideologies and political realities, one recognizes that these issues have profoundly spiritual implications as well. How does the church respond to the very real social injustices that are depicted in films like Neil Blomkamp’s District 9 or the Wachowskis’ The Matrix? Or the theological concepts in films such as James Cameron’s Avatar?

Let’s take Blomkamp’s latest directorial effort, Elysium, for example.

Taking place in 2159, this highly anticipated film depicts a world where two classes of people exist: the ultra-wealthy, who live on a utopian space station called Elysium, and the rest who reside on the overpopulated and desolate Earth.  Although the majority of Earth’s population is desperate to escape the violence of their home planet, they are refused entry into Elysium due to their aggressive anti-immigration laws. In an effort to bring equality to this system, Max (Matt Damon)—an ordinary guy in desperate need of Elysium’s resources—reluctantly takes on a dangerous mission that could also bring freedom to millions of Earth residents as well.

Featuring a sense of restlessness and rebellion at its heart, the story of Elysium feels as though it has been stripped from the political headlines as issues such as the Occupy Movement and global financial crisis gain huge press. However, Blomkamp seems to believe that his film is not merely about one particular movement but rather a larger state of cultural unrest. In a recent interview, Blomkamp addressed this claim when he said, “I think if there are topics that are just on people’s minds, things manifest into reality, the sort of global consciousness being aware… So separate from the 99% and the Occupy movement I was thinking about this [already]…” As such, regardless of whether or not the film is directly influenced by Occupy, Blomkamp argues that Elysium is tied to an idea that is socially engrained in contemporary culture.  The questions he’s asking are already being asked privately by others and he’s speaking up. Often in the case with sci-fi, art imitates life but then calls us to reflect and be different. As Christians, it’s essential for us to be aware of the issues that these types of films address and actively contribute both Kingdom values and actions to the global conversation. 

With this in mind, one can see that this spiritual and cultural connection isn’t limited only to Elysium.  Science fiction films never exist in a vacuum but rather connect deeply into the heart of the culture and time from which it is produced.  As we journey towards the release of Blomkamp’s Elysium (August 9^th), Hollywood Jesus also plans to explore some of science fiction’s great political films and their spiritual implications.

To paraphrase Morpheus, let’s see exactly “how deep the rabbit hole goes”…