Benny
Davis
Diverse
Position Science Fiction
I
am not the greatest fan of this genre of science fiction. Upon reading Bloodchild, I was very confused and
deeply disturbed by the subject matter. What baffled me the most was at the
end, when Gan confesses that he is in love with the alien that is currently laying
eggs in his stomach!
Not
particularly my idea of romance, but who am I to question the writing of
Octavia Butler, a well renowned sci-fi author? I usually like some of these
kinds of sci-fi stories, such as the Ridley Scott film “Alien”. While that is
not quite strict to this specific genre, I think the artistic work of H.R. Giger
brings it much closer into it.
One
of my favorite disturbing stories of science fiction would have to be “Planet
of the Apes”. When I first watched the 1968 film as an 8-year-old-boy, that
shot of the statue of liberty nearly traumatized me. The image of the shriveled
up dead crewmember on the spaceship did traumatize me. So did the image
of one of the crew dead and taxidermied as a museum exhibit. I shudder just
writing about it.
So
you could imagine my interest and excitement about the recent prequels to the
franchise. Personally, I thought “Rise” was way, way better than “Dawn” but that’s
just me. I hear up next, it will be “War of the Planet of the Apes”. I am
pumped for that!
-Benny
Davis