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Citing Black Panther as an example of a departure from > Well-known artistic depictions of the future [...] showing a marked lack of diversity. Black Panther
by grive 8y ago
Citing Black Panther as an example of a departure from
> Well-known artistic depictions of the future [...] showing a marked lack of diversity.
Black Panther was a purely american product, Comic book superhero is the most stale and rehashed sub-genre of science-fiction from the last century, and this author uses it to show a "blossoming" of new diverse and imaginative production from "around the world"?
Afrofuturism, reaching back from W. E. B. Du Bois with The Comet to Black Panther, Nnedi Okorafor, ALL of them american products, would not be considered the "West"? African-american culture is not western?
> “But this phenomenon, which is now making its voice heard from areas like China or Africa, also has a much longer history that precedes today’s boom.”
This whole article seems to be written from the point of vue of someone who have been blind for decades, discovering that other culture exists all around. Reaching outside their bubble seems progressive and forward-thinking, but this surprise and this impression of being so avant-gardiste only serves to show how bigoted they were for so long.
> Well-known artistic depictions of the future have traditionally been regarded as the preserve of the West, and have shown a marked lack of diversity.
I can appreciate the prudent use of "well-known" here, because science-fiction has been extremely diverse and progressive from the beginning. If anything however, there is a backlash from alt-right cliques to colonize the genre, with the recent attempts to subvert the Hugo Awards[1]. This seems to go against the narrative of this article, but I think this is more important (and disturbing). That Cixin have won the award recently does not mean that science fiction is becoming more diverse, only that foreign authors have been welcomed into the fold.
So typical, the only boom that matters is the one playing into the US cultural codes, one face of imperialism. Only there it is pretending to be diversity.
[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/17/hugo-award-nominees-withdraw-amid-puppygate-storm https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/apr/17/hugo-award-nom...
- gaius 8y agoComic book superhero is the most stale and rehashed sub-genre of science-fiction from the last century Superheroes go all the way back to Ancient Greek stories of gods and demigods, or even some of the Old Testament prophets, the stories are still read today and are clearly structurally similar. The idea that superheroes are a modern American invention is just ludicrous.
- arunix 8y agoThe ancient Greek/Old Testament stories are not science-fiction though.
- gaius 8y agoYes and no. Swap planets for uncharted islands and Star Trek (TOS at least) would be instantly recognisable to any Ancient Greek.
- fosco 8y agoin the original star trek they find Apollo [0] and determine how ancient greeks may have been inspired by aliens. really enjoyable episode to think over:-) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Mourns_for_Adonais%3F https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Mourns_for_Adonais%3F
- coldtea 8y ago>Superheroes go all the way back to Ancient Greek stories of gods and demigods (...) The idea that superheroes are a modern American invention is just ludicrous.* No, they don't. Heroes and gods/creatures with special powers indeed are ancient. Superheroes are a specific thing, within a specific culture. It's not only that ancient gods didn't were spandex, it's a whole lot of cultural preconceptions and genre characteristics that define the superhero stories (not to mention the way those are produced and consumed).
- dTal 8y agoIf we accept your premise that superheroism is a continuation and extension of ancient fables, wouldn't that make it even more stale and rehashed?
- gaius 8y agoIt would, but my point is really, that this isn’t a “purely American product”
- codeulike 8y agoBlack Panther was one of the highest grossing movies of the year, so I think it is kinda significant that it got made at all, and that it was as successful as it was. Also, although its ostensibly a 'super hero' movie, there isn't actually any super hero stuff in it (e.g. innocent people being saved from falling lifts, burning buildings etc). Its a sci-fi story about who rules a super-advanced african nation, and what their foreign policy should be.
- coldtea 8y ago>Its a sci-fi story about who rules a super-advanced african nation, and what their foreign policy should be. Of the very crude, beat-you-to-the-head-without-subtlety variety, when it comes to sci-fi.
- ntsplnkv2 8y agoMarvel Studios has been pumping out hit after hit. It's not really surprising how successful it was at all, especially with the Avenger's tie in.
- codeulike 8y agoRight, but as of a few months ago Black Panther was the highest grossing (and most tickets sold) out of all Marvel movies. Probably Infinity War has passed it since then, but still. Its likely the second-most successful Marvel movie ever - thats significant, no? https://ew.com/movies/2018/04/30/marvel-movies-box-office/ https://ew.com/movies/2018/04/30/marvel-movies-box-office/
- ConceptJunkie 8y agoThat's because it was a good movie with good characters and an interesting story. The setting, cast, and other accidentals don't matter if you have good characters and an interesting story. This is what a lot of the purveyors of politically correct SF don't seem to understand.
- arkh 8y agoI don't know if it's because of the translation or because it is the Chinese style but reading the three bodies problem was a chore. The concept is good but most of it could be condensed in a 100 pages novella. It felt like reading the Dune prequels. Not the kind of things you'd expect to get a Hugo award.
- awild 8y agoYou should read Cixin Lius short stories then, his short stories are far better than 3BP, they are in my opinion much more imaginative while additionally being very concise. The only real bummer is that Cixin Liu just seems to love dramatic irony on epic scales so much that basically every story is based around it. The trilogy had some nice ideas, but it seems more like an exploration of the cosmic sociology than of a real story, which got quite tiring after a certain point for me. Though, I think I'm just not the type for trilogies, I favor concise existential literature over world-building.
- le-mark 8y agoI've always maintained that sci fi really shines in short stories and novella's. It's rare imo opinion for novel length sci fi to be as provoking and pleasurable.