Category Archives: science fiction

Oscars Snub the Fantastic

March 8th, 2010 | Posted in Academy Awards, science fiction

It was just last month that the media took note of Hollywood’s recognition of the significance of science fiction with the nominations of Avatar, Star Trek, and District 9 for Academy Awards. In an article titled “Otherworldly and Oscar-worthy: Science fiction’s profile soars,” USA Today writes, quoting Vivian Sobchak, author of Screening Space: The American […]

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Star Trek Fandom as a Religious Phenomenon?

February 14th, 2010 | Posted in fan cultures, religion, science fiction, Star Trek

For a while now I’ve been composing an essay on a religion that finds metaphorical inspiration from pop culture, in particular The Matrix trilogy of films, a religion called, appropriately enough, Matrixism. In my exploration of this hyper-real spirituality, I considered a number of interesting research threads, including myth, science fiction narratives as sacred stories, […]

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Michael Karol: The ABC Movie of the Week

February 3rd, 2010 | Posted in 1970s, horror, science fiction, television

In my research on the fantastic I have come across a lot of good materials, and the individuals who bring these materials into being. Last year I came across Michael Karol and his book The ABC Movie of the Week Companion: A Loving Tribute to the Classic Series (IUniverse, 2008). Michael is an award-winning writer […]

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Avatar’s Success: Romantic Narratives and Dark Green Religion

January 27th, 2010 | Posted in Avatar, fantasy, religion, science fiction

Earlier this week various news outlets reported that Avatar has surpassed Titanic as the highest grossing film in history. (For a different take on its place in cinema box office see this article.) This tremendous response by viewing audiences might have gone the other direction. With all the pre-release hype coming from James Cameron, and […]

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Caprica: Television, Tech, and the Sacred

January 26th, 2010 | Posted in Battlestar Galactica, Caprica, science fiction, television

Caprica, the new science fiction television series on the SyFy Channel, recently debuted, and it continues to generate positive commentary. The series is a prequel to the successful Battlestar Galactica series from the same network, a reworking of the campy 1970s series. Religion Dispatches assembled a group of scholars who shared their thoughts on Caprica […]

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Avatar Surpasses Star Wars in Domestic Box Office

January 17th, 2010 | Posted in Avatar, science fiction, Star Wars, Uncategorized

It had to happen eventually given the increasing and continued popularity of the fantastic in popular culture, and advances in special effects and digital wizardry on screen. MSN Entertainment is reporting that Avatar has now surpassed Star Wars for all-time domestic box office receipts at $491.8 million, moving into the number three spot. This means […]

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Avatar’s Pandora Depresses Some Viewers: Utopia, Escape and the Realized Ideal

January 13th, 2010 | Posted in Avatar, fan cultures, fantasy, geek cultures, habitus, science fiction, utopia

A recent article at CNN Entertainment presents some disturbing viewer reactions to James Cameron’s Avatar. In a piece titled “Audiences experience ‘Avatar’ blues,” Jo Piazza reports that some audience members have become seriously depressed and even suicidal after watching the film when contrasting the real-world situation of Earth with the beauty of the science fiction/fantasy […]

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Whitt and Perlich: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Millennial Mythmaking

January 10th, 2010 | Posted in Joseph Campbell, myths, pop culture, science fiction

In the past I had an opportunity to interview David Whitt and John Perlich with the first book they co-edited, Sith, Slayers, Stargates and Cyborgs: Modern Mythology and the New Millennium (Peter Lang Publishers, 2007). Dr. David Whitt is Associate Professor of Communication at Nebraska Wesleyan University, and Dr. John Perlich is Associate Professor of […]

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AVATAR: Probing Beyond Visuals to Culture and Identity

December 26th, 2009 | Posted in Avatar, digital technologies, fantasy, science fiction, social commentary

My latest article for Cinefantastique Online is now available at this link, a review and commentary on AVATAR. Following is an excerpt: In regards to Na’vi religion, some commentators have referred to it as pantheism, but this is technically inaccurate. The Na’vi believe that Eywa, the divine “All Mother,” is connected to and in some […]

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Weekend Nostalgia: The Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet

December 8th, 2009 | Posted in 1950s, Forbidden Planet, science fiction, The Day the Earth Stood Still

Last weekend I took a stroll down memory lane courtesy of a couple of special edition DVDs from my local library. I picked up copies of The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Forbidden Planet, two films that are presently in my library, but the two in my collection do not include the extra features […]

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