Sci-Fi Lessons

While watching Blade Runner tonight, I realized that I have learned many things about the future from science fiction. Here are the lessons I have learned:

The future is dirty. There are not enough garbage men. All we have is Scruffy, the janitor. (Blade Runner, Futurama)

Our modes of transportation don't seem to be much different. Cars fly but still have tires (Blade Runner, Back to the Future), spaceships can be clunkers (Firefly), and there is mass-transit (Futurama).

There are birds. Lots and lots of birds. Random birds. Like owls and falcons and doves. (Blade Runner)

Everyone understands Mandarin. (Firefly and Blade Runner)

Aliens are plentiful, speak English (or at least we can understand them and they us), and aren't always friendly. (Futurama, Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

Clones, evil twins, Replicants, and androids will exist, but they WILL be EVIL. (Like Wil Wheaton)

I am sure there are many other lessons I have omitted here, but don't criticize, share! And please be sure to enlighten us all with WHERE you learned such lessons.

Worst (or Best?) Teacher Ever

We are now T-minus two and a half days until I am free of kiddos for twelve glorious weeks. That being said, my class has been the best class ever for students to come to for the last week or so. I say that because the English curriculum basically tells me to do a project and teach a novel study for the last few weeks after state testing is done. All of our "real teaching" is done before the testing.

My students completed the epic Middle Ages research project and Keynote (yes, we're an all Apple school) presentations that took all of three weeks. Then they wrote a theme analysis of a novel we read in class back in March. This was their end of the year "Writing Assessment" we must complete for the district.

After that, all bets are off. I can't logically teach a novel study because (a) I just taught one six weeks prior and (b) the students are reading a novel in Science class (Hoot) and in World History class (Catherine, Called Birdy). Do I really need to confuse the 12-year-olds even more?!

So, yeah, here's what my class has looked like since last Thursday:
Thursday, Friday, and part of Monday - Watch From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler because one of my classes read it in March. The other classes read The 39 Clues: Maze of Bones, and there is not yet a film version of that book.
Other part of Monday - Make students organize all of their writing assessments from 6th grade in their writing portfolios because I don't want to do that for 100 folders.
Tuesday through whenever it takes - All classes now watch The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe while the teacher takes down bulletin boards and packs up classroom. Why this you ask? Because it's based on YA literature, was on my syllabus, and is easily justifiable if questioned. Oh, and it's ridiculously long.

So, does this make me a teacher made of awesome or of fail? I don't care. It's made me a teacher free of stress.

Yes, Intelligence, Please!

Emily Jane wrote a brilliant blog post about the lack of brain-power and thought put into many TV and movie productions these days. How they're so mainstream, safe, stereotypical, and full of "fluff," and I couldn't agree more. So I decided to take the thoughts she inspired in my sick-addled brain and write them over here.

Way too many movies that are made now are completely unoriginal. There are remakes and reboots galore.  There are adaptations of books and comics around every corner. I love comics, and the recent Marvel movies had been very entertaining. That's not to say they all have been. The Ang Lee Hulk was horrible. What was Brett Ratner thinking when he made X-Men: The Last Stand? And speaking of X-Men, what was Hugh Jackman thinking when he signed on to Wolverine? The obvious massive payday aside, did he even bother to read the mind-bendingly disjointed script?

Don't even get me started on the state of comedies, crap children's movies, and romantic comedies. Yes, I do go see some of these movies for the popcorn-level fun or if I'm in the need for something painfully sappy, but they generally do not include an ounce of actual intelligence.

The same could be said about most TV. We're still riding in on the end of the reality-TV wave. I'm just glad to say I think American Idol is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. There are a ridiculous number of Law and Order/CSI clones on at any time. Don't get me wrong, there are a few of those which are well-written with enjoyable characters - Bones and Castle, but the ubiquity of these things tend to make me mad.

There are still good things being made, don't get me wrong. I just wish that there was more quality and originality out there. Part of the problem in this country is production cost and the insane need for ratings, though. Can the network execs not learn that not every show out there is going to have tens of millions of viewers? Not everything that is good will be universally acceptable. And if you relegate something to 8:00 or 9:00 on a Friday night, of course your numbers will be low! Get over yourselves. That being said, there are things I do like out there.

I, too, am not a horror movie fan. I'm a bit of a wuss, but, really, what it is, is I 'm not a fan of scare-tactics. (I am, however, a fan of parentheticals, interrupters, and appositives.) The best "scary" movies and TV shows are the ones that hit home in a very disturbing way.

 I'm fairly new to the whole Doctor Who thing, but as Emily said, it's been scaring generations of children since the 1960s. It's incredible. That show really gets you. The weeping angels are some of the scariest creatures I've ever seen. The way they move, or don't move, and how they can be everywhere and nowhere. How they can slowly turn you into stone. It's like a more believable, and in turn, creepier, version of Medusa. And don't get me started on the Daleks. Their voices, their lack of remorse or any conscience at all... Yeah, scary. I mean, look at the exent of the Daleks' manipulation. It's all just a means to an end.

I am a bit more familiar with the Whedonverse. He created entire fantasy worlds for Buffy and Angel, and they were right here in our own world. There was (is) a lot of originality from the mind of this guy and his friends. Plus things can definitely get scary. I'm watching the Buffy episode "Nightmares" right now. An entire episode about your worst nightmares coming to life? That's harsh. It ranges from the typical "not studying for a test" or "showing up at school naked" to creepy killer clowns, getting buried alive, and resurrected vampire Masters. Anything (and apparently everything) can happen when you live onto of the Hellmouth.

His forays into "sci-fi" were not as successful. I say "sci-fi" in quotations because they had some science, but they were very much escapist fantasy, as well. Of course, I feel that Firefly was a super-intelligent show that met its demise far too soon. Also, Dollhouse, when the writers were allowed to do what they wanted to write, and not bow to the whims of FOX executives to save their show, was great. It dealt with some great ethical issues that many other shows would've been to scared to attack. Obviously Whedon's heavier shows were not very widely accepted in the mainstream. They do have a HUGE cult-following, though.

And speaking of "sci-fi," what about the great space soap opera that was Ronald D. Moore's Battlestar Galactica? That show dealt with some heavy issues, like balance of religion and politics, death penalties, abortion, rape, cloning, oppressive governments, and many more that aren't coming to me right now. Sure, this show was a "remake" of something that existed 30 years previously, but it wasn't really a remake. It was more a reinvention with some of the basic concepts still at its core. I'm still not sure I liked where the finale went, but whatever. It shouldn't tarnish the legacy that is left in the show. Not always original, definitely mainstream-friendly in many ways, but it was not "fluff" all the time.

Moral of the story: Be original, and draw on people's real fears. Don't try to scare us with things that go bump in the night, unless there's a good Doctor Who-type reason behind it. And networks, stop caring so much about AI getting you 35 million viewers. Make some quality TV, and let the creators have creative freedom!!