Gender and Sexuality

I absolutely LOVED this week’s stories. As you can see our topic for this week is “Gender and Sexuality”. This was a very controversial and touchy topic for the years that these stories were published (1966-1972). I was so excited to start this topic because our generation is becoming more liberal and accepting of matters regarding gender and sexuality. I am all for the equality of sexuality, gender, sex and partnership (yes, sex and gender are two different things if you were wondering).  The two stories I had the pleasure of reading this week were “Day Million” by Frederik Pohl, and “When It Changed” by Joanna Russ.

While reading “Day Million” I have to admit I had a tiny smirk or smile on my face almost the whole time while reading it. This story, in my opinion, was told in a very F-you voice. There was so much aggression and for lack of a better word, sass in the tone of what was being said. Although it was slightly abrasive I do have respect for the writer because I was done to grab the reader and say “I will squash any preconceived notion of what YOU think love is”. Now I think the reader didn’t do this to discredit anyone’s opinions of love but to rejoice in the fact that everyone has different opinions of love, so intense and varying that there is no one definition. I interpreted Dora “not being a woman” as one of two things. One, she was being portrayed as intersex (having the physical make-up of a woman including a vagina, ovaries, and breasts but genetically containing an XY chromosome set). Two, neither of them were really “human”, they were mechanically altered, technologically interfered with beings. Possibly that they can’t really be defined as “boy” or “girl” because those terms are arbitrary to humans only.

The second story “When It Changed” brought up an important yet complex biological term “parthenogenesis”. Parthenogenesis is a form of asexual reproduction. By definition, this is the process of a zygote forming (the beginning cell stages of a fetus) without the fertilization from male gametes (sperm). I wouldn’t bother to bore you with this scientific aspect of the story BUT it is incredibly important considering this is how a society of women has continued to grow on an exponential scale. Aka we DON’T need males for reproduction in this world. I do not mean to come across an extremist or that I think women are above men but hell yea. This is awesome, I do believe women deserve equality and when it comes to making a baby it does require two halves of a whole (pertaining to men and women). But, this is an awesome example of how women can do it without men! No, I’m not focusing in on reproduction, but to run a society, and live comfortably. Either sex can do it, not just men. In this story thought the author kind of made it seem like a whole survival of the fittest, natural selection element came into play which is why the male half of the species had gone “extinct” (a very relative term because I realize they weren’t).This was probably a little extreme. But, the author did hint at the fact that they really didn’t have a purpose the women couldn’t fulfil. I’m not sure if that’s the truth or what I agree with, but I think it was more the message that women could do all of the things that men can do was what you were really supposed to catch on to.  

 "I really do assure you that Dora's ecstasies are as creamy and passionate as any of James Bond's lady spies, and one hell of a lot more so than anything you are going to find in 'real-life'." - Day Million 

"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale"/"Total Recall"

I absolutely LOVE both of these pieces of work. Although it states in the opening credits of “Total Recall” that it was based on the story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” I don’t really think that’s accurate. I think it would be better off stated that the ideas for the movie were adapted from the story. I say this because yes, the whole concept of “Recall” and the aspect of him waking up is pretty much the same but, after he leaves the office everything is different. That being said I do think that the story was a little more plausible and realistic than the movie. However, the movie is super cool and I understand that in order to make it interesting and enticing they had to create a more intense plot line. Along with the movie being more interesting, a huge part of those efforts was the casting of Arnold Schwarzenegger. I do think that this was a good call by the writers because he adds this whole other element to the story all together. In the story the man seemed kind of average and plain but you won’t expect that of an ex-secret agent. I think giving the movie some star power and an actor who is pretty bad-ass it made viewers want to see the movie more and like I said add that extra layer of character depth. (Also let’s not forget Arnold’s wild ability to pull of those corny one-liners)

I want to address the notion that artificial memories can be implanted into your mind. To me I think that is highly implausible. The human brain is one of the most unexplained objects in our known universe. We still struggle to do brain surgery to fix little things without messing up a key part of someone’s existence. I’d also like to point out how prominent of a disease Alzheimer’s is right now. Doctors and scientists still don’t even know how the disease is caused directly, why/how it progresses, and how it can be stopped/reversed. I think that it would be an amazing thing to have considering these problems and it would mean huge technological advances in the medical field. I think that if this became a regular, casual thing, there would be a lot of room for error and the risks would be too high. If those risk were reduced I still don’t think I could see the ethical benefit in all of this. I guess it could make people’s lives easier in a way but even then, there is something to be said about real things versus artificial things. I think this is true in all aspects that the original is always better than the artificial. If artificial memories were available, it would not be something I’d participate in.

“He awoke-and wanted Mars. The valleys, he thought. What would it be like to trudge among them? Great and greater yet: the dream grew as he because fully conscious, the dream and the yearning. He could almost feel the enveloping presence of the other world, which only government agents and high officials had seen.” – “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” Philip K. Dick

Computers and Virtual Reality

As you can see we are now entering the realm of computers and virtual reality. This is probably one of my favorite subjects there is. Tons of movies/books have explored the world of virtual reality/computers which can be enjoyed by many age groups. Some examples include, “Total Recall”, “Spy Kids”, “Eagle Eye”, “Ender’s Game”, “The Maze Runner”, and a bunch more. This topic is cool because it can almost always been seen in a negative or positive light depending on your interpretation. Most of the settings and time periods involved with computers/virtual reality exemplify a world that’s much more advanced than the one we live in today. This week I read “Computer Friendly” by Eileen Gunn and “Burning Chrome” by William Gibson. I have to admit before you read the rest of this post that I was way more partial to “Computer Friendly”. Due to that fact this post will probably be more “Computer Friendly” centered and will touch on “Burning Chrome”.

 I think it’s important to say, before I say anything else, that the way “Burning Chrome” started was a total offset to me. I understand that not all short stories start at the “beginning” and that there’s a certain amount you have to infer, but I hate when the author just throws you into the middle without much explanation, especially when the concept is as complex as virtual reality/computers. If you break down the story and try to look at it in its simplest form, it isn’t a bad story at all, the concept was pretty cool and had great potential to be interesting. Although, because of the way it was written and how “computer nerd” it was I wasn’t particularly grabbed by the story. I say computer nerd in a complex, too hard for me to understand way, not in a derogatory sense. I really found it interesting how chrome was portrayed as basically untouchable and impossible to “crack” but Bobby and Jack decided to try and rob her anyways. Also, I think the concept of Automatic Jack’s robo-arm (bionic is probably the proper term) is awesome. My review, or critique (whatever you want to call it), is probably a little bland but like I said I wasn’t all that captivated by this story. I think this concept would be better portrayed as a movie or short film.

“Computer Friendly” was a better narrative than “Burning Chrome” but wasn’t nearly as descriptive. Every story has their own downfall. That being said, I really thought the way both computers and virtual reality were depicted in this story was pretty interesting and original. -I may just think it’s original because I haven’t read anything like it, I’m not sure if there’s anything similar out there-. The whole testing aspect was what I really enjoyed and the way it all worked. I think I enjoyed it because now there’s hope that the future won’t rely on standardized testing that only evaluates your textbook skills. They tested all aspects of the children’s personalities. When Elizabeth originally met Sheena and Oginga, I can understand why she was interested but it was made very clear that she was at a higher level intellectually than they were. Also, I’m not really sure why Elizabeth didn’t realize that they were causing her to get in trouble? Or maybe she did and enjoyed the feeling of deviance? What do you think? Anyways I have to say I was really disappointed and almost infuriated at the ending. I can understand why she was trying so hard to protect Sheena because the thought of euthanasia is pretty awful, especially if you’re seven. I was mostly angry because Chickenheart just let her give up her mind to living in a computer. She was going to do big things in life. Even if that’s not what she wanted SHE’S SEVEN, this was way too big of a decision to make on a whim for someone of any age! This really irritated me, but on the other side of the coin, also the reason why I have mixed emotion, based on the way her mother was living, was her future one that was going to be better for her than the one she chose? I mean her mother barely ate, was essentially a robot, she could move and exist in the world but only in her mind. I don’t know, it’s a hard toss up because then you consider if she would’ve been happier living inside the program. I would really appreciate some input of opinions on this one and how you interpreted it because the topic just seemed so unresolved to me. Hopefully in an update I can provide a better understanding and viewpoint on the subject. That’s science fiction for you.

"What's this, my dear? Do you think you're a timebomb, too?" "I can learn to be a timebomb," said Elizabeth with conviction. And she knew she could, whatever a timebomb was." - Computer Friendly by Eileen Gunn



UPDATE:

Okay so like I said in my comments, I chose to read “Burning Chrome” over again for my update in hopes I will understand the story a little better and can have an appreciation for its writing. I have to say after meticulously rereading and immense help from my class when we discussed the story, I have a whole new understanding. I think the part that amazes me most is the intense and extensive use of metaphors. I mean everything that Gibson wrote was an exaggerated beautiful metaphor for something that was so simple. For example in the very beginning Gibson writes “A silver tide of phosphenes boiled across my field of vision as the matrix began to unfold in my head, a 3-D chessboard, infinite and perfectly transparent.” The only think actually happening in the story at this point was that the program was booting up when they put it in the computer. Somehow Gibson made something so simple into something so beautiful, as he does this throughout the entire story. It’s very clear when you break down the story to its core that nothing all that special is going on. Basically, there is a love triangle who is also trying to get away with a big steal from chrome. There’s nothing all that crazy going on but the way Gibson manages to transforms the words and statements into something beautiful is why this story is special and impactful.

 

Viewing Blog "Mad Max"

Okay so I just want to back track a little bit to the theme of “Apocalyptic and Post-Apocalyptic”. This past weekend I had the opportunity to watch “Mad Max”. This is a pretty good example of the pre-apocalyptic setting. Things haven’t quite gone wrong in society yet but they’re on their way towards failure. As far as my movie critique goes, this movie probably wasn’t the greatest of its time but I’ve heard quite a few people say they enjoy it and that they enjoyed the whole series of movies as well. It takes a little while to get into the action and understand why Max is “mad”. After that climax happens, the movie gets much better and much more interesting than before. In the beginning I think that the shots and characters are kind of disorganized and hard to understand in the way the director/writers had intended.

I just wanted to point out how this story contradicts itself in aspects of scientific probability. There are quite a few injuries encountered in this movie but only a few of them could actually happen. For example, one of the bikers tried to cling on to Max’s Wife’s van by wrapping a chain around his hand and making it wrap around the car. Due to the fact that she is driving away at a relatively fast speed, it is absolutely plausible that his hand would be ripped off (amputated), by the force of the chain attached to the car. However, it is not plausible that his ENTIRE arm would come off. He would most likely have some severe bruising, a muscle tear, or even a tendon tear but it’s highly unlikely that the entire arm would come off. My other example is the awesome rig that Max creates when trying to kill off the last of the bikers, he essentially creates a miniature Rube Goldberg machine. The probability of this rig working out is high! It is absolutely plausible. However, Max handcuffs the man to a car and tells him that he can either saw through his wrist or wait till the machine works and he gets blown up. I just want to make it perfectly clear that it is highly unlikely that you'd be able to cut through your entire wrist with the saw that max provided. Just to give you an example of how strong bone is, in certain circumstances bone can withstand 19,000 pounds or more which is the same weight as about 4-5 pick-up trucks. Yes bones break everyday but, these bones don’t break because of force, they break because they twist or are manipulated in an unnatural way. It would take a lot of work and physical manipulation to be able to saw through bone, not to mention the mental ability to be able to saw off your own! Basically, I’m just trying to say that is it totally implausible that this biker would even have the chance of sawing through his own bone. There’s quite a few more examples of these kinds of things in this movie but overall, most of the injuries, like all movies, are just exaggerations of the truth.

The most important part of this post is “How does this relate to science fiction”. Well, like I said it is a part of an almost/partially apocalyptic society. The apocalyptic society is represented in the desolation of the areas around them. Also, by the strange behavior that people exhibit and never worry about getting in trouble. Although this movie is apocalyptic I don’t really think it was intended for it to be in the future. I say this because of the older cars and motor cycles, along with the clothing and style of houses featured in the movie.

Artificial and Post-Human Life Forms

Someone asked be yesterday, given the choice between aliens or A.I which would you rather encounter in a threatening setting? I said A.I. all the way. He seemed to disagree. Often when people think about A.I. they assume robots, which isn't necessarily incorrect. The reason why this assumption can be a problem is because robots were frequently used in 80s, 90s and 2000s movies such as "Terminator", or "I, Robot" which didn't exactly have the best special effects. Although, these robots were made to be seen in a potentially harmful or vicious light their underdeveloped graphics didn't help their efforts to be taken seriously. Also, a lot of people believe that we can just "turn off" machines, or take them apart, to destroy them. I believe that those people are vastly underestimating the possibilities of A.I. If you've read science fiction involving A.I, their abilities are endless and far beyond that of human. This to me is what makes it frightening.

This week I read "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" by Brian Aldiss and "Reason" by Isaac Asimov. I think pairing them together gives the reader a good understanding of how A.I can be threatening, but also not threatening. These stories both show different ways that A.I can change our future as humans.

In "Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" the idea of artificial intelligence is passed very lightly. The author makes the reader think that A.I has been nothing but a help to society and Henry's new invention will only help more. I found it really weird at first when David didn’t talk to Monica but she talked to him. The first red flag for me went off when Teddy told David that there were both “real”. This leads you to assume one of two things, 1. Teddy is overriding his technology and starting to gain a sense of identity (which seemed more probable) or, 2. David isn’t real. You come to learn that the latter option is the truth in this case. That was the nice Sci-Fi ending that made you have a moment to think “Well that’s freaky”. It is kind of nice that the computers weren’t really the “bad guys” in this story, but they were still the problem. The story shines a great light on how having even more technology can make us antisocial, inhumane, or all together lonelier people. I think this is a great projection of the direction the world is headed today. I think that technology is a great help and convenience to a lot of the things that we do today but at some point it has to stop. There is an organic beauty in the world around us, but one day we won’t notice because we’ll have holographic roses? This story to me is a good warning sign of what the world may become. We have to take these things with caution.

 

"Reason” by Isaac Asimov was about the other aspect of A.I., robots. QT had become too smart for the two scientists that built him. The part I found really interesting about this was that QT used a bunch of reasoning to create facts and conclusions that weren’t necessarily correct, but it is what he believed in. QT even had the scientists doubting their own facts and thinking that the robot may have been right. This to me is why A.I. is so scary. QT had completely taken over the other robots on the ship and the main control room. Although you cannot help but to think that QT had been on the right track when he perfectly aimed the beam at Earth. I think it was important to understand that it didn’t matter what QT believed as long as he was doing his job correctly and efficiently. This is a concept that can be applied to all jobs on macro and micro levels. When it comes to business and impersonal work, it shouldn’t have to matter why you do something as long as it gets done the way it is supposed to. I know that some people will probably disagree with me on this and argue that passion is important in your line of work and to get things done right, I understand that. But that being said, I want you to think about school. For 12 years of your life that is your job, getting up and going for 7-8 hours a day, not to mention the extra 2-3 hours of homework. Just because you don’t LOVE school or just do it because your parents tell you to, that doesn’t mean you can’t manage straight A’s. My point is that it took a while but eventually the scientists realized that it was irrelevant if they disagreed with QT or didn’t believe what he did, they all worked together to complete a common task.

 

“The answer stopped her dead. Why waste time talking to this machine? Why not simply go upstairs and scoop David into her arms and talk to him, as a loving mother should to a loving son? She heard the sheer weight of silence in the house, with a different quality of silence pouring out of every room.” – Super-Toys Last All Sumer Long, Brian Aldiss

Update: So we spoke in class about why Monica wasn't able to love David in the way that a "real" mother could love her "real" son. An interesting interpretation that a classmate and I came up with was, that you can "love" your car, but eventually it will die, then you will love a new car. If you have a child, and they die, you cannot just have another child and replace the love that existed before. People are special and not able to be recycled. David was a robot, essentially a working collection of parts, regardless of his feelings. Monica couldn't appropriately love David because he wasn't a living breathing boy. This reminded me a lot of when I learned American Sign Language (ASL). In ASL the meanings are very literal. So you could not really "LOVE" Intimate things. There were two different signs for the meaning of "love", one you used when speaking of objects, food, activities etc. (basically non-living, unemotional things. The other love, you would use for people, and animals. I thought that was a really important lesson of love and applies to this story perfectly because there are two different kinds of love, love is not equal in all things.