The Love Letter that is “James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction” What Science Fiction Means to its creators and fans

The AMC docuseries “James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction” is a love letter about how deep the love of science fiction can be for millions of fans. While primarily discussing these themes in films, there is a pure curiosity Cameron has while interviewing his guests, plus the commentary from a wide number of contributors, ranging from screenwriters, directors, SF authors & journalists, scientists and professors and historians, highlights how much Cameron, too, loves this genre of storytelling.

There are six primary topics covered in each episode of this series, with plenty of commentary from writers, journalists and scientists about not only the impact of these stories on fans and pop culture, but also the scientific possibilities of some of these visions become a future or near-future reality.

Alien Life

Conversations with Steven Spielberg about his films of human-alien encounters contrasted with the vision of alien invasion films by Dean Devlin & Roland Emmerich and Ridley Scott highlight the wide canvas for interpreting what the world might look like after humans encounter alien civilizations, either by them coming to Earth or us running into the in deep space.

The obstacles of communication, physical interactions and assumptions made based on physical appearances and our responses to them are discussed, as well as how the design of the aliens on film are done with invoking a particular response from audiences for connection to the story. The reactions of humans to the appearance and demeanor of aliens who arrive on Earth with intent to colonize or invade or rescue, and the impact of their existence at all are also things to be taken into consideration.

Films mentioned: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Solaris, E.T. the Extraterrestrial, Alien Nation, Brother From Another Planet, Independence Day, War of the Worlds, Alien, Alien Resurrection, Contact, District 9, Arrival
TV shows mentioned: Childhood’s End, Twilight Zone, Star Trek

Outer Space

A question in 2020 becomes one of how can we reconsider the approaches we use for taking our first steps onto other planets, because the word “colonization” is fraught with images of subjugation and exploitation, destruction and abuse, and we have a need now to rethink how to think about expanding human civilization to other worlds without using destructive force or repeating the same mistakes and missteps taken on Earth. Greed and monied interests or the military aspects of boots on the ground defending against all comers are processes worth rethinking.

Embracing the science of the speeds necessary to travel between worlds and between star systems means exploring how or if the human mind and body can withstand such stresses and remain whole and sane. We also need to look at how living long term in harsh environments or spaces or planets with lower or higher gravity might affect the body and the mind. Can a mission be completed if the astronauts or scientists cannot return with the results?

Reaching Mars and living there are stories that are becoming more popular and more scientifically accurate, The artwork of Chesley Bonestell is mentioned as an inspiration for many of these stories, and the designs incorporated therein.

Films mentioned: Forbidden Planet, Outland, Star Wars, The Fifth Element, Gravity, The Martian, Interstellar, Guardians of the Galaxy, Starship Troopers
TV shows mentioned: Star Trek

Monsters

Monster movies appeal to most of us as more than mere entertainment (but who doesn’t enjoy seeing enormous creatures stomping on buildings like kids on playgrounds going after anthills). Sometimes facing those creatures from science fiction stories means looking closer at the darker aspects of ourselves. Can they be overcome with technology, or with determination and self-awareness? Or will the monster triumph over the human psyche and spirit?

This section also examines how the innovators in these stories see only the beneficial aspects of the disruptive technology they’ve created, and not fully appreciating the destructive impacts of any unintended consequences from misuse.

Women fighting the monster allows us to see beyond the limits most places in society have used to restrict what women can do or be, in a sense, defining them instead of allowing or expecting them to create that definition for themselves.

Fighting the monster allows us to evaluate and challenge who we are and what makes us human, identify where we fit in, where we believe we belong. One major challenge is choosing what to do when the fight is against the monster within.

Films mentioned: Jurassic Park, Frankenstein, The Blob, Creature From the Black Lagoon, The Fly, Alien, Aliens, Pacific Rim, The Thing, Resident Evil, Gojira, The Host
TV shows mentioned: Stranger Things

Dark Futures

This chapter examines the many dystopian visions we’ve seen on film and in television, and looks at the need to explore how humans and our humanity survive in the aftermath of catastrophic events or societal shifts and collapses. It also looks at the use of technology to either efficiently destroy or intelligently rebuild.

Would it be better to speed up a flawed society’s fall, continue to kick that apocalypse can down the road for future generations to figure out, or make the hard decisions to avoid the problem and embrace the pain of a complete overhaul in the moment?

One concept is how does surviving an apocalypse cause you to view the world and how you’d want to rebuild it, if that’s even a possibility while you’re still alive? Do you muster the strength to fight against an all-encompassing oppressive or totalitarian state in the hopes there may still be those who have a different dream of what a better life means?

Another concept is what could or would run the world after humanity falls… machines or apes or zombies? Can humanity survive or rebuild in a world where we’re not even close to the top of the food chain or the power structure? Can a new reality of compassion versus competition be achieved in the face of that sort of shift, or will our need for social connections be irrevocably altered?

Films mentioned: I Am Legend, Planet of the Apes, Children of Men, The Hunger Games series, Soylent Green, 1984, Twelve Monkeys, The Terminator, RoboCop, Max Max, The Road Warrior, Mad Max: Fury Road, Divergent series, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Returns, V for Vendetta, The Matrix, They Live, The Edge of Tomorrow,
TV shows mentioned: The Twilight Zone, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Walking Dead
The Philip K. Dick influence: Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall, Man in the High Castle

Intelligent Machines

We build machines to help make life and living in our societies better, easier, more efficient, but our machines can be been the stuff of dreams or of nightmares. What happens when the technology goes wrong, intentionally or unintentionally so?

There are so many variations on the story where an AI determines it’s best option for improving things or for its own survival is to subjugate or eliminate the humans who designed it. Who are villains, the machines who rise up against humans, or the humans who continue to design and build these machines, in spite of the knowledge of how problematic the long view might be?

We also have stories where the robots are closer to the ideal for positive connections, physical assistance and emotional support, and when do considerations of agency and self-awareness, sentience and free will enter the conversation?

Films mentioned: 2001: A Space Odyssey, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Silent Running, Star Wars, The Terminator franchise, Metropolis, Blade Runner, Short Circuit, I Robot, Forbidden Planet, Westworld, Wall-E, Her
TV shows mentioned: Lost in Space, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Battlestar Galactica, Westworld (HBO)

Time Travel

Curiosity about the past and the future help us examine seeing alternate timelines based on making different decisions at small and critical moments in our past. The concept of creating machines, to design technology that would allow us to manipulate physics to travel backwards and forwards in time.

How do you account for or repair timelines and paradoxes caused by accidentally changing the past? Would you be able to if you needed to? The desire to fix your life by changing a bad decision in the past can be both a good and bad idea. What’s your next move, for better or worse, if something you can’t fathom becomes a cascading butterfly effect destroying more than can be fixed.

The examinations of the perceptions of the passage of time and the effects of time dilation on humans in Interstellar and Primer is a fun deep dive to think about.

Films mentioned: The Time Machine, Back to the Future series, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, The Terminator, Groundhog Day, A Sound of Thunder, Primer, Looper, Predestination, Interstellar
TV shows mentioned: Doctor Who

Wonder why there wasn’t even a mention of Quantum Leap. That series was all about traveling through the past correcting bad choices and/or preventing bad (fatal) things from happening to keep a better future on track.

The DVD contains these six chapters on 2 discs, plus a bonus section of extended interviews with Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro, Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and George Lucas. These chapters, plus the bonus material will provide much fodder for geek discussions and debates, and I would love to see a continuation series hosted by Guillermo del Toro telling the Story of Horror.

This is a series well worth having on DVD to watch over and again, if only to reference in the next debate.

AMC: James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction

Note: RLJE and AMC Networks provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this article. The opinions here are my own.

JAMES CAMERON’S STORY OF SCIENCE FICTION is a uniquely intimate look at science fiction’s roots, futuristic vision and our fascination with its ideas through interviews by James Cameron with A-list storytellers, stars and other whose careers have defined the field, including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Smith and Sigourney Weaver, among many others. Cameron takes us on a journey of discovery and exploration, helping us understand where science fiction’s ideas came from – and where they’re taking us.