Prometheus (2012) -- Criticism

 (Contains Spoilers throughout.  Oh well.)

I'm not sure what's significant about the fact that the History Channel features a show called Ancient Aliens, but it can't mean much good.  These ancient aliens are in vogue now.  They've purportedly built the Pyramids and Stonehenge, revealed themselves to the Hebrews and the Mayans, and, for all I know, may be responsible for crop circles and cow mutilations.

According to Prometheus, ancient aliens created life on Earth. Yes, this is a movie about intelligent design.  It's not the kind of intelligent design anybody's looking for, though.  These aliens, directly linked genetically to humans, aren't all that kind.  Perhaps that explains the source of all of humanity's woes, since our creators are just as flawed as we are.  Next time you experience feelings of guilt or depression, tell your therapist that the ancient aliens are to blame.

The story gets too complicated by the third act, but the movie can be explained by a simple plot equation.  Prometheus = Alien + Aliens + Ancient Aliens.  Essentially two scientists find evidence on Earth of ancient aliens, so a giant corporation headed by a dying mogul funds an outer-space expedition to find the aliens on a distant moon far beyond the solar system.  The scientists quickly find something on the moon, evidence of advanced civilization, though -- and if you watch enough sci-fi you know this before it's already happened -- what they find can't be beneficial or healthy.  Meanwhile, just like in Alien, they explore a mysterious vessel with a bad android tagging along. 

This movie is the kitchen sink of sci-fi.  It begins with the origins of human life, then throws in galatic journeys, holograms, first contact sequences, androids, genetic engineering, bio weapons, zombies, and a self-automated pod that will perform any surgery you like, provided that you are male.  At one point, a giant alien squid attacks one member of the cast while somewhere else a zombie attacks all the rest.  By the end, I was disappointed that we didn't see time travel or vampires, whose trade union is sure to strike in protest.

Because of the inclusion of all this material, Prometheus preys on just about every modern fear imaginable.  Here is another list.  It worries us with problems of bioterror, evil corporations preying on the weak, evil computer systems gone haywire, deformed fetuses, deadly infectious diseases,  and the threat of alien invasion.  Perhaps the most squeamish sequence unfortunately will remind many of us of a C-section.  At least it reminded my wife of hers, which I witnessed, and in some ways this was not the most pleasant experience for either of us.  Anyway, in the movie a crew member is impregnated with an alien, and she must use the auto-surgery pod to abort this alien, a pod, as I said, designed for a man.

(After the machine cuts her open and then staples her back together, she's off and running to the next task, with a bit of a stomach cramp.  Of all things, in a movie with ancient aliens and androids, this really shook our suspension of disbelief.)

As is usual in a movie like this, the best sequences are those when the crew lands on the planet and begins to explore the ancient aliens' lost outpost.  And the best character is an android named David.  You don't see androids in movies much anymore, so he's welcome here as a walking HAL-9000 with unknown sinister motives.

It's David that stimulates one of the movie's major themes, that of the relationship between creator and creature (or creation).  The humans think of David as a robot, a mere machine easily deactivated, and yet they can't figure out why the ancient aliens won't answer their questions about the meaning of life.  These aliens, as the movie points out, are the creators of human beings, just as the humans are creators of the android. Yet the aliens want to destroy human beings -- the moon's outpost being a military installation where the aliens bio-engineer organic WMD, which is meant to destroy all of life on Earth.  So why would a creator create something only to destroy it later?  In other words, the humans wonder, why are the ancient aliens so mean to us?  Prometheus depicts humanity as cosmic loners, unable to fully understand and care for the natural environment, unable to respect and control its own creations, unable to have relationship with a higher power (here the aliens).

The main character, Dr. Shaw, presents the only hopeful alternative -- pursuit of the creators.  By the end of the movie, after the other humans have died, she's flying in an alien spacecraft ostensibly to the alien homeworld.  Once there, she will demand to know the answers about why the aliens created us. Of course she begins this journey just after one of the aliens has savagely attacked her, a couple of hours after her C-section gone wild, and with the android who killed her husband and impregnated her with a deadly alien squid.  Sounds like the sequel will be a rollicking road trip/buddy pic.

Science Fiction Syllabus -- Fall 2012

Science Fiction (Themes in Literature)

English 222 (TTh)

Instructor:               Joshua Matthews

Email:                     joshua.matthews@dordt.edu

Office:                     FO 2226

Office Hours:                     

Office Phone:

                         

Required Texts

Ursula Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest

Joe Haldeman, The Forever War

Stanislaw Lem, Solaris

Isaac Asimov, I, Robot

Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Walter Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz

A. and B. Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic

Frank Miller, The Dark Knight Returns

Films:

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Planet of the Apes (1968)

12 Monkeys (1995)

The Matrix (1999)

Course Description

Zombies! Time travel! Evil aliens from the other side of the galaxy! This course introduces you to the major scenarios, plots, characters, and themes of science fiction (sf). We’ll read and watch several sf works closely, striving to illuminate the worldview(s) of each work, while comparing everything we read and watch.  We’ll also emphasize the importance of literary historicism and cultural contexts in interpreting sf texts.  As well, we’ll analyze the cultural uses of sf in our society. Why do people create stories about the future, stories about the trajectory and impact of technology in our lives? Why do modern consumers demand these stories in all forms of media?  And just what do alien invasion stories, apocalypse stories, and stories about galactic colonization have to do with the “real world,” with political, cultural, and religious issues?

Course Goals:

1) To learn to be more active, more critical readers and movie-watchers, able to capably and accurately interpret sf texts.

2) To better understand the role and impact of science and the philosophy of science in cultural productions, productions including books, movies, and TV shows. And, conversely, to understand the ways in which sf has impacted science and culture.

3) To notice and analyze the underlying presuppositions of sf texts, presuppositions regarding the question of evolutionary development (past and future), human and artificial intelligence, xenophobia and xenophilia, the idea of the progress of civilization, the uses and limitations of science, human nature (its capabilities and limits), the fate of the universe, and the existence and nature of God. 

4) To apply techniques of literary analysis to any sf text, capably understanding and critiquing each text in terms of an orthodox Christian worldview.

5) To write and speak about sf in a sophisticated, academic manner (e.g., coherently, objectively, in great detail, with relevant details, etc.)

Grading

Participation:                               10%

Responses:                                   24%

Take-Home Exam:                      20%

Student Presentation:                 24%

Final Exam:                                  22%

Assignments

Participation: Participation and class discussion are vital to this course.  I define “participation” as 1) active listening, 2) being prepared to answer questions when called upon, 3) offering ideas voluntarily, and 4) showing up to class on time and having your textbooks with you.  If you do these consistently, you will receive a 100% for your participation grade.  Please note that I do not weigh all of these considerations equally; the last two are the more important items to me in the above list.  (Implicit in the above description is that you will come to class having read the assigned readings.)

Responses: Each of you will be assigned to a reading group, either group A or B.  You are responsible ONLY for the responses for your particular group.  You’ll write eight reading responses throughout the semester.  These responses must make a reply (at least 250 words, or about one double-spaced page) to one of the following prompts:

·       Find a strange or unusual moment/paragraph/sentence in the text. Why is this moment strange or unusual to you? How is it significant for your reading of the text and/or in terms of the texts we’ve read so far?

·       Which character is your favorite? Why? What political/social/moral/spiritual issues does the character represent? What political/social/moral/spiritual issues does the character confront?  Be sure to quote from the text.

·    What real-world issue, event, or ideology is this book wrestling with?  Find a passage that demonstrates your answer, and show how this passage demonstrates your answer.

All responses must be posted in our online class forum ONE HOUR BEFORE the class in which they are due.  They will be a substantial part of our class discussion, so please be well prepared before class. 

To write a good response, you can do a number of different things.  One is to come up with a thesis about a text—about its plot, a character, or anything else—and then argue for that thesis.  Another kind of good response might begin by asking a question or two, pose answers to those questions, and then end with more questions based on those answers.  You are free in these responses to be insistent, argumentative, inquisitive, curious, or even uncertain. But be sure to offer substantial content.  Feel free in these responses to make connections between the text and other texts from outside of class, or between the text and historical events. All good responses will quote from the text.

Take-Home Exam:  An exam that may contain a number of short answer questions and short essays.  While this exam is open-book, you must present original answers, uniquely and originally phrased.  All essays on the exam must contain a substantial thesis, firmly supported by ample evidence, coherently argued.  The final exam might also be a take-home exam; whether it is will be determined during the semester.

Student Presentations:  All students will give a lengthy (~25-30 minute) presentation on a topic closely related to our course texts and discussions. Your presentation may be made alone or in groups, depending on class size.  Please use handouts, visual aids, Youtube clips, and any other presentation aid to help yourself and your audience.  You are required to visit with me in my office at least once and at least two weeks before you give your presentation; we’ll discuss what you’re doing, and the office visit is part of your presentation grade.

The presentations will be mostly informative, since your audience (the class) probably will not have read/seen the text you’re presenting on.  So you’ll want to talk about the text’s influence and reputation, author/creator/director biography, and the major plot/character/theme highlights of the text you’re analyzing.  Sounds like a straight-up book report, right?  Except you’ll also need to deeply analyze the text for us, and contextualize its worldviews and messages within our ongoing class discussions.  For example, you can compare the work you’re presenting on with a text we’ve all already read and discussed in class. Be sure to show us specific scenes and quotes from your text, lead a discussion amongst the whole class, ask us questions, show a clip or two from a movie, smile, gesture, speak loudly, make eye contact, and have loads of fun!

Grading Scale:

            A+                               99-100

            A                                 94-98

            A-                                93-90

            B+                               89-87

            B                                  86-83

            B-                                82-80

            C+                               79-77

            C                                  76-73

            C-                                72-70

            D+                              69-67

            D                                 66-63

            D-                                62-60

            F                                  59-0

Late Papers and Missed Work

            You alone are responsible for all classes and in-class work that you miss.  You must prepare for all contingencies, especially computer crashes.  I do not accept late work or give makeup exams for any reason, with one exception.  That exception is: you must bring me a signed doctor’s note or a signed statement from a university official, with a contact phone number for the signatory, which excuses and verifies your absence.

Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism

Dordt College is committed to developing a community of Christian scholars where all members accept the responsibility of practicing personal and academic integrity in obedience to biblical teaching.   For students, this means not lying, cheating, or stealing others’ work to gain academic advantage; it also means opposing academic dishonesty.   Students found to be academically dishonest will receive academic sanctions from their professor (from a failing grade on the particular academic task to a failing grade in the course) and will be reported to the Student Life Committee for possible institutional sanctions (from a warning to dismissal from the college).  Appeals in such matters will be handled by the student disciplinary process.  For more information, see the Student Handbook at: www.dordt.edu/campus_life/student_handbook/

Students’ Rights to Accommodations

Students who need access to accommodations based on the impact of a documented disability should contact the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities (CSSD): Marliss Van Der Zwaag, ASK Center (Library Basement), (712) 722-6490, mmvdzwaag@dordt.edu.

On Proper Interpretation

Some students mistakenly believe that the act of interpretation is a subjective free-for-all. They ask: “What right do you the teacher have to give me a bad grade on an essay? After all, I interpret the text differently from you.  You gave me a bad grade just because you don’t like or agree with my interpretation.” Or they say: “This is an English class. Any interpretation is right!” 

Yet these students forget that not all interpretations are valid interpretations.  In fact, almost all possible interpretations are either wrong or irrelevant.  Believe it or not, the Harry Potter books are not about your grandmother’s cat.  Nor are they about the biography of Abraham Lincoln.  The former example demonstrates that while interpretations may be personal—I may like a work because it has some important meaning for my life, a meaning only I and my grandmother really understand—they are irrelevant as public arguments, since few share your unique life experiences. 

Interpretation is, therefore, a social act.  Arguments for an interpretation must be relevant, useful, and applicable to other people, especially to the intended audience of your argument.  They also must take into account all available textual evidence.  1984 cannot be interpreted as a book that promotes a totalitarian state, or as a book that promotes torture as a political tactic, or the use of lying in politics.  Such interpretations fail to account for textual evidence, the author’s biography, and the book’s historical and cultural contexts—all of which are crucial to sound interpretation. Be aware that if your interpretation would seem novel or crazy to most people, then its arguments and evidence must be rock solid.   

Course Calendar

Note: this is a tentative calendar.  Readings and assignment dates may change at my discretion, depending on special circumstances (e.g., bad weather, sickness, alien invasion, supervolcano explosion).

Date	Readings/In Class Activity	Assignment
Aug. 28:	Introduction to Class
Aug 30:	Brooks Landon, “The Culture of Science Fiction—Rationalizing Genre”; Ursula Le Guin, Preface to The Left Hand of Darkness

FIRST CONTACT STORIES, or “Take Me To Your Leader”
Sept. 4:	Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Darmok”
Sept. 6:	The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 film)
Sept. 11:	Ursula Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest (1-103)	Group A
Sept. 13:	Ursula Le Guin, The Word for World is Forest (103-end)	B
Sept. 18:	Joe Haldeman, The Forever War (1-160)	B
Sept. 20:	Joe Haldeman, The Forever War (160-end)	A
Sept. 25:	Stanislaw Lem, Solaris (1-105)	B
Sept. 27:	Stanislaw Lem, Solaris (105-end)	A
Oct. 2:	Twilight Zone, “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” Twilight Zone, “To Serve Man”
Oct. 4:	NO CLASS – Readings Days
Oct. 9:	Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic (1-104)	A
Oct. 11:	Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic (105-157) Student Presentation: War of the Worlds	B
Oct. 16	Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic (158-end) Student Presentation: Starship Troopers	B

Recommended: Stanislaw Lem, His Masters Voice and Fiasco    

                          Ursula Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness

                          Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama

                          2001: A Space Odyssey (1969 Stanley Kubrick film)

                          Karen Joy Fowler, Sarah Canary

                          The Iron Giant (1999 movie)

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE STORIES, or “I Can’t Let You Do That, Dave”
Oct. 18:	Isaac Asimov, I, Robot (1-68)	A
Oct. 23	Isaac Asimov, I, Robot (112-170) Student Presentation: Star Wars (1977)
Oct. 25:	2001: A Space Odyssey (Part 3 of 1969 movie)	Take-Home Exam Due
Oct. 30:	Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1-82)	B
Nov. 1:	Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (83-144) Student Presentation: Forbidden Planet (1956)	A
Nov. 6:	Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (144-end) Student Presentation: A.I. Artificial Intel. (2001)	A
Nov. 8	The X-Files, “Kill Switch”

Recommended: Stanislaw Lem, The Cyberiad

                          Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV Series)

                          Wall-E (2008 movie)

                          Portal 2 (video game)

APOCALYPSE STORIES, or “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”
Nov. 13:	Walter Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz (Part I) Student Presentation: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1958)
Nov. 15:	Walter Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz (Part II) Student Presentation: Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
Nov. 20:	Walter Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz (Part III)	A and B
Nov. 22:	THANKSGIVING BREAK – No Class
Nov. 27:	Planet of the Apes Student Presentation: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2010)
Nov. 29:	The Dark Knight Returns, Books I and II	B
Dec. 4	The Dark Knight Returns, Books III and IV	A
Dec. 6	12 Monkeys
Dec. 11	The Matrix
Dec. 13	Final Exam Review & Course Wrap-up	Final Exam

Recommended:           Cormac McCarthy, The Road

                                    George R. Stewart, Earth Abides

                                    Russell Hoban, Riddley Walker

                                    Mad Max Trilogy (movies)

                                    Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas (video games)

NOTE: I do not necessarily support any of the ideas or worldviews in any of our course texts or recommended texts. These recommendations are merely a guide, one that points you towards professional acquaintance with major writers and works in the sf tradition.

Interesting and Fun:   

·       Gene Wolfe, Book of the New Sun (arguably the best SF novel yet written), plus the Long Sun series and the Short Sun series and Fifth Head of Cerberus.  Enjoy!

·       Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers is a must-read. Also The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Stranger in a Strange Land are highly influential. I am partial to The Door into Summer.  Tunnel in the Sky is much like, but better than, The Hunger Games.

·       H.G. Wells, The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds are must-reads.  All of his other sf novels are pretty interesting.

·       Connie Willis, The Doomsday Book and her other stuff.

·       Dan Simmons, Hyperion.  This one’s got a great audiobook version.

·       Lost  (TV series)

·       X-Files (TV series)

·       The Prisoner (TV series)

·       Dark City (1998 movie by Alex Proyas)

                                               

Famous Dystopias:      Yevgeny Zamatyin, We

                                    Metropolis (1927 Fritz Lang movie)

                                    Aldous Huxley, A Brave New World

                                    George Orwell, Animal Farm and 1984

                                    Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange
                                    Margaret Atwood, A Handmaid’s Tale

                                   

SF Humor:                  Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and its sequels

                                    Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels – these are must-reads!

                                    Galaxy Quest (1999 movie)

                                    Terry Gilliam’s movies (Time Bandits, Brazil, etc.)

                                    Doctor Who (BBC series)

                                    Futurama (TV series)

                                    Mystery Science Theater 3000 (TV series featuring really bad sf movies)

                                   

Challenging:                 Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination 

                                    Philip K. Dick, novels and short stories, especially Ubik

                                    William Gibson, Neuromancer and his other novels

                                    Alphaville (1965 movie by Jean-Luc Godard)

                                    Stalker (1979 movie by Andrei Tarkovsky)

                                    Primer (2004 movie by Shane Carruth)

Please see Brooks Landon’s Science Fiction After 1900 for a much longer list of sf recommendations.  Also check out the winners of the Hugo Awards and Nebula Awards, which are the top sf prizes for authors.