It's no secret that sci-fi is one of my favorite genres. Though I was raised consuming volumes of fantasy novels, sci-fi is cut from the same cloth. A good science fiction story draws upon enough believable material to make us engage with the story, with some good imagination and speculation to draw us into deeper, unknown, and perhaps bolder territory. I just saw a great example of how science fiction engages our deepest, very human questions, asking us to think and feel familiar things while venturing into new narrative territory. But before I talk about the film I'll give you a little background on why (and how) I came to love the genre. The journey began with some classic novels new and old (although science fiction is a relatively new genre, coming to prominence only in the middle of the 20th century). Some highlights include Frank Herbert's 1965 masterpiece Dune , where I followed the Messiah-like Paul Atreides on his quest to seek justice for the injuries again...
By now it should be apparent that I love to write about a few things. Beyond the theological frontiers of my service in active ministry, my travels, and my appreciation for new forms of creative expression in other societies and cultures, there are few things I love more than music. One of my criteria for friendship (come on, we all have them...) is how lively a conversation we can have about it. What type of music we enjoy can say a lot about us. Or, if we begin talking about Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, it is pretty clear that music might not be all that important to you... Perhaps it is for this reason, how near and dear to me the conversation on music is to me, and how many of my friendships have flourished through an exchange of music, that I've delayed my second entry in this personal exploration of Mexican consciousness. In my first treatment of the subject, we looked at the dynamic field of film, which has reached crossover appeal and allowed an international audience...
We go through phases in terms of the stories that really captivate us, that connect to our humanity, connect us to each other, and to our deepest selves. Growing up as a kid in the Nineties, I remember a slough of disaster movies. Comets, asteroids, volcanoes, and other things threatened to end all life as we know it. We counted on people smarter than us, the scientists, engineers, and astronauts, to save us (unless you're Michael Bay, who will tell you that it's easier to train oil rig workers to fly into space than it is to teach actual trained astronauts how to use a drill). Later, in the early Aughts, it was fantasy that took over. The post-9/11 era taught us to depend on clear lines of morality, of good versus evil, and epic quests and heroic virtue that will rid the world of the darkness. That decade ended and ushered us into an era still in its heyday: that of the Superhero. Although Marvel and DC have different textures and color palettes, they both tell the sam...
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