Bryan Murphy's Blog - Posts Tagged "space-opera"
Banks and Culture
Review of “Consider Phlebas” by Iain M. Banks, "Culture #1"
Is there something inherently fascistic in Space Opera?
Like in the “Star Wars” film, where a whole world gets annihilated, but what we are supposed to focus on is a lion getting a smile from an aristocrat. In “Consider Phlebas”, I find a similar attitude, even though I believe the author was a noted anti-fascist.
I love sci-fi, especially social sci-fi (which I sometimes write), and the social aspects of the universe Banks portrays here are deeply interesting, but the focus is on the unremitting series of improbable escapes from impending doom.
The fascistic element is that except for the protagonists, individuals are treated as expendable. However, in the end all the characters whose state of mind we were encouraged to consider more important than the lives of their many innocent victims get their come-uppance, and the whole inter-species conflict gets put into perspective.
Nevertheless, I wish I had chosen one of his literary novels instead.
Is there something inherently fascistic in Space Opera?
Like in the “Star Wars” film, where a whole world gets annihilated, but what we are supposed to focus on is a lion getting a smile from an aristocrat. In “Consider Phlebas”, I find a similar attitude, even though I believe the author was a noted anti-fascist.
I love sci-fi, especially social sci-fi (which I sometimes write), and the social aspects of the universe Banks portrays here are deeply interesting, but the focus is on the unremitting series of improbable escapes from impending doom.
The fascistic element is that except for the protagonists, individuals are treated as expendable. However, in the end all the characters whose state of mind we were encouraged to consider more important than the lives of their many innocent victims get their come-uppance, and the whole inter-species conflict gets put into perspective.
Nevertheless, I wish I had chosen one of his literary novels instead.
