Beyond the Leonard Skynard Shirt: Speculative Fiction and Metaphor
I'm a fan of the original Star Trek series, and not because of Captain Kirk's shirtless fistfights or the so-bad-they're-good special effects. It's because the show 'got' that speculative fiction, much like comedy, is a wonderful tool for exploring social and ethical issues in a non-threatening way.
When I say non-threatening, I mean that giving issues a new context strips away the emotional immediacy that occurs when directly discussing real life. Because our real-life perspective is so personal, we are inclined to haggle over minute-- I'm not a racist, I just like Leonard Skynard! Once we have stepped outside of our lived experiences and away from the historical and cultural baggage, we can see more clearly what the core of the conflict is. Discussing a distant and hypothetical problem in a distant and hypothetical context gives people a 'safe space' to explore their own ideas about the situation and debate with others*.
Finally, it breaks us out of our route responses. We all have issues about which our reaction is almost a reflex. Read any online article on any controversial topic and you'll see what I mean-- on any given topic, you can see a virtually cloned argument in the comments section, rehashing a variety of points that may have nothing to do with what the author actually said. Speculative fiction takes away our ability to revert to our mindless, scripted responses and forces us to think if the story makes us uncomfortable or brings up an ethical dilemma.
Fiction has a wonderful way of getting people to think, even if it's superficially silly. I'd encourage you to develop that aspect of your speculative fiction and create a truly thought-provoking story.
*To the Forgotten Gods reader who thought Sir Roger had a point-- go directly to jail, do not pass go. Ditto the person who thought there was nothing wrong with Alfred's initial viewpoint, and was disappointed by his subsequent character development.
When I say non-threatening, I mean that giving issues a new context strips away the emotional immediacy that occurs when directly discussing real life. Because our real-life perspective is so personal, we are inclined to haggle over minute-- I'm not a racist, I just like Leonard Skynard! Once we have stepped outside of our lived experiences and away from the historical and cultural baggage, we can see more clearly what the core of the conflict is. Discussing a distant and hypothetical problem in a distant and hypothetical context gives people a 'safe space' to explore their own ideas about the situation and debate with others*.
Finally, it breaks us out of our route responses. We all have issues about which our reaction is almost a reflex. Read any online article on any controversial topic and you'll see what I mean-- on any given topic, you can see a virtually cloned argument in the comments section, rehashing a variety of points that may have nothing to do with what the author actually said. Speculative fiction takes away our ability to revert to our mindless, scripted responses and forces us to think if the story makes us uncomfortable or brings up an ethical dilemma.
Fiction has a wonderful way of getting people to think, even if it's superficially silly. I'd encourage you to develop that aspect of your speculative fiction and create a truly thought-provoking story.
*To the Forgotten Gods reader who thought Sir Roger had a point-- go directly to jail, do not pass go. Ditto the person who thought there was nothing wrong with Alfred's initial viewpoint, and was disappointed by his subsequent character development.
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