Daily Double: Film Genres for $400

[fusako]

I have a special challenge question for everyone out there:

I challenge you to name a single Black science-fiction film.

Comments

gayniggers from outer space, of course!

[bavariankumquat]

[firefly33]

the matrix?
practically everyone in ZION was black in that movie...most of the people freed from the slavery of the matrix were white, minus morpheus and a few others.
do you think this counts?

Hmmm...

[fusako]

Interesting. I hadn't actually thought about the Matrix films as possible candidates. Though, the second and third installments more than the first.

The false-consciousness technological bondage definitely has resonance with the historical experiences of the Black diaspora. Not to mention Zion...

That said, the protagonist is a white male. Unfortunately I think that compromises the interpretation quite a bit. That is to say, how can a Black film not have a Black central protagonist?

If the plot had revolved around Morpheus, then I would very much agree with you.

Nonetheless, I like your suggestion. And I think it does constitute an example of some exploration into Black science-fiction. Thanks for the comment!

[bahia]

You should also take into consideration that with the science fiction genre as a whole, and by that I mean fantasy and science fiction novels, black characters and especially black main characters are extremely rare. So, the model is set by fiction, and the movie industry is no different.

In my opinion, this is because most of the people who produce this kind of work are white men (along with most things, really...)

Check out this article by Usela Le Guin http://slate.com/id/2111107/
I read a great article about this issue a while back but I can't remember by who or when it was. Oh well..

[fusako]

Thanks for the article. It would seem Le Guin's experiences corroborate some of my speculations regarding the role studios play in the genre-as-establishment, which is too bad. In this, it would be nice to be wrong

[bahia]

Good point about sci-fi in Japanese culture. Interestingly, most of the sci-fi in Japan seems to be from the animated genre. Anime is popular here, but is very much a subculture. Hardcore anime fandom is reserved for the "otaku" and that term has quite a negative meaning in the Japanese (someone who is so immersed in a fictional world that they cannot relate to the real one). That being said, most characters in Japanese animation do not look Japanese. They may have crazy colored hair, but are all too commonly blonds. In most Japanese sci-fi, at least in Manga and animation, even if the characters are Japanese, being Japanese is not the point of the story. It doesn't necessarily have that community you referenced when talking about black cinema (though this is not true in shojo manga, which is for girls and is usually love stories about characters in high school and the like

[fusako]

The "de-ethnification" of anime characters is intriguing. I've encountered this observation before. I agree that the aesthetics of the character design overwhelming strips any resemblance to the ethnicities of the characters (with some marked exceptions). But culturally speaking, their behavior is decidely Japanese (idealized, realistic, or otherwise).

So I guess my question regarding anime character ethnicity would be: would you interpret this dichotomy as race-disidentification? Do you think there is evidence that the "white-washing" may be indicative of a desire to be "white"? If so, I think that it would be difficult to extricate the intrinsic colonial perspective from the subject; the "graphing" of "whiteness" through sci-fi's formal properties.

One thing that has always struck me about sci-fi anime is its ostensible compulsion to replay WWII. Nadesico, Macross, Evangelion, to name a few, all seem to be structured upon a WWII narrative; from the perspective of the Japanese, of course. It frequently involves an alien, unknown

it's TV, but you must check out..

[r0se_is_rain]

the Cosmic Slop episode "Space Traders" based on the short story by Derrick Bell. It's hard to find but you can find it on VHS. Cosmic Slop was a shortlived Outer Limits style show on HBO.

and of course, there's "Homeboys In Space".

Re: it's TV, but you must check out..

[fusako]

Wow. Reggie Hudlin. Good find, nice work!
Thats pretty close...

Interesting that both are spoof comedies. Not that there's anything wrong with that. To me, sardonic takes on the genre just add dimensions; an intertextual commentary by the work itself on the authors' and the contents' relationship to the genre. For example: Blankman and Meteorman. These are both great examples of Black super-hero films. They operate within the parameters of the super-hero genre, feature a Black protagonist, and the story addresses concerns of the Black community. In the case of the latter, the parody is part-and-parcel of the Black experience.

The only question I have about these two TV programs is this: is comic science-fiction, or sci-fi comedy?

Also, if only Black spoof sci-fi films were made in the absence of serious films, that too would say something. Space minstrels... ?

[troy_story]

"The Adventures of Pluto Nash"
starring eddie murphy

[fusako]

I haven't seen this film yet, but now I full intend to. Good-taste and Eddie Murphy be damned!