Diverse Position in Science Fiction
This week I read Bloodchild by Octavia Butler. It’s was an odd story Due to it subject matter and handling of the subject matter, especially in relation to all of the other texts that we have read throughout this course. I wasn’t particularly weirded out by this story like some other people were because I have read things that handled gore like that in a similar way. I kind of wanted the backstory for this world because it would’ve been interesting to see the evolution of this situation between the aliens and the humans.
The general isolation experienced by the humans that is implied in the story is something that I can connect with right now during this quarantine. Gan's separateness from his family is also something I can connect with as well due to some experiences I have had throughout my life that have set me apart from my family. It’s not easy to go through something that no one else in your life has any experience with, and to have to figure out your place in the world in relation to something that no one can help you with.
This story could be an interesting movie or film short if you gave more background for the relationship between Gan and T’ Gatoi, and if this relationship was framed in a very loving and happy way. Then, slowly, people start referencing the implantation and ‘birth’ process, but without context. Finally, the reality of both processes is revealed all at once right at the end. Everything before would make these events and the truth of the relationship between humans and the Tlic much scarier. This could be a very interesting horror movie.
This story does reference colonialism and the treatment of people considered to be ‘other’ in the frame of a science fiction scenario, but it’s not overly stated. However, when you think about the story in reference to colonialism and the treatment of people of color throughout history the story becomes scarier.
Also, when I read this story I did not read the characters as being white. This is interesting because the ancestors of the characters in the story itself left earth and settled on the Tlic’s planet. This creates the image of a space age humanity that is not primarily white like a lot of popular science fiction is, like Star Wars and Star Trek.
The general isolation experienced by the humans that is implied in the story is something that I can connect with right now during this quarantine. Gan's separateness from his family is also something I can connect with as well due to some experiences I have had throughout my life that have set me apart from my family. It’s not easy to go through something that no one else in your life has any experience with, and to have to figure out your place in the world in relation to something that no one can help you with.
This story could be an interesting movie or film short if you gave more background for the relationship between Gan and T’ Gatoi, and if this relationship was framed in a very loving and happy way. Then, slowly, people start referencing the implantation and ‘birth’ process, but without context. Finally, the reality of both processes is revealed all at once right at the end. Everything before would make these events and the truth of the relationship between humans and the Tlic much scarier. This could be a very interesting horror movie.
This story does reference colonialism and the treatment of people considered to be ‘other’ in the frame of a science fiction scenario, but it’s not overly stated. However, when you think about the story in reference to colonialism and the treatment of people of color throughout history the story becomes scarier.
Also, when I read this story I did not read the characters as being white. This is interesting because the ancestors of the characters in the story itself left earth and settled on the Tlic’s planet. This creates the image of a space age humanity that is not primarily white like a lot of popular science fiction is, like Star Wars and Star Trek.
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